W. B. DWIGHT. 57 



part of scientific work must now be done by specialists, 

 or at least by those who combine, with a general zoologi- 

 cal knowledge, special study in some limited subdivi- 

 sion ; the more limited the more effectual is the work in 

 most cases. This is so well recognized that there is now 

 a marked tendency in eminent zoologists to der^recate 

 the idea that they are working over a general field ; they 

 assign to themselves, before the public, often, much nar- 

 rower fields than the large ones they are really filling 

 with honor. The fact that one's scientific responsibili- 

 ties sometimes assign him to a broad field of multifari- 

 ous scientific labor is now a thing not to be boasted of, 

 but apologized for. It is only the school-girls just out 

 from a "finishing-school," or flabby amateurs in science, 

 that record a string of sciences among their solid 

 acquirements. 



In the present state of science, it is not, among true 

 scientists, considered a matter for congratulation or boast- 

 ing if one has to spread his labors over several or many 

 broad fields of scientific inquiry. 



Hitherto I have spoken of specialization only as a nec- 

 essary consequence of advanced study. It is not, how- 

 ever, an unfortunate necessity, but brings with it impor- 

 tant advantages which it will now be well to consider. 



First, it is only by this special study of minute facts, 

 and minute changes in organizations that the true phi- 

 losophy of life is attained. The keys which, one after an- 

 other, unlock the great chambers in nature's magnificent 

 palace, are microscopically small. To find them, we 

 must search everywhere, by minute study, the nooks and 

 corners where they may be hid. Yet again, these keys, 

 like some of man's devising, are not simple, but made up 

 of separable combination-slips ; and these slips lie scat- 

 tered around among the flowers and the insects and the 

 rocks. It is only the minutely special student of nature 

 who can, by long searching and much thinking, find 



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