early volumes contained many reports on biological topics, but over the twentieth century, "biometrika" became a "journal of statistics in which emphasis is placed on papers containing original theoretical contributions of direct or potential value in applications." thus, of the five types of contents envisaged by its founders, only the second and to a lesser extent the third remain, largely shorn of their biological roots. in his centenary tribute to karl pearson, j. b. s. haldane likened him to columbus who "set out for china, and discovered america." the same might be said of pearson's journal.