It is useless to try to reform the idler or the thief, whose instinct for idling or thieving is as imperative as a cat's instinct for catching mice. So long as he goes free, so long will the instinct reassert itself at every renewal of opportunity. Repeated punishment of the offender, who is powerless against his own impulses, is frequently a mere cruelty; while his repeated release, at the termination of every punitive sentence, is, on the other hand, still more certainly, a cruelty to the community at large, which he afflicts by his presence. Public opinion is gradually becoming awake to the necessity for fresh methods of dealing with these problems; it is by the patient investigations of scientific men that it has been enlightened.
TABLE SHOWING THE PLACE OF MAN IN CLASSIFICATIONS
| Grade IV. | TRIPLOBLASTIC Animals with a BODY-CAVITY. |
| Group. | CHORDATA; Animals with a Notochord. |
| Phylum. | VERTEBRATA; Animals with a Back-bone. |
| Class. | MAMMALIA; Animals that suckle the young. |
| Order. | Primates. |
| Genus. | Homo, i.e. man. |
| Species. | Sapiens (possessed of sense). |
Meanwhile, it must not be forgotten that the theory of degeneracy has its cheerful aspect. It enables us to look at the offending fellow-creature who belongs to the criminal classes, as an incomplete development rather than as a hardened sinner. It reminds us, too, that the criminal and the idler of to-day are now, what in the times of savagery and animalism, every man once was. The degenerate criminal, in fact, stands as a landmark, to point out the progress which has been made by the human race. This was the starting-point, where now he stands. How great the progress that is measured by the distance between him, and the orderly, kindly-hearted citizen of the present age!
CHAPTER XVI
HOW ZOOLOGISTS DO THEIR WORK
It is one of the most well-worn of commonplace sayings, that "one half the world does not know how the other half lives." It is equally true that one half the world does not know how the other half works; and especially is this the case when one of the world's halves is its learned, and the other its unlearned, half. The average business man probably has an idea that the man of learning has a pretty easy time of it, and that his most arduous occupation is to enlighten an attentive world by reading papers at the meetings of the British Association and the Royal Society. He has a vague idea that the man of learning sometimes uses midnight oil, but it would surprise him to be informed that the man of learning often sets to work at five o'clock in the morning—as is actually the case. And well he may, considering the magnitude of the task he has in hand, and the variety of the odds and ends of labour that it includes.
Firstly, how does he obtain the raw material for his work? The scientist, like the cook, must "first catch his hare" before any further details of work can be arranged. He does not, as a rule, do this in person, except when an animal of unusual interest is concerned. An army of collectors, all the world over, are constantly busy in searching for material for the zoologists, on land and sea. They look for employment and pay to the museums and laboratories of the learned world. When the specimens arrive, what is to be done with them? Some arrive alive, and may be dismissed from present consideration. The dead specimens give employment to a number of workers who are under the command of the man of learning. There are skins to be mounted and stuffed, bones to be articulated and set up, each practically the work of a different trade. There are drawings to be made of all important specimens, a task which affords employment for the artist and the photographer. There are carcases large and small, to be immersed in preservative fluids until they can be thoroughly examined in detail. And woe betide the zoologist who allows any of these tasks to be performed without his own personal supervision. He will realise, as all careless masters do, that blunders may be made in an hour, which cannot be repaired in a day. But when all is done that servants and helpers can accomplish, the real business remains to be done. Is there among the specimens one which has not been thoroughly overhauled by other writers, one whose every detail of structure is not already to be found printed in a book? That one must be examined with the utmost accuracy. If it is big enough, it must be dissected, and every part recorded and figured in diagrams. But suppose it is a small creature, whose parts can only be seen under the microscope, a long series of processes are necessary before it is ready for use. In its fresh state, it contains a quantity of water, and if left to itself would shortly decompose. Even if already immersed during carriage in various preservative fluids, it still contains much water, and, if so, neither will it keep for an indefinite length of time, nor could it be satisfactorily examined under the microscope. It must be soaked in one of various chemical solutions, to harden and preserve it. If very small indeed, a mere speck, it perhaps only needs to be transferred to a fluid in which it can be "mounted" and placed under the microscope. But with the vast majority of specimens, an immense amount of labour is needed before they are ready for inspection under the microscope.
This will easily be understood if we reflect for a moment on the way in which objects are examined under the microscope. For purposes of scientific investigation, they are rarely looked at under light that falls upon their surfaces, that is to say, by reflected light; for this method can show nothing but details which are external and comparatively unimportant. They are seen by light placed behind them so as to shine through them, i.e. by transmitted light. If the object is not extremely thin, it will shut out too much light, and thus it cannot be clearly seen, therefore all objects, except the most minute, must be divided into thin slices, technically known as "sections."