From an Academic Bestiary

• Author: Paul Seabury
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295901200405
• Published date: 01 December 1959
• Date: 01 December 1959
• Subject Matter: Articles

962

FROM

AN

ACADEMIC

BESTIARY

PAUL

SEABURY

University

of

California

At

no

time

does

the

scientific

investigator

state

his

own

opinion

of

what

ought

to

be,

or

of

what

is

right

and

what

is

wrong.

His

own

biases

and

preferences

do

not

enter

the

picture.

...

In

the

final

analysis

it is

administrators,

not

scientists,

who

determine

policy

—

as

sev-

eral

American

atomic

physicists

have

belatedly

discovered.

The

scientist’s

job

is

to

analyze,

to

explain,

and

to

increase

the

store

of

knowledge.

His

job

should

not

be

confused with

the

wielding

of

political

and

economic

power,

power

which

he

does

not

possess.*

I

NCE

THERE

WAS

an

old

lion,

long

the

rage

of

animal

under-

~

graduates,

who

lectured

with

passion

and

eloquence

in

jungle

class-

glades

on the

great

issues

of

his

times.

Since

he

was

a

professor

(even

Pan

Professor

of

Politics),

he

augmented

a

meager

income

by

many

well-paid

public

talks

on

timely

topics.

He

lived

in

an

age

of

great

tension

and

anxiety

between

beast

and

man,

so

his

subjects

often

were

these:

&dquo;Co-

existence

with

Man,&dquo;

&dquo;The

Real

Truth

about

Zoos,&dquo;

&dquo;Whaling

Conven-

tions :

Whose

Law?&dquo;

&dquo;Basutoland:

Man’s

or

Beast’s?&dquo;

and

&dquo;Modem

Animal

Is

Obsolete.&dquo;

Occasionally,

and

for

a

handsome

consideration,

he

would

repeat

his

famous

oration,

&dquo;Acres

of

Almonds,&dquo;

which

impressed

upon

gen-

erations

of

squirrels,

monkeys,

and

cockatoos

the

manifold

rewards

of

dil-

igence

and

optimism.

But

in

his

academic

lectures

the

lion,

to

the

last,

impressed

students

of

all

species

with

the

breadth

of

his

mind

and

with

his

generous

heart.

He

told

of

the

growing

interdependence

of

man

and

beast,

and

of

the

need

to

preserve

the

Balance

of

Nature.

In

his

most

moving

lecture,

&dquo;Pananimal-

ism,&dquo;

he

spoke

of

the

ideal

of

a

parliament

of

all

animals,

including

man.

The

presence

of

such

genial

sentiments

within

such

a

formidable

frame

gave

to

the

lion

a

certain

presence

and

authority,

adding

much

force

to

his

ideas,

so

that

merely

for

me

to

tell

you

all

that

he

said

would

give

you

very

little

idea

of

their

real

impact.

His

great

reserves

of

energy

he

spent,

liberally,

on

many

public-spirited

tasks.

He

was

known

everywhere

for his

work

on

the

Whooping

Crane

Rescue

Committee,

Radio

Free

Animals,

and

the

National

Conference

of

Lions

and

Lambs.

In

his

later

years,

the

venerable

lion

was

respected

by

beast

and

man

alike.

Many

animals

made

pilgrimages

to

his

Uganda

birthplace.

Once

an

S.P.C.A.

delegation

went

along.

His

published

works,

such

as

Vegetarianism

and

Animal

Unity,

were

uneven

in

style,

but

their

unusual

themes

brought

much

praise

for

their

author’s

qualities

of

humility

and

selflessness.

(The

famous

chapter,

&dquo;My

Romance

with

Vegetables,&dquo;

was

republished

in

1,000,-

000

copies

by

the

Gazelle

Gazette,

and

read

with

wonder

by

all.)

Each

*

Arnold

Green,

Sociology

(New

York:

McGraw,Hill,

1956),

pp.

8, 10.