ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS— 
THE WEB OF LIFE 
CHAPTER LX 
ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS—GENERAL PRINCIPLES— 
ANIMALS AND PLANTS 
GENERAL PRINCIPLES 
The study of natural science during the last half-century has 
advanced so rapidly that it is no longer possible for one man to 
grapple seriously even with a single subject, and there is an ever- 
increasing tendency towards specialization. No doubt the sum of 
our knowledge is thereby constantly being increased at a rate which 
would otherwise be impossible, but there is another side to the 
question. For extreme specialization is somewhat apt to lead to a 
neglect of general principles, and to a more or less complete loss of 
the sense of proportion. To be unable to see the wood on account 
of the trees is bad enough, but to have one’s vision restricted to a 
single tree, or perhaps a single branch, is very much worse. In 
no department of knowledge is the cramping tendency of special- 
ization more apparent than in natural history. There seemed at 
one time a chance of establishing a science of Biology, designed to 
deal with both plants and animals, but this has now been merged 
into botany on the one hand and zoology on the other, and many 
of the important relations that exist between plants and animals 
are not given the prominence which they undoubtedly deserve. 
This cannot altogether be helped, but even under existing circum- 
stances it is both desirable and possible that work of specialist 
kind should be preceded by studies of a wider and more general 
nature. This is one of the aims of the new subject of Nature- 
Study, so far as biology and geology are concerned, another object 
being to foster that intelligent interest in and accurate observation 
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