The Natural History of the Animal Kingdom [pp. 461-466]

462 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. [Nov.
continent; and, in order that her outward-bound voyage should not be fruitless, the superintendent organized a scientific party to accompany her. For the
investigations to be carried on, and the
collections to be made, outside of the
regular work of the Coast Survey, however, the means were provided by private individuals-chiefly by the generosity of rich men in the State of Massachusetts. This should be remembered,
in estimating the scientific results of the
voyage: they are not, of course, what
they might have been, had they had
government support. But it is so with
all scientific work which has not a directly practical aim. Science has to take
the humblest place; supplies for purely scientific purposes are everywhere
granted with reluctant hand. Nevertheless, the value of such researches begins to be generally felt; and, old as I
am, I hope I may live to see the enlightened communities'of my second fatherland contribute to scientific aims with the
liberality so characteristic of America.
It is not fully understood, that science
is eminently practical in its results. It
is true, that the practical man steps in
to make the useful and profitable application, and the scientific man stands
aside; but the initiative movement comes
from the latter, not from the former.
Indeed, we never know to what reformation in industrial arts and sciences
the discoveries of the laboratory may
lead. I well remember that in my boyhood electricity was the plaything of the
school-room. Puppets were made to
dance, in order to show its subtile power. Now it is transforming the world.
Had the sneer of men who judge everything by its direct and immediate influence upon material prosperity been allpowerful in those days, we might still
be waiting for the telegraph, and our
swiftest courier might be, as in the olden times, a mounted messenger.
I will tell you something of the work
of the naturalists of to-day, their aims,
and their difficulties. I select the natural history of the animal kingdom as the
subject with which I am most familiar.
I want to show you that we aim not only
at learning to distinguish animals one
from another in all their specific differences, but that the accumulation of facts
in science has now become subordinate
to greater problems, such as the origin
of life, the deeper relations of living beings to one another and to the world in
which they live. To deal with such
subjects, in the present imperfect state
of our knowledge, is inevitably to open
conflicts and disputes. Men wonder to
see us arrayed in opposite camps, and
call us quarrelsome, since it would seem
that truth, which we strive to understand
and reveal, should lead us all the same
way. There are unquestionably mighty
conflicts going on at the present day
among the most earnest and devoted
students of Nature. But this is quite
natural, as long as the truths we are
seeking are not fully demonstrated. Do
not men disagree in their most important deliberations concerning their fellow-men? Does not the lawyer dealing
with his case, the physician with his patient, the divine with questions of the
greatest import to every human soul,
differ with his colleagues? Why should
we, dealing with subtile questions of
such importance to the human race, be
at once agreed? These conflicts are
often healthful: they stimulate research,
and lead to renewed efforts, and to wider
application of the results.
But to return to the animal kingdom.
Earth and water teem with life, manifested under an endless diversity of form.
Animals are scattered over the surface
of the earth and in the ocean; and their
different kinds are counted by hundreds
of thousands. And yet these hosts of
living beings are built on only four patterns, so simple, so easily defined, that
every child should be able to recognize