34 ASPECTS OF BIOLOGY AND METHOD OF BIOLOGICAL STUDY. 
hill-sides ; and again in the valleys, or gentle depressions between 
the rolling hills, are the rich purple tufts of Astragalus bisulcatus 
ray. This is a very handsome perennial, and would be desira- 
ble enough for cultivation, but for its disgustingly strong odor of 
bean-vines. 
Besides these more noticeable things, our ten miles walk added 
to our herbal several very interesting rarities, which would have 
been overlooked by one who had sought only the showy and beau- 
tiful things of this interesting ground. A remarkable profusion of — 
very handsome flowers, of a few species only, is what especially 
characterizes the flora of this region at this season of the year. 
Passing through it by rail, one sees as much of the purple and 
red and white and yellow of the plants mentioned, as of the 
common verdure of the prairie grasses. 
THE PRESENT ASPECTS OF BIOLOGY AND THE 
METHOD OF BIOLOGICAL STUDY.* 
BY PROFESSOR ALLMAN, 
——$ SO 
Conception of Biology and Function of the Scientific Method.— 
Under the head of Biology are included all those departments of 
scientific research which have as their object the investigation of 
the living beings—the plants and the animals—which tenant the 
surface of our earth, or have tenanted it in past time. 
It admits of being divided under two grand heads: Morphology; r 
which treats of Form; and Physiology, which treats of Function; 
and besides these there are certain departments of biological study 
to which both Morphology and Physiology contribute, such as. 
Classification, Distribution, and that department of research which 
is concerned with the origin and causes of living and extinct 
forms. 
By the aid of observation and experiment we obtain the email | 
which are to be combined and developed into a science of living — 
beings, and it is the function of the scientific method to indicate 
the mode in which the combinations are to be effected, and the path 
2 EEEE 
Pinson from the opening address before Section Be ren di the Bri 
for the Advancement of Science, delivered Sept. 18 
TING Eee pg eee fe eid Aen eh ee PNN 
