36 Tiic A)itenc(i)i (ieohxjtst. July, isoo 
of paleontologists in the nicnibcrshi]) keep in tducli witii th(^ 
body of the Society's work, devour and dijiest its important 
petrographic, stratigraphies orographic, tectonic and glacio- 
logic papers'? Undoubtedly not one. While these paleontol- 
ogists will of course be welcomed constituents of the Society 
as long as tlieir fees are paid, we wish to here observe how in- 
creasingly peculiar the status of the paleontologist is becom- 
ing with reference to his nearest neighbors, the geologist and 
the zoologist. Paleontology, suggests a recent writer, is a word 
which has lost its usefulness; let the student of extinct or- 
ganisms station himself in the ranks of the biologist where 
he belongs. That this is where he already is no one can deny 
who will consent to use the term biology with precision. But 
nevertheless a paleontologist becomes uneasy and bewildered 
when forced into commerce with men who know not the ham- 
mer and chisel, but ply the scalpel and microtome and who 
pasture only on soft tissues. The methods of the two are as 
widely unlike as it is possible for them to be, and there are so 
few in either that are excellent in both lines of work as to 
raise a fair doubt that these distinct accomplishments are 
within the reach of ordinary assiduity. There are a few bril- 
liant cases proving exceptions to the statement that when the 
zoologist ventures among fossil forms he generally makes a 
mess of it. Certain it is that the first element in the making of 
a paleontologist is geological, and this element must be most 
scrupulously nurtured if the best results are to be acquired 
from the study of either the morphology of extinct organisms 
or the signiticance of extinct faunas. Let him borrow as he 
can from the zoologist, he repays abundantly in broader con- 
ceptions of animated nature and in the interpretation of the 
history and significance of existing life forms. Is the paleon- 
tologist, primed with his preliminary geological training, 
better fitted for his work by the courses in zoological demon- 
stration as usually offered in the German, English and Amer- 
ican universities? Little; and for the reason that teachers 
of zoology seem to interest themselves but little in the out- 
come of paleontologic investigation, or if they know its 
results do not recognize them as such. Time and again has 
the zoologist been compelled to remodel his plans at the behest 
of the paleontologist and if the former eschews an organism 
