ZOOLOGICAL PROGRESS 1 



PROFESSOR G. H. PARKER 

 Harvard University 



The chase, the domestication of animals, and the prac- 

 tise of animal sacrifice in religious ceremonies were all 

 customs of primitive man that led to an acquaintance 

 with animal structure and habit long before human knowl- 

 edge could be said to be organized. In the early steps of 

 this organization, what we now know as zoology -was a 

 part of natural history, but in the specialization of mod- 

 ern times zoology has grown to the dignity of an inde- 

 pendent science with numerous subsciences. In fact 

 modern specialization has gone so far that concern has 

 been frequently expressed lest the natural unity of science 

 be entirely lost sight of; but, in sketching the outline of 

 zoological progress, I hope to show you that, so far as 

 zoology is concerned, this fear is unfounded. 



Any outline of the course of zoological progress must 

 be somewhat in the nature of an inventory of zoological 

 possessions, and I can not do better in beginning this brief 

 survey than to call your attention at once to the real ma- 

 terials of zoological research. These are the individual 

 animals, which, as you well know, are not immensely di- 

 verse, but show certain agreements whereby they may be 

 arranged in groups whose members have similarity of 

 form and habit and show the remarkable trait of produ- 

 cing new individuals of like kind. These natural groups 

 or species afford a basis for a descriptive inventory of the 

 animal kingdom, and the attainment of such a complete 

 description has been perhaps one of the most persistent 

 motives to zoological work. 



Progress in this undertaking is indicated by the in- 

 crease in the number of species described at each succes- 



1 An address delivered at The College of the City of New York. 

 115 



