, which human beings have
got together; to the prevailing philosophical interpretations of the
universe and of life; and to the pragmatic organizations, conventions,
and controls which human society has instituted. In addition to these,
some students of biology are going into various careers, each
demanding special adjustments which biology may aid notably. Such are
medicine and its related specialties, professional agricultural
courses, and biological research of all kinds.

An extended examination of college catalogs shows some consciousness
of these facts on the part of teachers of biology. The following needs
are formally recognized in the prospectuses: (1) The disciplinary and
cultural needs of the general student; (2) the needs of those
preparing for medicine or other professional courses; and (3) the
needs of the people proposing to specialize in botany and zoology.
These aims are usually mentioned in the order given here; but an
examination of the character of the courses often reveals the fact
that the actual organization of the department is determined by an
exact reversal of this order,--that most of the attention is given,
even in the beginning courses, to the task of preparing students to
take advanced work in the subject. The theory of the departments is
usually better than their practice.

In what follows these are the underlying assumptions,--which seem
without need of argument: (1) The general human needs should have the
first place in organizing the courses in biology; (2) the
introductory courses should not be constructed primarily as the first
round in the ladder of biological or professional specialization, but
for the general purposes of human life; (3) the preparation needed by
teachers of biology for secondary schools is more nearly like that
needful for the general student than that suited to the specialist in
the subject; and (4) the later courses may more and more be concerned
with the special ends of professional and vocational preparation.

GENERAL AIMS OF BIOLOGY IN EDUCATION

What are the general adaptive contributions of biology to human
nature? What are the results in the individual which biology should
aim to bring to every student? There are four classes of personal
possessions, important in human adaptation, to which biology ministers
in a conspicuous way: information and knowledge; ability and skills;
habits; and attitudes, appreciations, and ideals. These four universal
aims