New-York tribune., 1873-03-22
AFFINITIES OF ANIMAL LIFE.
IECr1rRr RY PROF. AGAssIz.

,,s,, -. Al CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUEEl
C.wasmeR. March 20.-0n the 9th inst,
Prof Louis AgassiE opened the annual course OF Museum
lo.pres He said resumlng lectures after sew
raI yeare OF interruption, must preface 10y few words
.ie.planaton long and illness cut short my
ctures IN 1862 and the subsequent state OF my health
aas prevented from meeting college classes since
Even now feel that am trying an experiment which
I may be forced 10 renounce; but the temptation Is
Etroug After teaching years the desire comes
upon me with returning health to face an audience
again and especially desirous to take my share IN
what is now going on IN Harvard. where every thing
shows fresh impetus aud vitality. Uncertain as am
however, Of my strength must beg You TO forgive
should be forced break of suddenly at any tne
We live IN a daY when free and original Thought mas
more unlimited scope than before. Time was
xben the wise man the philosopher might be also
court ester Tue scholar amuse his patron foe's
were allowed 10 dine in the kitchen IL they wOod orinE
their minstrelsy the great ha afterward' lhueeu.
under more honorable form. have We not remnant VI
tls In the court pensions endOwing the poet auea'e
with livelihood, and eXactng in return the eus'om!
ode on coronation DAYS royal marriages or deahsi SCI
.nce lived then by sUheraOce az the handmau"i o"se
aud commonplace work The physician was the oarper
and entertained his paueut with the gossip Vi
she day Later when science was ra'Seo
above contempt she became the opect OF
4. dread almost as fatal TO free Development
Her boundaries were prescribed 10y theology ana
limited by the generally accepted creeds Indeed TINS
phaSe OF persecution has hardly yet passed away re-
member we'll when young man. being called before the
Board OF Education in Neufchael, the town wnere
then taught As profe be reprimanded for incuca
ing phel doctrines this because did not hesitate
70 speak OF geology revealing approximately al least
tho age Of the world. and showing IT 10 be far oder
tan church crecs had supposed These are unpleasant
recoIlections allude 10 them only because may my
self In the course Of these lectures. advance opinions
which are not acceptable quite in harmony with pre-
yoinng doctrines. only say that they are con-
vetous based upon long and patient study; and there
II no greater privilege Of our free Institutions than the
right of every man and uphold his eonvic-
tons provided he defends them in simple unpretend-
tng. honest way.
TuR LIMITATIONS or ORGANIC BEsENBLANcrs
shall endeavor in this cuurse lectures to give
an insight those phenomena OF nature with when
INV investigations have made especially familiar,
viz into the relations between organized beings Ihey
have been the object my study for so years and The
object Of study for Of other naturaliss also
and IL so happens that upon this subject upon so many
others doctors disagree" There are az this day
great variety opinions among scientific men as TO the
true relations animals. Some explain them as the
result of simple law Of inheritance aud development
f the lower into the higher, thus accounting for all the
diversIt, among animals 10y others they are considered
a. the expression OF resembances and dinerences
inherent IN organic structures aud impressed upon them
from the begnnmg, hut having definite Limitations
susceptible Of change only within certain range oi
variation and usually under artificial treatment.
knowledge OF limitations Is important for far
consideration the subject familiarity with the
structural relations themselves.
The animal Kingdom is wonderful complex OF hetero
reneous beings. il seems confused until We penetrate
into IT, An external superficial familiarity with its
manifold aspects hardly worth having at least is
valuable only as auy chance acquaintance nav he vau'
able soc. pleasant genial perhaps, hut without Sc
ouence or cohtronce You know, for instance two
hundred birds and az many thousand insects shells;
fRpfY eIgl4f
appesrauce; yet remain ignorant Of the laws OF
structure binding them together, OF the unity when
InderIes all this variety OF material expression, aud
makes simplicity OF the whole not less wonderful
Than the infinite differences Of the parts DO not sup
pose that expect would advise you all 70 be prac-
siral uaturasts. Insight into il gained only by
study only those who have instructive. iD-
VIII give their hves To it, But is to be
rceretted that the way in which natural history is
taught when it taught at alp leads The attention 10
special details rather than the comprehensive
relations between animals.
ARISTOTLE SUPERIOR TO MODERN NATUEALIsIs.
IN some ways the study Of natural history has lost
rather than gained in modern civilization. You would
&c surprised learn how wellnOrmed the Greeks were,
for instance about structure Of animals. All college
students know that the delighted in critical
analysis intellectual problems, wen as in dramatic
aud poctcal composition and IN all beauty Of sculpture
and architecture. But think their familiarity with
nature II not 50 wei known as their culture in letters
animals aud their general relations than is known
Fcr instance, he confounded sharks and skates
with ordinary fishes, while all modern naturalsts would
put them ~ one aud the class Strange 10 say,
have studied the Seacians on the South American
coast by light Of AstOtles researches upon them in
tie Mediterranean Sea, made by him more than 1900
years ago I can fairly add that the knowledge Of
Aristotle these topics far ahead of the current
infOrmat recorded in modern works OF natural his
iory that his statements can only be understood by one
who has made special study OF these ANIMALS Ihe
community evidently shared ms knowledge Tor he re-
fers 10 textbooks Of natural history which must from
details he gives about thcm have been superior 10
those we have You may seek Ia vain IN the ana
tOmical aliases OF Wagner Carus for information
about the structure of the reproductive apparatus OF
selacians which Aristotle allndes contained in
textbooks OF anatOmists and belonging 10 the cur
rent knowledge OF the time. Ny aim Is 10 you in
this course a comprehensive though very condensed
sketch Of geological science III our own DAY ana genera
attempting 10 do what Aristotle dld III bls zoology
wish could handle my subject with the same mastery
au forced TO begin WIN the most eleneDty Iact IOf
IN the present state OF our schools where natural his
tory almost Ignored, cannot even WITH cuVated
audience take aDy kDo"iSIc o III? suyeSt IuI gIanCd
among my hearers. what Is the SUBJECT prOperf
,e hSS Natural Foaadadns Of zosSa ae Ag
The general instructive feeling among men that animals
are Intimately connected by structural features has
1oand expression ~ the terms whch they apply 10 dt
fereht groups OF aninals. We speak OF class OF hlrs,
aud y We wsh 70 spceaze men, ~ sn"er m g%UnRS % "" We
berons The naturalist shows his perception OF sun
deeper law OF Relations when he characterles certain
lud Of group as genus; the very WORD slgnuylng 70
be born" and limiting thus az common descent IL
other languages thest ldeas are expressed ~ the sne
direct manner The Gelmantays "Vergdnd," OT"V eT-
sooSdtsekGf giving the lull meaning Of the word rea
tiOnsbip, as expressing fdimy ue All animals natu-
rally arrange themselves, B other words instinct
have common basis Nhat 10 there ~ nature, or is
thing beside external appearance 10 Justify
ths impression!
AL LIFE ORIGINATING N EGGs
In the nrst place at the very outset we Ind one
singnlar universal fact. All animals, without excep-
i,op high OF low, Of whatever ultimate cOmpexty