51 



BlOGEAPHY AND THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT. 



By Robert Hesslek. 



Biography concerns itself with 'the history of the life of a particular 

 person.' This is the primary definition given in the Century Dictionary, 

 a second being 'biographical writing in general, or as a department of 

 literature.' Again as a third definition, 'In natural history, the life-history 

 of an animal or a plant.' 



Biology, on the other hand, concerns itself with the science of life 

 and living things ; with a knowledge of vital phenomena ; in a technical 

 sense, the life-history of an animal. 



Environment is another name for surroundings, and environmental 

 influences may be regarded as the influence of surroundings. 



In speaking of the evils entailed by the lack of knowledge of sur- 

 roundings, Ward in his Dynamic Sociology says : "Indeed, the greater part 

 of all suffering is the result, direct or remote, of such ignorance. Obviously, 

 therefore, the first great duty of man is to acquaint himself with his en- 

 vironment. This can only be done by study. The phenomena that lie on 

 the surface are of little value. They mislead at every turn. Not only must 

 the deep-lying facts, difficult of access, be sought out with great labor and 

 perseverance, but they must be co-ordinated into laws capable of affording 

 safe and reliable guides to human operations. To do this requires a vast 

 amount of patient study. Only a little has yet been revealed of the more 

 important truths of nature, yet consider the amount of research which it 

 has required ! Nevertheless, only a few individuals have contributed any 

 thing at all to the result. It is as yet only the simpler and more obvious 

 relations between man and nature that have been determined. In the 

 domain of physical forces and chemical substances he is able to exercise 

 prevision in many ways to secure advantages and avert evils, but in most 

 of the higher fields of vital, mental, moral, and social phenomena, these 

 relations are either utterly ignored or but dimly suspected, so that his 

 knowledge of them avails him nothing. The great work before him, there- 

 fore, still is study." (Ward, Dynamic Sociology, Vol. II. p. 11.) 



