THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS 
 
 BY 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE, M,D. 
 
 SELECTED AND ARRANGED 
 
 BY HIS WIFE, 
 
 GEORGIANA L. HOWE. 
 
 CINCINNATI: 
 
 ROBERT CLARKE & CO 
 1894. 
 
 
"Sleep after toyle, port after stormie seas, 
 Ease after warre, death after life, does greatly please." 
 
 SPENSER'S " Faerie Queen." Book I, Canto IX. 
 
L. 
 
 /o 
 
 PEEFATORY NOTE. 
 
 The papers here gathered were written by Dr. 
 Howe at intervals during the last fifteen years of his 
 life, and as a recreation from surgical writing. Most 
 of them were published in the Eclectic Medical Jour- 
 nal. I have no evidence that their author thought 
 they would appear in a book. They were scattered 
 about on the shelves of the library and in various 
 magazines. I have taken pleasure in giving them a 
 more permanent form and one in which they can be 
 more conveniently looked over and read. 
 
 CINCINNATI, December, 1893. 
 
"Thy greeting smile was pledge and prelude 
 Of generous deeds and kindly words; 
 In thy large heart were fair guest-chambers, 
 Open to sunrise and the birds." 
 
 WHITTIER. 
 
 " Nature has no secret which she does not somewhere lay 
 bare before the eyes of the attentive observer." 
 
 GOETHE. 
 
 " They say knowledge is power, and so it is. But only the 
 knowledge which you get by observation." 
 
 KINGSTJSY. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE 5 
 
 ANTHROPOIDEA 17 
 
 LATIN AS A COMPULSORY QUALIFICATION IN THE MEDICAL 
 
 STUDENT'S PREPARATORY EDUCATION 29 
 
 MATTER AND ENERGY 42 
 
 " DE SENECTUTE " 58 
 
 DARWINISM : ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS (53 
 
 SENSIBILITY, INTELLIGENCE, INSTINCT, AND MIND 80 
 
 ABBOTSFORD AND MELROSE ABBEY 96 
 
 AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 105 
 
 HEREDITY 120 
 
 THE PENTADACTYL TYPE 135 
 
 " THAT SAME SWEET FACE " 143 
 
 DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE 148 
 
 " HUNTERIAN ORATION " 163 
 
 MORAL RESPONSIBILITY 177 
 
 THE PROGRESSIVE ATTRIBUTES OF INANIMATE MATTER, AND THE 
 
 PURPOSIVE OPERATIONS OF ORGANIC STRUCTURES 181 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF BARON LARREY ] 94 
 
 FOLK-LOREWITCH-HAZEL 209 
 
 THE AUTOPSY OF AN ELEPHANT 216 
 
 HARVEY AND THE CIRCULATION 231 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MICHAEL ANGELO 247 
 
 A SKETCH OF SIR CHARLES BELL 262 
 
 WHENCE THE ART OF ANCIENT, MEDIAEVAL, AND MODERN 
 
 ROME ? 276 
 
 ANATOMY COMPARATIVE AND HUMAN 291 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF BARON CUVIER 306 
 
 APPENDIX THE HOWE PLACE.. . .319 
 
SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE was born in Paxton, 
 Worcester county, Massachusetts, on the 14th of 
 April, 1825, and was the fourth of nine children. His 
 father was Samuel H. Howe, and his mother Elizabeth 
 Hubbard Moore. John Howe, mentioned in Savage's 
 Biographical Dictionary as living in Watertown, and 
 his son, one,, of the principal settlers of Sudbury, 
 petitioner for the grant of Marlboro in 1657, after- 
 ward residing there, were the earliest of this branch 
 of the Howe family in America. The grandson of 
 John Howe of Marlboro went to Paxton in the first 
 part of the eighteenth century, and bought a consider- 
 able tract of land, building the house upon it in 1743, 
 where four generations of the family have lived, and 
 which at the present time is in a good state of pres- 
 ervation. 
 
 This was the birthplace of Dr. Howe, and al- 
 though his father removed to Leicester, three or four 
 miles distant, when he was but a few years old, the 
 picturesque scenes of hill, woodland and stream had 
 already indelibly impressed his mind. He had a 
 strong imaginative temperament, but it was not devel- 
 oped in a marked degree. In his writings the poet- 
 ical impulse can often be discerned. 
 
 (5) 
 
6 LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 His mother's immediate ancestors lived in Wor- 
 cester, and were people of standing and worth. She 
 was a woman of remarkable energy and decision 
 of character, and of an affectionate disposition. She 
 naturally controlled her son's earliest education, and 
 to her teachings and principles may be traced the in- 
 fluence which was one of the chief blessings of his 
 life. He attended the district schools under several 
 different teachers, and fitted for college at Leicester 
 Academy. Among his teachers he placed high Mr. 
 Josiah Clarke, then principal of the academy, as an 
 instructor who stimulated the ambition of his pupils, 
 and recognized qualities they possessed specially 
 worthy of cultivation. He entered Harvard College 
 in 1849, graduating in 1853. He met some obstacles 
 to progress, such as small pecuniary means often cre- 
 ate, but his happy temperament, combined with great 
 determination, found in these difficulties incentives to 
 new resolution. 
 
 He was a student of medicine before he went to 
 college at Cambridge, having passed a few months in 
 the office of Dr. Calvin Newton, Worcester, and at- 
 tended one course of lectures in the medical college of 
 that city. Subsequent to his graduation at Harvard 
 he attended the " Jefferson Medical College," in Phil- 
 adelphia, during the winter of 1853, and the next win- 
 ter the "New York Medical College," Thirteenth 
 street, and the " New York College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons," frequenting the hospitals of the city for 
 clinical instruction. He took his degree in medicine 
 at the Worcester Medical Institution. 
 
 Standing, as it were, on the threshold of active 
 life, he was an agreeable companion, refined in taste 
 and sentiment, genuine, straightforward and affection- 
 
LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 7 
 
 ate in nature. Dr. Walter Burnham, Professor of Sur- 
 gery in the Worcester School, at this time asked him 
 to take charge of his practice in Lowell during his six 
 months' absence as a member of the Massachusetts 
 Senate. He was also appointed professor of anatomy 
 in the school almost at once after his graduation. This 
 favorable introduction to his professional life led to 
 his opening an office for himself in Worcester, in the 
 vicinity of his early home, and among congenial 
 friends and relatives, with whom he was a great fa- 
 vorite. 
 
 The following autumn he was invited to lecture 
 upon Anatomy in the Cincinnati College of Medicine, 
 but returned at the close of the term with the expec- 
 tation of remaining at Worcester. The next year, 
 however, he was again invited to lecture in Cincin- 
 nati, and with inducements that led him to the decis- 
 ion to make it his permanent home. He did not take 
 this step, so full of importance to him, without mis- 
 givings. He entered upon the duties of his profession 
 in this new field with vigor and enthusiasm, aware of 
 the effort required to be a successful surgeon. He was 
 as diligent as when fully established in practice, occu- 
 pying his time partly with preparing pathological 
 specimens, making anatomical drawings, and obtain- 
 ing an insight into mechanical arts, adding withal in- 
 dustrious reading and steady observation. Soon after 
 coming to Cincinnati, Dr. Howe married Georgiana 
 Lakin, eldest daughter of Mr. George S. Lakin of 
 Paxtori. 
 
 He lectured upon Anatomy in the College of Med- 
 icine, and afterward in the Eclectic Medical Institute, 
 where in the course of a few years he was transferred 
 to the chair of Surgery, which he continued to occupy 
 
8 LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 during his life. He spared no pains to become a mas- 
 ter in the subject he would teach, and possessed the 
 power to strongly impress his thoughts upon others. 
 He was active in the Natural History Society, and 
 found there opportunity to study the anatomy of ani- 
 mals, a subject not unfamiliar to him from youth. 
 The department of Comparative Anatomy steadily in- 
 creased by his zeal and labor for some years. Through 
 correspondence with curators of this branch in other 
 countries he added to the collection a few specimens 
 rare in America, and he contributed many essays to 
 the meetings of the society. Generally his time was 
 devoted directly to his profession. He felt the high 
 degree of responsibility involved in its service, and 
 any thing which engaged his attention collaterally was 
 eventually made to subserve his chief aim. He ad- 
 vised students to select for their diversion what might 
 prove useful as well as pleasant to them. His own 
 recreation from the absorbing duties of his profession 
 was found chiefly in natural science. Every thing 
 living possessed to him an attraction. With his ex- 
 uberant spirits in early life, there were few fields 
 within miles of his home that had not contributed to 
 his pleasure in sport, and being a keen observer, his 
 education as a student of nature commenced uncon- 
 sciously even then. 
 
 The inclination of his medical and surgical views 
 may be judged by the following extracts from his edi- 
 torials, taken from among many similar ones, and writ- 
 ten after years of practice : " Having been an advocate of 
 experimental knowledge, and often asserted that ideas 
 empirically developed were the most valuable, I am 
 pleased to see a confirmation of my views by persons 
 of eminence. Dr. Sawyer, in his presidential address 
 
LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 9 
 
 before the Birmingham Branch of the British Med- 
 ical Association, made the following remarks : ' There 
 is another condition of our work in the treatment of 
 disease, about which there has been much misconcep- 
 tion, but about which we can scarcely miss agreement, 
 if we weigh the case carefully. It is this : whether 
 we like it or not we must be mainly empirics in our 
 practice. We must not be above being empirics. I 
 do not mean empiricism in any bad sense of the word. 
 I do not mean that there is any real opposition be- 
 tween true empiricism and scientific practice. The 
 great bulk of our therapeutic knowledge is as yet 
 empirical, and as empirics, though as rational and 
 scientific ones, we must administer it. By this em- 
 piricism I mean, and mean only, a knowledge which 
 grows from and with experience, and which is in this 
 sense empiric, however scientifically it be applied. In 
 much of our therapeutic work it is experience which 
 prompts our action whilst experience alone can test 
 our results. Much of what we do, we can not ex- 
 plain in the scientific meaning of the word explana- 
 tion, so we lean upon experience, and trust with 
 an empiric faith much that we know to be true, 
 though we can not understand it.' ... In em- 
 pirical trials let us be reasonably bold ; not be rash, 
 yet not be cowardly. The distinguishing character- 
 istic of a surgeon is courage, willingness to assume 
 a risk." 
 
 u Rational medicine alone is to prevail. In scien- 
 tific matters school has no place. There will always 
 be shades of belief in undeveloped science, but they 
 necessarily fade under the blaze of demonstrated 
 truth." 
 
 Dr. Howe wrote for publication early in his pro- 
 
10 LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 fessional life. His first book was " Fractures and Dis- 
 locations." " The Art and Science of Surgery " came 
 out in the sixties, "A Manual of Eye and Ear Sur- 
 gery " a little later, and " Operative Gynaecology " in 
 1890. He designed a large proportion of the cuts in 
 his books and papers. He wrote monthly a surgical 
 article and some editorial miscellany for the Eclectic 
 Medical Journal, and occasionally essays semi-scientific 
 or literary. All this time he was an active practitioner, 
 and for many years had had an extensive surgical 
 practice. It was his nature to be busy to do his 
 work if possible before it was needed ; this was his 
 method of seeking relief rather than by putting work 
 off. Much of his professional life can be read in his 
 surgical writings and editorial sketches ; and in the 
 progress of the years they became the storehouse of 
 his reports of operative surgery, of his registered 
 observations and notes, and deductions carefully com- 
 pared and reduced to laws of health and disease the 
 wisdom of these years of study and experience. His 
 mind dwelt chiefly, in the maturity of his labors, on 
 the improved methods of treating surgical diseases, 
 and the mysteries of living things. He gave himself 
 but little leisure, and his capacity for work was un- 
 usual. His physical constitution was of more than 
 ordinary power of endurance. He had a generous 
 spirit united with great strength of purpose. Noth- 
 ing adverse disheartened him ; no difficulties affrighted 
 him. 
 
 In a sketch of Dr. Howe, published in the twentieth 
 volume of the Transactions of the National Medical 
 Association, Dr. Wilder, the secretary, says : u He 
 also became a member of the various Eclectic organiza- 
 tions the Ohio State and the National Eclectic Med- 
 
LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 11 
 
 ical Associations, and later of the Eclectic Medical 
 Society of Cincinnati. He had been a member of 
 the former National Association in its later years of 
 existence. With but one or two exceptions, he al- 
 ways attended meetings, taking a seat near the plat- 
 form, seldom exchanging words with any one, but 
 watchful of the proceedings. He took part eagerly in 
 the discussions, especially when they related to sur- 
 gical or gynaecological questions, but for routine med- 
 ical subjects, therapeutics, or technical points involving 
 principles of law or parliamentary usage, he had less 
 aptitude. He was never ambitious for official honors. 
 In 1882, however, despite his objections and protests, 
 he was elected president of the National Association 
 at its annual meeting in New Haven. He brought to 
 the office his habitual diligence and energy. He was 
 never remiss in a duty or in any way inefficient." 
 
 And in a sketch published in 1890 the same writer 
 says : " Whether Professor Howe shall be called a 
 leader of the Eclectic School of Medicine it is hardly 
 in our province to discuss. . . . One, however, 
 who has been so long a prominent teacher in the 
 principal Eclectic College, who has been always in at- 
 tendance at our meetings and participated in the con- 
 ducting of them, who is regarded by a multitude of 
 Eclectic practitioners with an admiration seldom ex- 
 ceeded, who is the most constant of the contributors to 
 our literature, and whose every utterance is carefully 
 pondered by a multitude of the most thoughtful and 
 earnest Eclectics, has his rank and position beyond our 
 power to establish it for him." 
 
 Constant in his attendance at medical meetings, 
 he was seldom the presiding officer. He believed that 
 he could be more useful to the societies in situations 
 
12 LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 less restricted by rules. It is not too much to say that 
 there was probably no member of these bodies whose 
 voice was listened to with more interest or whose 
 opinions were more valued. 
 
 The economy of time which Dr. Howe practiced 
 afforded him opportunity for the enjoyment of social 
 life and the pleasure of extending hospitality to 
 friends, professional brethren and strangers. The 
 hour before he resumed his work in the evenings he 
 was generally at liberty to pass with his friends. 
 Many of them will recall his open-hearted cheeriness 
 of manner, and oftentimes the charm of his conver- 
 sation, sparkling with wit and anecdote. He always 
 had the same unaffected simplicity of character. His 
 love and notice of children was marked, and it was a 
 significant tribute of the regard which the children 
 in turn bore to him that those of the neighborhood 
 who but saw him in his daily walks to and from his 
 residence, wept when he was gone. 
 
 Dr. Howe traveled extensively in the services 
 of his profession, and often long distances, having 
 answered surgical calls in twenty different states of 
 the Union, and in some of these many times. Un- 
 doubtedly such frequent journeyings caused him to be 
 disinclined to travel for pleasure. One visit to Europe 
 and one to the Pacific Coast, with an occasional brief 
 sojourn in his native state, almost comprise his vaca- 
 tions. The weeks passed in New England were a par- 
 ticular enjoyment to him, and driving over roads and 
 hills with which he was familiar, he took delight in 
 pointing out the trees he had planted, and the places 
 made doubly charming to him through youthful remi- 
 niscences. He always seemed to live near Nature, and 
 to hear her ''singing a more wonderful song" and 
 
LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 13 
 
 " telling a more wonderful tale." In his last years he 
 had purchased the estate which was his birthplace, 
 intending to present it to his native town, in the sum- 
 mer of 1892. His wishes in this respect were faith- 
 fully fulfilled. 
 
 He was a member of many societies for the pro- 
 motion of science and art, and gave liberally of his 
 means for the public welfare. But his special pleas- 
 ure in benefactions was where the favors bestowed 
 were known only to the recipient and himself. His 
 kind words and genial smile .involuntarily shed hap- 
 piness about him. He extended the right hand of 
 fellowship to many unknown and struggling young 
 men. When with any real need of encouragement 
 they sought him, they did not go away with a chill 
 upon their mind. He gave his professional services 
 freely and generously, rather as if it were a pleasure 
 to give them. 
 
 From no individual in society are advice, sym- 
 pathy and encouragement more sought by people of 
 all classes than from the wise physician ; and the in- 
 fluence thus exerted, who shall measure? Students 
 who heard Dr. Howe lecture, felt his magnetism, his 
 simplicity of manner, and the plainness of his in- 
 structions ; and the admiration thus commenced was 
 invariably continued. Often, in later years, came 
 back to him expressions of gratitude from those he 
 had helped, when assistance had meant giving direc- 
 tion to their hopes and fortunes for life. And when 
 he had passed away, the voice of sorrow was unani- 
 mous from those he had taught, wherever they were 
 situated over the land. 
 
 Dr. Howe was interested in religious movements, 
 and frequently assisted, according to his means, differ- 
 
14 LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 ent organizations. The church in which he felt the 
 greater interest was the Protestant Episcopal. Hon- 
 esty and honor were the guiding principles of his 
 great heart, and the rule of his life was the golden 
 one. He aimed to understand what was justice and 
 to do it. The longevity of his ancestors, his hitherto 
 excellent health, and his buoyant temperament, 
 caused him to think old age might be meted out to 
 him. The last months of his life he was less vigor- 
 ous than formerly, but his hands and mind were full 
 of active interest in the science that ever engaged his 
 attention. He always worked with a will and a pur- 
 pose. As a friend said, perhaps his life work was as 
 fully rounded as though he had lived to old age. 
 He died January 16, 1892. 
 
 G. L. H. 
 
 The funeral of Dr. Howe was the 19th of Janu- 
 ary. A very large assemblage was present at St. 
 Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, to assist at the 
 services. 
 
 The procession was met at the church porch by 
 the Rev. Mr. Baker, rector of St. Paul's Church, Dr. 
 Baker, the assistant rector, and vested members of the 
 choir. Leading the way to the chancel, Rev. Mr. 
 Baker recited the opening sentences of the burial ser- 
 vice in the prayer-book, commencing, " I am the 
 Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord." 
 
 The anthem, "Lord, let me know my end and 
 the number of my days," was chanted with deep im- 
 pressiveness by a quartet of men's voices. Dr. Ba- 
 ker read the lesson, " Now is Christ risen from the 
 dead," and Rev. Mr. Baker recited the concluding 
 
LIFE OF ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 15 
 
 prayers, the responses being rendered by the congre- 
 gation. 
 
 A part of the beautiful choral service was hymn 
 391, "Rock of ages, cleft for me," and Hymn 335, 
 "Abide with me : fast falls the eventide." In the mu- 
 sic of the organ, as the congregation passed from the 
 church, among other airs, was that of " Home, Sweet 
 Home." 
 
 The pall-bearers were the Faculty of the Medical 
 College and representatives of the societies of which 
 Dr. Howe was a member. 
 
 The interment was at Paxton, Massachusetts, in 
 March. 
 
ANTHROPOIDEA. 
 
 (Read before the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, Oct., 1877.) 
 
 The visitor to our Zoological Gardens can not 
 avoid observing that the Monkey-House attracts more 
 spectators than any other department in the exhibi- 
 tion. The dense throng in prolonged attendance in- 
 dicates the interest men, women and children take in 
 creatures which in so many ways resemble the human 
 family. Great delight is expressed at the solemn 
 countenances, comic grimaces, and roguish tricks dis- 
 played by members of the motley Simian tribe. A 
 listener will often hear incontinent remarks like the 
 following: "That old baboon looks as grave as a 
 judge : and that lively little monkey loves to poke 
 fun at him." The multitude seems to be fascinated 
 with the human similitude apparent in each apish 
 feature and action. Every look and attitude provokes 
 a smile, and is suggestive of an attempt to ridicule 
 human peculiarities. 
 
 No one in the crowd stops to make scientific com- 
 parisons, or attempts to analyze the affinities and 
 differences in the great range of resemblances and di- 
 versities represented, but everybody appears satisfied 
 to observe the humor in the travesties performed. It 
 would naturally be supposed that persons of an in- 
 quisitive mind should endeavor to select the Simian 
 representative that most closely resembled man, but 
 no effort of the kind is manifested. And when we 
 consider that no individual in the whole Simian family 
 
 (17) 
 
18 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 approaches man in many features, and that a few hu- 
 man characteristics are to be observed in every species 
 of the monkey tribe, the reason for not trying to find 
 the particular ape from which it has been alleged that 
 man sprung, becomes apparent. It would seem as if 
 some one of the great apes should embody and per- 
 sonate the highest attributes of the anthropoids, yet 
 in many respects the smaller monkeys are the nearest 
 to man in resemblances. The twinkling eyes and mo- 
 bile features of the little Sapajou strangely remind us 
 of a creature capable of caricaturing our very selves. 
 We wonder how such creatures can be so near hu- 
 man, yet so far fall short of the mark ! 
 
 The Darwinian assumption in regard to the Sim- 
 ian origin of the human race has taken such a deep 
 hold upon the popular mind that many people believe 
 a monkey is nearer a man than a careful analysis of 
 the apish organization proves it to be. In the first 
 place, it is a common mistake to suppose that an ape 
 is quadrumanous, or four handed. The creature is 
 generally arboreal in its habits, and, therefore, needs 
 grasping feet to cling to the branches of trees. In 
 some species of monkeys the tail is developed into a 
 prehensile organ. Man may be properly denominated 
 " bimanous," yet not in contrast with " quadruma- 
 nous " animals, for none such exist. The posterior 
 limbs of all the Simian family terminate in feet. 
 The toes and hallux may possess the grasping func- 
 tions of a hand, yet anatomically considered, each 
 pelvic extremity ends in a foot. It would be as erro- 
 neous to say that an opossum was four-handed as to 
 aver that a monkey is quadrumanous. The great toe 
 of an ape diverges from the lesser toes, as the hallux 
 does in many of the marsupial animals; and in several 
 
ANTHROPOIDEA. 19 
 
 instances there is a defect in the nail of the divergent 
 toe, as in the opossum, hut the aherrant digit is 
 moved hy muscles that belong to a leg and a foot. 
 
 What a monkey gains hy having hand-like feet 
 is lost to it when upon the ground. If an ape were 
 compelled to live where no trees exist, its lack of good 
 feet would be seriously felt. The grasping feet of an 
 ape do not contribute a particle toward elevating the 
 creature to the status of man; but they actually hin- 
 der that physical uprightness which is characteristic 
 of the human race. 
 
 When we examine the anterior or pectoral ex- 
 tremities of the Simian family, we do not meet with 
 so high an order of manus as is credited by the popu- 
 lar mind. Many species of monkeys and apes possess 
 a thumb and four fingers on each anterior extremity, 
 yet none of the race can boast of a thumb which is 
 opposable to the ends of each of the adjacent lingers 
 the thumb is too short and the fingers are too long for 
 such a maneuver. In fact, no monkey nor ape pos- 
 sesses a perfect thumb. The dressed up Sapajou can 
 not button its clothing nor tie its cravat. Its thumb 
 is ridiculously below the "second hand" of Sir Charles 
 Bell. 
 
 It is a notable fact that monkeys with extended 
 caudal appendages are apt to lose the pollex alto- 
 gether. The cebidce, or American monkeys, are, with 
 one exception, long tailed, and all are thumbless or 
 have stunted thumbs, except the short tailed variety 
 alone. The Ateles or Spider-monkey, is remarkable 
 for the prehensile character of its tail, the underside 
 of- the extremity being hairless to enhance the tactile 
 sense; and its anterior extremities are destitute of 
 thumbs. It seems as if a law of compensation oper- 
 
20 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 ated upon the organization of these creatures, a pre- 
 hensile tail being obtained at the expense of thumbs. 
 The brain constitutes such a distinctive feature 
 of man's superiority over the inferior animals, that 
 though other parts of lower organizations were equal 
 to corresponding parts in man, and even excelled them, 
 man as a psychological being would still stand unap- 
 proached. Some of the Gibbons and most of the 
 cebidce possess an arrangement of the encephalic mass 
 which quite closely resembles the general contour of 
 the human brain. If the " facial angle " of Camper 
 signified what has been claimed for it as a measure of 
 mental capacity, the tiny Marmoset of South America 
 would rank higher as an intellectual being than man, 
 for the angle is greater in its face and head, though its 
 brain contains little gray matter and no convolutions. 
 The Siamang has retracted jaws, incisor teeth which 
 meet each other vertically, a prominent, forehead that 
 gives the face a human appearance, yet its cerebrum 
 does not overlap the cerebellum as completely as does 
 that of the Marmoset. The Ateles has a projecting 
 muzzle, therefore its face is not so human in appear- 
 ance as is that of the Siamang, but its forehead is 
 more projecting, and the occipital lobes which possess 
 cornua and lesser hippocampi, quite cover and conceal 
 the cerebellum, as do corresponding parts in the 
 larger apes and man. The spider-monkey also pos- 
 sesses folds of brain substance interposed between the 
 parietal and occipital lobes, which in man are called 
 " bridging convolutions." In this feature the Ateles 
 surpasses the largest apes. But while so many cere- 
 bral characters of a high anthropoid nature are pos- 
 sessed by the spider-monkey, it must be borne in 
 mind that the brain of the animal will not weigh 
 
ANTHROPOIDEA. 21 
 
 more than six or eight ounces ; and that the creature 
 otherwise is less anthropoidal than the great apes. 
 
 Of the Simian family most resembling man in 
 general features, size being a leading consideration, 
 are the Gibbons, the Orang, the Chimpanzee, and the 
 Gorilla. In cerebral features the Gibbons stand the 
 highest. However, when weight of brain is considered 
 alone, the Chimpanzee takes the lead; and the Gorilla 
 falls below the Orang. But, mere mass, or preponder- 
 ance of weight, does not alone constitute intellectual 
 elevation, there must be a proportionate amount of 
 gray matter in convolutions to insure intellectual 
 strength and activity. The elephant and the whale 
 possess more brain-substance than man, yet not so 
 much gray matter. It is said that a canary bird has 
 comparatively more brain than man, but the com- 
 parison is not important in this connection. 
 
 Although the Chimpanzee possesses the heaviest 
 brain among the great apes, its cerebral mass does not 
 approach in weight the smallest human brain. A full 
 grown Gorilla will weigh over two hundred pounds, 
 and the average Esquimeau will not exceed half that 
 weight, yet the brain of the latter will weigh twice 
 as much as that of the former. The brain of the 
 Chimpanzee will not weigh over twenty ounces ; the 
 smallest human brain reaches over forty ounces ; and 
 that of Cuvier weighed over sixty ounces. In com- 
 paring the cerebral matter of the highest apes it is 
 found that in the development of the anterior lobes, 
 and in the preponderance of outside, cortical, or gray 
 substance, which is chiefly in convolutions, the Orang 
 is superior to the Chimpanzee and the Gorilla. 
 Psychologically considered the Orang is the highest 
 ape ; and those people who claim that man had a 
 
22 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 Simian origin would do well to select the Orang as the 
 progenitor of the human race. 
 
 M. Gratiolet, who has given much attention to 
 the anatomical structure and mental character of apes, 
 regards the brain of the Gorilla as the lowest of all 
 the latisternal apes. In the disposition of the brain of 
 the Gorilla, he says, " there is the culmination of that 
 type of cerebral structure exhibited by j:he relatively 
 brutal and degraded Baboons." 
 
 Professor Rolleston, after declaring the Orang as 
 " king of the Simiadse," expresses himself as follows : 
 " In the world of science as in that of politics, France 
 and England have occasionally differed as to their 
 choice between rival candidates for royalty. If either 
 hereditary claims or personal merits affect at all the 
 rights of succession, beyond a question the Gorilla is 
 but a pretender, and one or the other of the two can- 
 didates the true prince. There is a graceful as well 
 as an ungraceful way of withdrawing from a false 
 position, and the British public will adopt the grace- 
 ful course by accepting forthwith and henceforth the 
 French candidate, and by indorsing M. Gratiolet's 
 proposal for speaking of the Gorilla as but a Baboon, 
 of the Chimpanzee as a Macaque, and of the Orang as 
 a Gibbon." A similar view is held by St. George 
 4 Mivart, who in his late and interesting work entitled 
 " Man and Apes" makes a very close analysis of the 
 man-like features to be observed in the various 
 varieties of the Simian family. He comes out strongly 
 in favor of placing the Orang on the Simian throne. 
 
 Mr. Huxley, in his "Evidence as to Man's Place in 
 Nature" labors to prove that man may have sprung 
 from the Gorilla on the ground that this great ape 
 differs less from the lower grade of mankind than it 
 
ANTHROPOIDEA. 23 
 
 does from several species of the Simian family, for 
 instance, from Lemurs and Marmosets, creatures 
 which are nearer squirrels than monkeys. While this 
 is apparently a strong argument, it is really an exceed- 
 ingly weak one, as a comparison of members of 
 another order of animals will show. The Ostrich is a 
 bird, but it can not rise upon its wings and fly; and 
 its wings are tipped with claws or nails, showing the 
 creature is not fully removed from quadrupedal 
 characteristics. The Kangaroo is at the head of a 
 class of marsupial animals which reach down to mono- 
 tremes, a sub-order, to the ornithorhynchus, a creature 
 which is half bird. 
 
 The Kangaroo hops about on two legs like a 
 bird ; its trunk is poised on its femurs like that of a 
 bird ; its head is small like that of an Ostrich ; its fore- 
 paws are employed to help the animal along as the 
 Struthio family use their defective wings, consequently 
 the Ostrich must have sprung from the largest and 
 most prominent of the marsupial family, for it is 
 nearer the Kangaroo than the latter is to the lowest of 
 the marsupials! or, to modify the application of the 
 argument to suit the proposition, the Kangaroo is 
 more widely separated from the platypus than it is 
 from the Struthio family, consequently the Ostrich 
 may have sprung from it. 
 
 It is not a little strange that no representative of 
 the Simian tribe has attempted to talk, or to convey 
 ideas by words. Some of the monkey family possess 
 a vocal apparatus which enables them to howl fear- 
 fully, yet no visitor to a Monkey-House ever hears 
 sounds that express much meaning. Dogs can bark, 
 howl, whine, and otherwise by vocal sounds make 
 known their feelings. Parrots speak quite plainly, 
 
24 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 and are thus more anthropoidal than any of the 
 monkey family. 
 
 The male Orang has a well developed beard, 
 which adds considerably to its man-like appearance. 
 Several of the Simiadce and of the cebidce exhibit quite 
 creditable whiskers. The Sakis sports a luxuriant 
 beard ; and the female takes pride in a handsome head 
 of long hair which she parts in the middle. 
 
 There exists a prevailing notion that length of 
 tail has much to do with grade of development in the 
 Simian race, and that man must have sprung from the 
 ape that possessed the shortest caudal appendage. 
 Against this popular idea it may be stated that several 
 of the short-tailed Baboons are exceedingly stupid and 
 brutal, while the long- tailed monkeys are mostly act- 
 ive, intelligent and tractable. Kangaroos and other 
 long-tailed marsupials are notably agile, cunning and 
 quick of apprehension. On the other hand the Aus- 
 tralian bear, the Koala, the Wombat and other short- 
 tailed marsupials are remarkably dull and uninterest- 
 ing. The number of caudal vertebrae in the Orang, 
 the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla is the same as in 
 man, while the dull Barbary ape the Inuus has one 
 less than the human family. 
 
 Those persons who presume there is little differ- 
 ence between the highest order of apes and the lowest 
 grades of man, should consider that if a young Orang, 
 Chimpanzee or Gorilla be raised by man and subjected 
 to elevating influences, it would remain an ape all its 
 life, yet the infant of the most degraded of the human 
 family may be so managed and educated that it shall 
 at least equal the average man so far as intelligence is 
 concerned. A baby snatched from its ~New Zealand 
 mother and raised under civilized influences, would at 
 
ANTHROPOIDEA. 25 
 
 length exhibit an intellectual endowment characteris- 
 tic of the human race, though it might retain the short 
 legs and physical peculiarities of its parents. It might 
 not rival the highest of mankind in mental scope, but 
 it would be infinitely superior to the best trained ape. 
 
 Sometimes nature departs from the even tenor of 
 her ways and produces a monster, or an individual 
 strikingly at variance with original or ancestral stock; 
 yet the saltus or leap is nearly always downward, an 
 inferior organization being the result. It is a lapse 
 and not a leap. If it could be. shown that the saltus 
 is ever forward or upward a step having been taken 
 from a lower to a higher grade there might be some 
 foundation for the supposition that the frisky little Sa- 
 pajou took a jump forward and became an homuncu- 
 lus, if there could be such a being; and this strange 
 creature at length raised itself to the status of savage 
 man ! 
 
 There is a tendency in the organic world to im- 
 prove upon original stock by an inherent principle of 
 variation, but the conditions must all be favorable or 
 a corresponding lapse will occur. Changes for the 
 worst may be rapid ; but if they are for the better the 
 movement is so gradual that cycles of time must have 
 been consumed in attaining varieties, to say nothing 
 of species. To reach a difference that could be re- 
 garded as sufficient to establish an advanced species, 
 would demand a saltus or an extraordinary leap up- 
 ward ; but abrupt transitions have not been observed 
 to occur in the organic world, though cataclysms of 
 the physical world have stranded elephants in the ices 
 of Siberia. From any thing that has thus far been ob- 
 served to occur in the animal kingdom, there is noth- 
 ing to warrant the assumption that the human family 
 
26 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 the ffominidce ever sprang from the Simiadce or 
 the Cebidce. The gap is too wide to be cleared by any 
 saltus ever before taken in the history of evolution. 
 If man did spring from an ape the evidence leading 
 to that conclusion is defective. The verdict in the 
 case should be, " not proven." 
 
 Any one who has made many dissections of the 
 human body must have been struck with the number 
 of variations encountered in the organism; and it' he 
 has closely observed and considered every prominent 
 variation he must have been surprised to find that 
 each aberration, be it great or small, could be com- 
 pared to a normal state existing in a lower grade of 
 animal. 
 
 There is no part of the human body in which an- 
 atomical deviations so frequently exist as in the brach- 
 ial region. In several instances I have met with a mus- 
 cular band, spanning the lower part of the axilla, and 
 uniting the latissimus dorsi and pectoralis major mus- 
 cles; and in dissecting the felidee I find this to be the 
 normal state. Every work on surgical anatomy calls 
 attention to this and other variations of muscles and 
 deviations of vessels in order that the operator may 
 not be disconcerted by meeting an abnormal arrange- 
 ment of parts. 
 
 In one instance I found the "biceps" had a third 
 head which covered and concealed the brachial artery 
 and median nerve in the lower third of the arm a 
 variation which agrees with a normal state in fdidce. 
 
 It is well known to every comparative anatomist 
 that most marsupialia, allfelidce, and the lower cebidce, 
 are related by one feature in the osseous system,which 
 is, that the internal condyloid ridge of the humerus 
 is perforated for the passage of the brachial artery and 
 
ANTHROPOIDEA. 27 
 
 median nerve. What may be the object of this ar- 
 rangement I will not pretend to explain ; nor do I be- 
 lieve an avowed evolutionist can give a satisfactory ex- 
 planation of the uses of the arrangement. It has been 
 alleged that protection to the nerve and vessel was 
 secured by the peculiar disposition of parts ; but I can 
 not see why the dog and the rabbit should not need 
 the favor as well as the cat and the lemur. 
 
 In the humerus of man there is occasionally met 
 an abnormal state which approaches a normal condi- 
 tion in the lower animals that possess a perforation of 
 the humeral condyles. At a point two inches above 
 the internal condyle, a spur of bone springs from the 
 shaft of the humerus just inside the condyloid ridge, 
 and projects like a hook with its point directed down- 
 ward. This spur of bone, which may be called the 
 sup ra-condylar process, is a third of an inch in length, 
 and its point is connected with the internal condyle 
 by a ligament that leaves a foramen beneath it, or be- 
 tween it and the bone. The ligament corresponds to 
 what is osseous in the adult cat. In the young of the 
 felidce the foramen is bounded in part by a segment of 
 ligamentous tissue. 
 
 When the supra-condylar process exists in man 
 the brachial artery and median nerve pass behind it, 
 and through the foramen, thus imitating what is nor- 
 mal in marsupial, feline, and certain of the lower Simi- 
 adce and cebidce. Normally the Gibbons, the Orang, 
 the Chimpanzee, the Gorilla, and the larger cebidce do 
 not possess a supra-condylar foramen, but exceptions 
 occasionally exist in each of these, yet whether oftener 
 than in man's organization remains to be discovered 
 by extended observations. It would be a point in 
 favor of the evolution theory if it could be shown that 
 
28 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 the supra-condylar foramen appeared oftener in the 
 prehistoric skeleton of man than it does at present; 
 and if it showed itself more frequently in the great 
 apes than it does in the savage or civilized man. But 
 knowledge is confessedly so limited on 'this subject at 
 present that the results of future comparisons can not 
 be predicted. 
 
LATIN 
 
 AS A COMPULSORY QUALIFICATION IN THE MEDICAL 
 STUDENT'S PREPARATORY EDUCATION. 
 
 At present English rule and custom require some 
 knowledge of Latin as a preliminary qualification to 
 registry as a medical student ; and a half century or 
 more ago, a similar prerequisite was demanded to en- 
 ter American medical colleges. 
 
 In 1892 the general Medical Counsel of the 
 United Kingdom of Great Britain will require for 
 registration as a medical student the following com- 
 pulsory subjects: English grammar and composition ; 
 Latin, to the extent of grammar and the reading of 
 easy lessons ; Mathematics, comprising arithmetic and 
 the simple equations of algebra ; Geometry, with easy 
 deductions. Optional studies embrace one or more 
 modern languages, logic and Greek. Graduates in 
 Arts are exempt from preliminary examinations. 
 Without a University training a candidate for regis- 
 try must be acquainted with elementary physics, 
 chemistry and biology. 
 
 In France the preliminary examinations embrace 
 a somewhat advanced knowledge of Latin, and a 
 thorough understanding of physics, chemistry, mathe- 
 matics, and zoology. In Germany a considerable 
 amount of Latin is required, with capacity not only 
 to translate, but to compose sentence after sentence, 
 and to read easy lessons in Greek. One modern lan- 
 guage besides German must be spoken ; and there 
 
 (29) 
 
30 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 must have been a thorough training in mathematics, 
 physics and the natural sciences. In Russia a sound 
 education is required, and a familiarity with Latin 
 and Greek prose and verse. At least two modern 
 languages are compulsory French and German pre- 
 ferred. In Italy a young man desiring to commence 
 the study of medicine must be thoroughly prepared 
 in mathematics and physics ; and pass a rigid ex- 
 amination in Latin and Greek. The requirements 
 are equivalent to graduation in the Arts. In Switzer- 
 land a knowledge of several Latin authors is re- 
 quired Livy, Cicero, Virgil, Plautus and Horace. 
 Besides, in mathematics, chemistry and physics, the 
 requisition is about on a par with that of a university 
 graduate. In Spain and Portugal a thorough educa- 
 tion is required, including advanced knowledge of 
 Latin and Greek. In most European countries a 
 medical student is examined in drawing, much weight 
 being attached to the accomplishment. 
 
 From the citations made it will be seen that a 
 classical training is required in all European countries 
 for students who contemplate studying medicine ; and 
 that the natural sciences constitute prerequisites to 
 registration. Such have been the requirements for 
 centuries, and no laxity in learning is prospective. A 
 greater and greater degree of erudition is demanded 
 at every decade. Only in America has it been per- 
 mitted that students from farms, trades and work- 
 shops enter the portals of medical colleges without a 
 preliminary examination without a question being 
 asked as to character or clerical acquisitions. The 
 rapid increase of population in the country created a 
 pressing demand for more and more medical men. 
 Pretenders in medicine from foreign lands settled in 
 
31 
 
 our cities and large towns without let or hindrance ; 
 and to cover their own educational defects they com- 
 pared the meagerness of an American training with 
 that demanded in the countries they emigrated from. 
 In a majority of instances it was found that such 
 sticklers for great erudition had never studied medi- 
 cine at all, but were the sorriest of adventurers in 
 medical practice. 
 
 To repeat in America the call for physicians be- 
 came so pressing, that school teachers and graduates 
 of high schools were admitted to seats in medical col- 
 leges, till half the graduates had not a smattering of 
 Latin and Greek ; and it has been found that the 
 non-classical among graduates in medicine have been 
 as successful practitioners as bachelors in art and 
 science. 
 
 The innovation was fought against by the wealthy 
 and aristocratic, but it became plain that the scepter 
 of authority had departed from the sway of dogmatic 
 universities. Rivalry in medical colleges led to a cry 
 for numbers, and not for well qualified matriculants. 
 Thus matters drifted for a quarter of a century or 
 more, when the cry arose that doctors were becoming 
 too plentiful that some kind of Malthusian scheme 
 must be invented to check overproduction. Already 
 the edict has gone forth that the period of medical 
 study must be prolonged. The time and cost of a 
 medical education must be increased as a restraint 
 upon undue multiplication. The curriculum of med- 
 ical study has been extended from two to four years ; 
 and a preliminary examination is demanded there is 
 a call for a teacher's certificate, or a knowledge of 
 English grammar and composition, with some pro- 
 ficiency in mathematics and elementary physics. In 
 
32 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 other words a barrier is placed at the portals of med- 
 ical colleges which requires some degree of learning 
 to pass. And if this does not prove a sufficient re- 
 straint upon propagation, a classical qualification will be 
 added, especially as the customs of Europe call for it. 
 
 If the medical course cover four years, I would 
 reduce it to three, and require a preliminary year to 
 be devoted to classics and natural sciences. It would 
 amount to the same in the end, so far as cost and time 
 are concerned, yet would be a wiser division of study. 
 A man with a year's training in Latin will learn much 
 faster than the student who has to turn to the medical 
 lexicon at every step taken. 
 
 At the International Medical Congress, which re- 
 cently convened at Berlin, were gathered representa- 
 tives from twenty-five different nations; consequently, 
 in the reading of papers and discussion of topics, there 
 must have been a Babel of tongues. Few could under- 
 stand what may have been said. In contrast with this 
 confusion of speech is a council of Catholic dignitaries 
 convened at Rome to discuss some measure of the 
 Church. Though they come from the four quarters 
 of the earth, and officiate in the language of the coun- 
 tries they represent, they are all educated in Latin, and 
 transact business in a common tongue. I mention the 
 circumstance to illustrate the need of a "dead lan- 
 guage" as a medium of communication for delegates 
 constituting international congresses, whether to dis- 
 cuss religion, medicine, law or commerce. The inter- 
 national importance of the matter may be overesti- 
 mated, yet it is worthy of notice, especially as English 
 is not likely to be the ruling tongue for a thousand 
 years or more. 
 
 In a consideration of the subject, it must be borne 
 
LATIN MEDICAL STUDENT'S EDUCATION. 33 
 
 in mind that the language of science is largely class- 
 ical. Latin and Greek are derivatively utilized in 
 almost every technical expression. Medical literature 
 is burdened with technicals of classic origin. The 
 nomenclature of every branch of science is classical. 
 Medicine was born in Latin its earliest words were 
 lisped by Romans, imbibing Arabic and Greek enough 
 to make it interesting. Before English or any other 
 modern language was written or spoken all scientific 
 matter was couched in the Latin tongue. Anglo Saxon 
 was uttered in monosyllabic words in mediaeval time, 
 but not written in scholarly forms. Our scientific 
 terms are derivatively Latin. An objection to mod- 
 ern methods is that they have been slavishly classical. 
 When Dr. Wood described the great fissure near the 
 base of the brain it was not called after the patronymic 
 of the discoverer, but was denominated the fissure of 
 Sylvius, the Latin for wood a common and not a 
 proper noun. So it was with the Brunonian theory, 
 which originated with Brown Bruno being the Latin 
 translation of brown, a color! Nothing could be more 
 absurd. Glandula pituitosa is the name given to what 
 is ordinarily denominated the pituitary body, yet the 
 pea-shaped mass is not phlegmy, nor is it a gland. 
 Other namings in anatomy are as ridiculous. The 
 haunch bone is easier spoken and written than os 
 innominatum. No wonder the non-classical student 
 of medicine asks why such dismal nomenclatures are 
 not discarded, or supplanted by good English expres- 
 sions but he does not understand the difficulty of 
 changing even the spelling of a word. We are irre- 
 vocably chained to the past. A translation into 
 English is not always forcible. Let an example be pre- 
 sented iter a tertio ad quart am i'entriculum a canal in 
 
34 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 the brain becomes "a way from the third to the fourth 
 ventricle." Again, levator labii superioris alcegue nasi 
 becomes a " lifter of the upper lip and a wing of the 
 nose." Dactus communis choledochus becomes common 
 bile duct, which is as good as the scientific form. 
 Yet a translation is sometimes flat or spiritless take 
 corpus luteum for instance. Its classical meaning is 
 simply " yellow r body," but there are so many yellow 
 bodies in the world we need something more dis- 
 tinctive. I cite these examples to show how useful 
 becomes a smattering of Latin to the student of an- 
 atomy. Without a classical training the novice in 
 medicine is a slave to his dictionary. He wastes so 
 much time in consulting lexicons that he would do as 
 well to begin his studies anew, giving a year to Latin 
 before entering upon a medical career. 
 
 At a recent meeting of the British Medical Asso- 
 ciation the president, Dr. Francis Wade, delivered an 
 address on the "Prsetechnical stages of a Medical 
 Education," making some timely remarks on the 
 amount of Latin a student of medicine should pos- 
 sess before registering as such. He said, "We need 
 not trouble ourselves about the fortunate few who have 
 the taste, the time and the money to pursue classical 
 studies; and are able to pay their way in foreign seats 
 of learning, including schools of science and unri- 
 valed hospital advantages they can and will take 
 care of themselves they are outside our solicitude ; 
 but w r e are to devise ways for the mentally capable, 
 though pecuniarily restricted. I hold that a pro- 
 tracted study of the classics, such as is now demanded 
 by the General Medical Council, is not within the 
 reach of many otherwise qualified to enter upon the 
 study of medicine. The problem now is to forward 
 
LATIN MEDICAL STUDENT'S EDUCATION. 35 
 
 a practicable plan by which a less expensive career 
 can be honorably passed in the attainment of a med- 
 ical education. If a classical course be not necessary 
 for the successful study and practice of our profession, 
 and at the same time not lower the standard of sound 
 scholarship, it is our duty to adopt measures looking 
 to that end. In an elementary course must be em- 
 braced a knowledge of mechanics of physics, mathe- 
 matics, chemistry, botany, biology, and the elements 
 of a sound, thorough education in general. There 
 should be no lowering of the time-honored standard 
 in educational matters; but possibly more science and 
 less classics more practical knowledge at the expense 
 of that which is regarded more or less as ornamental. 
 An argument in favor' of less Latin is in the fact that 
 the recent Pharmacopoeia gives both the Latin and 
 the English names of drugs. All directions to the 
 compounder of medicines are to be written in English. 
 With such changes there is less need of classical quali- 
 fications as a prerequisite to a medical career. Be- 
 sides, it is a growing custom with those who have 
 enjoyed a liberal education to employ less and less 
 Latin in their prescriptions to indulge less and less 
 in the pedantry of classical exhibitions. The half- 
 educated are most likely to make a display of slat- 
 ternly Latin." 
 
 Mr. Gladstone once gave the following testimony 
 before an educational committee : " In my opinion 
 a classical education is the very best for those who 
 can afford the time and the money for the acquisition 
 of the luxury, and whose tastes lead to the accom- 
 plishment, but terrible errors have been committed in 
 attempting to force Latin and Greek down the throats 
 of every body of a certain rank, quite irrespective of 
 
36 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 capacity and conditions. The main purpose of educa- 
 tion is to make the human mind supple, strong, and ef- 
 fective, whatever be the avocation of life entered upon, 
 or in whatever career an individual may be called 
 upon to act, whether of choice or accident. An edu- 
 cation is something to help the intellectual citizen to 
 perform his part in life to better advantage than could 
 be done without it." 
 
 It is my opinion that Latin should be an optional 
 and not a compulsory study in a medical education. 
 The success of a physician depends more upon a cer- 
 tain tact than upon erudition. A knowledge of hu- 
 man nature a ready understanding of its weak points 
 does more for a physician than a familiarity with 
 the conjugation of a Latin verb. However, I would 
 not be misunderstood in this matter. If two young 
 men of equal ability start off together in the study of 
 medicine, the 'one with a non-classical training and the 
 other with a university degree, the chances are that 
 the latter will outstrip the former in the professional 
 race, especially in large to\vns and cities where culture 
 is appreciated. The unlettered doctor is known as 
 such, and intellectual brilliance will not hide the fact. 
 He is something less than what he ought to be or 
 might have been. He may have genius, but lacks the 
 ability to display it to the best advantage. But, learn- 
 ing without talent is not as valuable as talent without 
 education. A combination of the two is what makes 
 the strongest man. 
 
 Professor Huxley, in a recent letter to the Londo?i 
 Times, has expressed himself rather severely on the 
 perfunctory Latin course, saying: "Medical students, 
 like other cultured people, should have a sound liter- 
 ary training, and that they may attain a good degree 
 
LATIN MEDICAL STUDENT'S EDUCATION. 37 
 
 of learning, especially in science, they should be 
 through with elementary studies at the age of fifteen. 
 That they may correctly estimate the worth of scien- 
 tific pursuits, they must cease to worship the Latin 
 fetish they must put a just value upon practical tal- 
 ents, and not hold the classics in superstitious rever- 
 ence. Fortunate is the man who possesses a jewel 
 a diamond but not unfortunate is he who does not 
 have the bauble." 
 
 President Eliot, of Harvard University, has thrown 
 the weight of his great influence against a prolonged 
 classical course, reaching as it has in times past through 
 the four years curriculum. He would demand as much 
 Latin and Greek for entrance, but would reduce the 
 college career to three years, as in English universities, 
 and he would have undergraduates give more atten- 
 tion to science and modern languages. This is not 
 retrogressive nor revolutionary, but a concession to 
 the demands of the age. At present the utilitarian 
 idea is predominant the world wants practical me- 
 chanics, engineers, architects, and inventors. :f A prac- 
 tical electrician commands a higher salary to-day than 
 the professor of Latin and Greek in a renowned uni- 
 versity. The demand of the times is for successful 
 managers of great enterprises, and not for scholastic 
 pundits who can discuss profoundly the Metamor- 
 phoses of Ovid, declaring why, or why not, in should 
 be placed before media tutissimus ibis. A classical de- 
 cision in the case would be of little importance to the 
 projector of a transcontinental railway, or a line of 
 swift steamers to cross and recross the Pacific. Peo- 
 ple are not satisfied with old rates of speed they want 
 more efficient locomotives and faster running steam- 
 ships, and he is the lauded hero who, through invent- 
 
38 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 ive talents, has lessened the time between two places. 
 The editor who knows u a little Latin and less Greek" 
 vigorously applies the lash to the fast-going world, 
 and stimulates greed for fame and fortune. The 
 preacher is superannuated unless he be sensational, 
 the lawyer without a conscience is in demand, and a 
 dudish doctor is sought by the senseless multitude. 
 Sic transit gloria mundi. 
 
 But above and outside of this hustle and bustle 
 there is, arid ever will be, a place for modest merit. 
 The educated and refined will constitute the basis of 
 good society. The " three professions " will exert 
 their swaying influence as long as they be filled with 
 educated gentlemen. The minister, the lawyer, and 
 the doctor will be revered as long as they represent 
 learning and gentlemanly qualities. 
 
 At the International Medical Congress the sec- 
 tion on anatomy considered the question of modifying 
 anatomical nomenclature. There was evidently a dif- 
 ference of opinion as to the extent of proposed modi- 
 fications. Sir William Turner made a very sensible 
 speech. He said that before any thing could be done 
 in this direction some general principle should be 
 agreed upon. There must be a recognized basis on 
 which the proposed committee could act while at- 
 tempting to give scientific shape to technical modifica- 
 tions. Although many of the terms used were sin- 
 gularly inappropriate, they were classical and held a 
 prominent place in the history of anatomy, command- 
 ing such reverence that British anatomists would never 
 
 consent to give them up 
 
 . . . . Inasmuch as Mr. Turner and Professor 
 Cunningham were put on the committee of revision^ 
 
LATIN MEDICAL STUDENT'S EDUCATION. 39 
 
 it need not be expected that radical changes will be 
 entered upon. 
 
 In the physiological section some novel ideas 
 were presented. In a discussion of nerve supply for 
 the larynx it was contended that no word in any 
 modern language could take the place of the Greek 
 expression. " Organ of the voice " was not a substi- 
 tutenot a translation. In the course of some re- 
 marks on phonation, Dubois-Reymond stated that in 
 some animals, as the cat and the cow, vocal sounds 
 were produced by inspiration, and not by expiration. 
 Professor Exner remarked that such was also the case 
 with the pig, and gave a realistic demonstration 
 how the grunt was produced by an inspiratory effort. 
 
 I have cited the opinions of scholarly men who 
 are opposed to a prolonged classical career as prepara- 
 tory to the study of medicine ; and to be fair I pro- 
 pose to quote from two or three who are in favor of a 
 thorough training in Latin and Greek. M. Bour- 
 geois, the Minister of Public Education in France, 
 declares that only indifferent success can be attained 
 in scientific studies if the classics be neglected. M. 
 Jules Simon, whose authority on questions of educa- 
 tion is beyond dispute, recently remarked : " I should 
 certainly be disposed to advocate an increase in class- 
 ical studies, for I hold that my friends Berthelot, Ber- 
 trand, Pasteur and Jaunsen, advocate a study of the 
 classics for the good they know to be in them, for the 
 discipline obtained in the study of ancient literature, 
 and for the educational virtue which is imparted to 
 the classical scholar. Where is the liberally educated 
 individual who regrets the cost and time spent in 
 learning Latin and Greek? When such a person is 
 found I should regard him as demented.'' 
 
40 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 What the student of medicine needs is education 
 enough to enable him to prosecute his studies in col- 
 lege with comparative ease; and such an amount em- 
 braces a good English training and some knowledge 
 of Latin and Greek. If only the alphabet of the hit- 
 ter be known, the characters can be rendered in 
 L a tin in English. A year's training in Latin en- 
 sures a sufficient acquaintance with the language to 
 master anatomical terms. If a student be fitted to 
 enter Harvard or Yale, he is creditably prepared to 
 pursue the study of medicine. His scholarship is 
 then above reproach. For the indigent among aspi- 
 rants for medical degrees, the farm is a place where a 
 young man can work enough to pay his way, and at 
 the same time obtain a creditable knowledge of anat- 
 omy, physiology, botany and natural history. Let 
 him buy a few text books (which have to be owned 
 sooner or later), a work on anatomy, a physiological 
 treatise, an elementary guide to botany, and a book 
 on the elements of zoology. In every rural district 
 there is a scholarly citizen who con amore would give 
 a little time each week to hear a lesson in the Latin 
 reader, give an explanation to the technicals of bot- 
 any, and discuss the salient points in zoology. 
 
 The school teacher in a country village, who may 
 be ambitious to study medicine, will find time to recite 
 lessons in Latin to the preacher, who is glad to refresh 
 his memory in classical lore. If the pedagogue com- 
 plain that his duties are already onerous, I can assure 
 him that the memorizing of a paradigm will prove 
 recreative. We see that the teeth of animals are so 
 placed in the two jaws that, through attrition, they 
 become self sharpeners ; so it is with human pursuits 
 the mind is not only rested by dropping one subject 
 
41 
 
 and taking up another, but it is sharpened and 
 strengthened by the change. 
 
 Lawson Tait has said that he sends his medical 
 students to the mills and manufactories to learn how 
 to use their hands. At the pottery they may learn to 
 mold plastic clay, that they may make a model of a 
 deformity; they shall spend time in the limner's studio 
 and the photographic gallery, that they may learn to 
 express features in outline and shade. The physician 
 who can not sketch a morbid expression is unfortu- 
 nate. I would make drawing a compulsory qualifi- 
 cation to matriculation. The best surgeons in the 
 world have served time among the trades. It is a 
 laudable accomplishment to be able to handle tools 
 adroitly. There are more advantages in cultured ma- 
 nipulation than ever entered the head of a classical 
 dullard. The surgeon's tactus eruditus is the cultivated 
 sense of palpation ; and it is not inherited, but ac- 
 quired. , 
 
 A dislocated shoulder or hip can not be reduced 
 without an understanding of the application of force 
 in the most direct and advantageous manner; and 
 there is no better place to become expert in such 
 knowledge than in the multiple and varied labors of a 
 rural ist. In a logging camp are experiences which 
 test a man's ingenuity and widen his mental capa- 
 cities. 
 
MATTER AND ENERGY. 
 
 (Read before the Cincinnati Natural History Society, Sept. 3, 1889. 
 
 Inasmuch as it is illogical to assume that matter 
 was made from nothing, we are forced to believe that 
 it has always existed in some form ; and as matter is 
 never without attributes without activities or en- 
 ergies it is logical to conclude that forces have al- 
 ways been associated with matter. Knowing that 
 such forces are antagonistic, the conclusion can not be 
 avoided that they necessitate motion in matter. The 
 idea that matter may continue at rest is hardly con- 
 ceivable, for inherent energies would enforce activity. 
 
 Matter is capable of assuming a variety of forms ; 
 it may appear as gas, or as liquid, or solid ; and force 
 may be transferred from one activity to another, with- 
 out waste of material or energy. 
 
 Gravitation is one of the inherent energies, and 
 repulsion is another. In their manifestations they ag- 
 gregate matter into masses, and also tend to dissipate 
 substances, and by their opposing influences they cause 
 transformations and transmutations which embrace a 
 history of the universe. 
 
 While the postulate is that matter and power have 
 been eternal, we can not, as finite beings, help looking 
 upon our world as being in a somewhat mature state, 
 with a formative story running backward, and a 
 prospective one foreshadowing decline and ultimate 
 desolation. A basis of the reasoning is that the moon 
 (42) 
 
MATTER AND ENERGY. 43 
 
 and certain stellar bodies which are not what they 
 were, furnish a foundation for such lucubrations. 
 But, granting that a celestial body a satellite, for in- 
 stance does grow old and exhibit decrepitude, that is 
 not conclusive that its substance in other forms, may 
 not again take part in cosmical affairs. A mass of 
 matter may be resolved into its elements into nebu- 
 lous atoms and have its particles aggregated again 
 into a sidereal sphere, the processes of diffusion and 
 concentration repeating themselves indefinitely and 
 eternally. 
 
 THE NEBULAR THEORY. 
 
 Before proceeding at greater length I would call 
 attention to a somewhat antiquated hypothesis, which 
 is that in the beginning (?) matter was not in aggre- 
 gated masses in solar systems but in an exceed- 
 ingly tenuous form in gasses and nebulous states ; 
 and that heat, a form of energy diffusive in character, 
 kept the particles apart, until cooling and condensing 
 processes broke in upon the status of things, and the 
 gravitative force drew the particles together or into 
 intimate relationship. The opposing or antagonistic 
 energies gravitation and repulsion through a sub- 
 sidence of heat, the repelling force, resulted in a sub- 
 division of the nebulous stuff, and an aggregation of 
 it into a multitude of sidereal bodies into solar sys- 
 tems as we now understand them. The forces cited 
 were sure to keep the more or less eccentric masses in 
 revolving motions, some bodies moving rapidly, and 
 others with restricted velocities, and with a liability 
 to collide or come in contact. 
 
 Such is the merest outline of the workings of the 
 nebular theory; and while it has had some serious ob- 
 jections raised against it, they are not insurmountable. 
 
44 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 The impact of two ponderous bodies, moving at almost 
 incomprehensible velocity, must be sufficient to pul- 
 verize the densest metals ; and the evolved heat would 
 dissipate the debris of the colliding bodies, returning' 
 the particles to space in a gaseous or nebulous state. 
 In this way the aggregation of matter and its diffusion 
 may have been going on eternally, and is thus to con- 
 tinue forever. Aberrating activities are always dis- 
 turbing the alleged " harmonies of the universe," 
 rendering collision possible, if not probable. The dis- 
 play of meteors through contact with our planet dem- 
 onstrates the possibility of collisions; and the heat 
 known to be evolved by such contacts is in accord 
 with the nebular theory. It is not possible for so 
 many spheres traveling at varying rates of speed, to. 
 escape collision ; and when two heavy bodies come into 
 direct contact the course of each would be arrested, 
 yet new forces would come into play, governing the 
 movements of the debris, for the concussion would 
 pulverize the masses, evolving an immeasurable 
 amount of heat. The minute fragments of matter, 
 through the agency of the suddenly acquired heat, 
 would fly apart, gravity not being strong enough to 
 hold them together or in intimate relations. The 
 larger fragments would attract and aggregate the 
 smaller that happened to be near or proximate, and a 
 new sphere of revolving matter would enter upon an 
 orbital career. Many erratic pieces would fly hither 
 and thither at random, and possibly find lodgment in 
 contact with the earth. 
 
 METEORS. 
 
 Meteors are constituted of fragmentary stuff that 
 has its origin in collisions. They sometimes travel in 
 groups, and strike this planet on certain days, recur- 
 
MATTER AND ENERGY. 45 
 
 rences taking place with such regularity that there 
 must be some system in the display. On the 10th of 
 August and the 13th of November, " star showers " 
 may be expected and looked for every year. On al- 
 most any clear night a " shooting star " may be seen, 
 therefore the earth may be gradually gaining at the 
 expense of meteoric substance. That showers of aero- 
 lites are encountered on certain days in the year would 
 indicate that their concurrent course is in proximity 
 with the earth's orbit; and that their velocities are re- 
 lated to the speed of the planet's movements. Mete- 
 orites are dark bodies and are not seen if they strike 
 the earth in the day time. However, a meteor of 
 considerable size might strike near an observer, and 
 make its presence known by hissing sounds and a puff 
 of smoke where it hit. A number of such bodies are 
 to been seen in cabinets. When critically examined 
 they present no elements not found in our planet, 
 therefore, it is presumed that in " other world's than 
 ours " there is nothing new. Meteors become incan- 
 descent through friction as they reach the denser por- 
 tions of our atmosphere, though the luminosity is not 
 pronounced enough to be seen in the light of day. 
 The cause of the collision is not a fortuitous circum- 
 stance, but the impact is mostly produced by the at- 
 traction of the immensely greater body by the gravi- 
 tating power of the earth. 
 
 The subject of meteors is introduced to illustrate 
 what may be said in regard to the nebular theory, so 
 called, which supposes that matter in an exceedingly 
 tenuous state once pervaded all space, and afterward 
 became aggregated into prodigiously great masses that 
 have been denominated solar systems, our own being 
 one of the smallest of the entire lot. In the contem- 
 
46 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 plation of the vast scheme much has to he presumed, 
 yet in the sifting of the various theories ventured in 
 regard to the evolution of Cosmos, grains of truth 
 may be gathered. Besides, our mental capacities are 
 widened by the endeavor to comprehend the profound 
 and the mysterious. 
 
 COMETS. 
 
 In the consideration of stellar matter we have to 
 contemplate comets erratic bodies which occupy el- 
 liptic or swerving orbits, and whose range is immense. 
 They may be strangers to the sun's range of authority, 
 visiting the different solar empires as messengers from 
 one grand luminary to another. Their velocity is very 
 great, therefore they may come from the regions of the 
 " fixed stars," trillions of miles away. Under such a 
 supposition they must possess some propelling force 
 not at present understood. Comets may have had an 
 origin similar to that of meteorites, yet some unknown 
 force projected them on eccentric courses. They pos- 
 sibly may have an office in the distribution of energies 
 among sidereal bodies. The sudden liberation of heat 
 attendant upon collision of non-luminous masses might 
 project comets from one solar system to another. 
 While a study of cornets is intensely interesting and 
 somewhat instructive, only a smattering of knowledge 
 has been contributed to physics by a contemplation of 
 their forces, of their erratic courses, and of their ele- 
 mentary constituents. 
 
 A speculative idea in the nebular theory is that 
 matter was gaseous in the "beginning," and gradually 
 condensed into molecules, masses, and stellar bodies ; 
 and when the transformed state existed, something 
 like maturity had been attained, and an "end" was 
 theoretically in view. Such is not my comprehension 
 
MATTER AND ENERGY. 47 
 
 of the subject, but simply the fact that in the transpo- 
 sition of matter collisions render nebulous such a por- 
 tion of the general whole as may be subjected to the 
 immense shock to the nebularizing process. The 
 nebular theory is hardly mentionable unless associated 
 with that of collision. There must be a cause for 
 the nebularization of matter, as there is for the ag- 
 gregation of it into stellar masses. If the nebular 
 theory be correct, there need be no thought of a be- 
 ginning or of an end, but in the transformation of 
 matter from one state or condition to another, the 
 ponderable medium of the universe is sometimes neb- 
 ulous and as often as solid as a planet. 
 
 THE EARTH. 
 
 That the earth was once a diffused mass of gas is 
 not improbable; that it cooled and contracted to a 
 molten state is also plausible; and that it further 
 cooled and condensed to something like its present 
 state is demonstrable. At length a smooth envelope 
 of crystalline character was attained by agencies al- 
 ready cited; and this case inclosed a molten mass 
 within. Some part of the melted stuff still exhibits 
 itself through the craters of volcanoes. Such vents 
 for the fused mass within were once much more nu- 
 merous than at present. Lastly, the crust was bent 
 and warped by internal commotion, mountains and 
 corresponding valleys being developed by the disturb- 
 ing agencies. The globules of moisture which through 
 excessive heat were suspended as vapor, were floated 
 to mountain tops and there condensed into rain. 
 Through the force of gravitation the water " ran down 
 hill," forming rills and rivulets, and collected in pools. 
 Thus the river system was commenced. The surface 
 
48 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 of the earth became more deeply corrugated, the hills 
 becoming higher and the ravines deeper. The basins 
 of lakes, seas and oceans were formed, and steadily 
 were filled with water flowing from great mountain 
 chains. The heat of the sun converted more or less 
 of the stagnant water into vapor, which by winds was 
 driven in clouds to the highlands to be condensed into 
 rain, again to descend in streams to the sea. The flow 
 of water in rills and rivers wore furrows in the rocks, 
 and triturated the disintegrated masses into sand, the 
 basis of soils. Frost helped in the denuding and pul- 
 verizing process, and a condition favorable to the in- 
 troduction of organic life appeared here and there. 
 The waves of the seas eroded the shores, and chemical 
 activities lent their aid in decomposing the hard rock 
 constituting the earth's crust. 
 
 Finally, near the poles of the earth, where the 
 cooling processes had rendered it possible for plants 
 and animals to live and thrive, there they first appeared. 
 The coal beds of Disco bay reveal the fact that gigan- 
 tic ferns once flourished in that high latitude, and the 
 mammoths of Siberian ice indicate that the food of 
 such creatures once grew as arctic flora. Although 
 much thus far offered is the merest conjecture, there 
 are facts enough to found rational conclusions upon. 
 A history of the evolutions of the earth is the hypo- 
 thetical story of kindred planets, and possibly of all 
 celestial bodies. That the earth will remain much as 
 it is for cycles of time there is no rational doubt, but 
 a collision with some mysterious moving body unseen 
 in sidereal space is also possible. In the unfathoma- 
 ble future, some unaccountable cataclysm may occur, 
 converting this solid sphere into a "puff of smoke," 
 or into a state either gaseous or nebulous. 
 
MATTER AND ENERGY. 49 
 
 LUMINOUS ETHER. 
 
 Light in its passage from the sun seems to be 
 wafted on waves of a tenuous medium which has been 
 denominated ether on account of its thinness or mar- 
 velous tenuity. Although ether is an essential sub- 
 stance, it is too subtle to be weighed or measured ; in 
 fact such a material as luminous ether has been 
 doubted has been denied an existence. But the 
 presence of such a body has been demanded to account 
 for certain phenomena in connection with the transmis- 
 sion of solar or luminiferous rays. It has been con- 
 tended that all stellar interspaces and the interstices of 
 molecules are occupied by a universal and circumam- 
 bient ether. How, it is asked, could the light of fixed 
 stars be conducted to the earth except through such 
 a medium. The nebular theory furnishes tenuous 
 media which have the qualities for transmitting light 
 and possibly sound. All nebulous bodies reduced to 
 extreme tenuity are easily made undulatory. When 
 two meteors collide in space, the concussion is posi- 
 tively imparted to the nebulous environment, and 
 conducted indefinitely through waves of ten nous matter. 
 The impulse of sound would be transmitted as well as 
 light and heat, and perhaps electricity. The photo- 
 sphere about the sun is a luminous ether, but need not 
 necessarily be distinct from tenuous matter in general. 
 When it is considered that an atom of hydrogen is the 
 basis of all matter, and that all molecules and masses 
 are but multiple combinations of the subtle stuff, we 
 may not be astonished to hear that luminous ether is 
 a composition of hydrogen and helium, and that 
 helium was only another form of hydrogen ! Al- 
 though the oxy hydrogen flame is very hot, it sends 
 
50 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 off a feeble light. The citation is to show that some 
 combinations of hydrogen are not potent transmitters 
 of light. It requires a powerful galvanic battery to 
 decompose water or to resolve it into ultimate atoms 
 or elements. Heat will rarefy water, converting it 
 into globules of moisture or into vapor. By cold and 
 hydrostatic pressure oxygen gas can be converted into 
 snow, and hydrogen into hail, which rattles as it falls 
 upon a floor. The illustration may aid in the concep- 
 tion of possibilities in matter. The time may come 
 when, in the expansion of scientific demonstrations, 
 ether may not only be made ponderable, but con- 
 densed into a solid and handled. If such an advance 
 be made in the manipulation of subtleties, "luminous 
 ether" may not prove to be a new element, but modi- 
 fied hydrogen. A writer of considerable acumen has 
 said, "that since every thing is black in the dark," it 
 follows that color is a property of light. Now light, 
 which is itself invisible, is due to oscillations or vibra- 
 tions set up in all directions by any luminous body 
 whether the sun or a rushlight in the ethereal 
 medium which prevades all space, and is composed of 
 rays of different refrangibility as from ether to air or 
 any denser medium. 
 
 Another office ascribed to ether is that in the 
 conservation of energies, in the distributions and 
 recombinations of potential and kinetic activities, 
 there shall be no loss of power as there is no waste of 
 matter. In a discussion of the nebular theory the 
 points developed are such as render it possible to 
 leave out the hypothetical or ethereal medium whose 
 office is to fill space, and to become a receptacle for 
 the interchange of energies. As gaseous matter con- 
 denses, its capacity for storing heat decreases, hence 
 
MATTER AND ENERGY. 51 
 
 as a nebulous mass approximates, a solid heat is, as it 
 were, squeezed out, or set free to become dissipated 
 in space,*and in going from one atom of matter to 
 another there is no call for a medium of transmission 
 other than what incidental molecules of matter may 
 furnish. In other words there is no apparent necessity 
 for an ethereal medium. 
 
 SOLAR HEAT. 
 
 The internal heat of the earth is no longer com- 
 petent to warm its crust sufficiently for biogenic 
 purposes. While in a nebulous state there was heat 
 in abundance, but as the gaseous substance became 
 condensed the heat in its molecules was driven out 
 and radiated into space. To counterbalance the loss, 
 an atmosphere was evolved from the environment of 
 ethereal matter. Oxygen and nitrogen held such 
 affinities for one another that air became an envelope 
 for the new-born earth. This had so many inter- 
 mixtures that it was not " pure " and respirable, but 
 time acted as a clarifier. It was thin and tenuous at 
 its outer boundaries, but denser near the earth. This 
 atmospherical envelope renders organic life possible, 
 and serves as a medium for floating clouds. Birds 
 sustain themselves in flight through the density of the 
 agent. Its pressure upon the earth is fifteen pounds to 
 the square inch at the sea level, but much more rare- 
 fied at the altitude of the highest mountains. The 
 air is, an important agency in the evolution of mundane 
 affairs. While the elastic and vibratile body trans- 
 mits sound and light with seeming facility, yet it 
 offers more or less resistance to the passage of solar 
 rays. Fortunately this friction becomes a source of 
 heat, as in a revolving axle or in any other familiar 
 
52 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 example of the kind. In elevated places where the 
 atmosphere is diffuse, the resistance ottered to the 
 passage of solar rays is inconsiderable, but'^n valleys 
 where the air is condensed through pressure of the 
 mass above, the friction is great, and the resultant 
 heat is intense. 
 
 The old theory of solar combustion as a source of 
 heat is untenable for several reasons, the most prom- 
 inent of which is that the great luminary would have 
 burnt itself out long ago; and another is that as only 
 its planetary bodies and their satellites are recipients 
 of the benefit, stellar space would consume much the 
 larger amount. 
 
 In the summer when the sun is overhead, the 
 impact of solar rays is greater than in winter when 
 the>un shines slantingly. A sun-glass converges solar 
 rays into a focus, and thus multiplies the friction, 
 intensifies the heat at a given spot. The moon has 
 no atmosphere, hence solar rays falling upon it meet 
 with no resistance evolve no heat. 
 
 The suggestion of Proctor that the sun's fires are 
 fed by inflowing meteors as fuel, is also a gratuity. 
 As meteorites become scarce, the heat would decrease 
 a lack of supplies would have been felt long ago. 
 Besides, in the combustion of so much coarse material, 
 what would become of the ashes or debris ? 
 
 There seems to be but one rational account of the 
 origin of solar heat, and that is through friction. If 
 that be the source of the sun's beating energy, it is to 
 last as long as our atmosphere does, hence may be re- 
 garded as abundant and eternal. 
 
MATTER AND ENERGY. 53 
 
 LIGHT. 
 
 Heat is the manifestation of an energy, and so is 
 light. The glow-worm and the fire-fly flash phos- 
 phorescence on summer nights, arid the " will o' the 
 wisp," or swamp gas, is a torch lighted through the 
 agency of decompositions. The farthing dip feebly 
 illumines the humble cottage, and electric incandes- 
 cence makes brilliant the halls of palaces. When 
 brakes of a swiftly moving train are applied the fric- 
 tion evolves heat enough to kindle a flame, and a 
 spark is elicited by a stroke of flint and steel. Light 
 is emitted in rays from a center of illumination, as the 
 flame of a burning lamp, a blazing meteor, from stars 
 and from the sun. The " fixed stars," so called, issue 
 luminous rays as the sun does, but they are so far 
 away that we see only a stellar twinkle. Light from 
 the moon is wholly reflected, solar rays glancing from 
 the face of the lunar orb to the earth. Sunbeams 
 differ somewhat from other luminous rays. A pencil 
 of sunlight thrown upon a spectrum or glass prism 
 will exhibit plainly the primitive colors, and rays from 
 the electric arc display such hues, but not so promi- 
 nently. Plants do not thrive as well under artificial 
 heat and light as they do under the sun's energies. 
 Solar rays decompose carbonic acid in the leaves of 
 plants through the agency of chlorophyl, the carbon 
 forming woody fiber, while the oxygen disengaged 
 passes into air. All the colored rays of the sun will 
 not decompose the carbonic acid of plants, but the ac- 
 tinic, or chemically active blue and violet rays. Plants 
 may develop in substance without the aid of sun- 
 beams, but the stalks and leaves are colorless, and the 
 acme of maturity can hardly be attained. 
 
54 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 Light has been denominated an energy, and not 
 an ethereal substance. It may be transformed into 
 heat and electrical units, it may assume two or three 
 kinds of energy. The sun is the great source of light 
 in its own system, but looked at from Sirius its twinkle 
 becomes a star of the fourth or fifth magnitude. The 
 vivifying powers of solar energy are all important to 
 our planet. Without the influence of light and heat 
 the earth would have no seasons, no plants, no animals, 
 no rains, no atmosphere, no condition contributing to 
 the support of life. In shaded places poisonous fungi 
 may vegetate, and in the deeper parts of the sea where 
 heat does not reach, nor solar rays penetrate, there may 
 be encountered organic forms, both floral and fauna], 
 but their support is borrowed from material that lias 
 been under the sun's influence. Near the poles the 
 water swarms with marine life, but the water is rich 
 in protoplasm that has been developed under the en- 
 ergies of a tropical sun. The energizing influences of 
 solar rays are stored in trees, and eventually laid away 
 in coal banks, hence their character should be con- 
 sidered in the economies of our planet. 
 
 POTENTIAL AND KINETIC ENERGIES. 
 
 In a discussion of matter, power, and motion, it 
 became necessary to allude to the forces inherent in 
 stellar bodies, and as displayed in the movements of 
 atoms, molecules, and masses. It is perhaps unfortu- 
 nate and to be regretted that scientists have not formu- 
 lated better terms for the two activities which forever 
 exert antagonistic qualities, as gravitation and repul- 
 sion ; but we must become familiar with the language 
 of science, if we would understand its teachings. A 
 potential energy may abide or continue in a state of 
 
MATTER AND ENERGY. 55 
 
 rest, as solar energy may be laid away in coal. The 
 actinic rays of the sun, which are kinetic or active, 
 elaborated carbon in plants, and this became coal, 
 with an affinity, under kindling, for oxygen, consti- 
 tuting combustion and the liberation of a force that 
 had long been potential, but now, in a restored kinetic 
 or active state, may drive the wheels of a locomotive, 
 or do other work under the guidance of man's skilled 
 hand. 
 
 When a wound-up top is spun, the released activ- 
 ity is kinetic, though the swiftly revolving toy is seem- 
 ingly still. But in this display of energies double 
 kinesis is called into play that imparted in the wind- 
 ing up process, and that spent in running down, grav- 
 ity acting all the time, but not with sufficient force to 
 overthrow the body acted upon. 
 
 The kinetic energy of the savage arm in bending 
 a bow stores up a force which, when suddenly released, 
 again becomes kinetic in speeding the arrow. The 
 force is held potential by the string while the bow is 
 bent. A clock wound up possesses potential energy, 
 and parts with it kinetically when expending the en- 
 ergy in measuring time. Water stored in a pond em- 
 braces potential energy which may be liberated with 
 devastating effect. Vapor in globules of moisture, 
 wafted to the tops of the Alleghenies, is by the cold 
 of the region condensed into rain, which runs in rills 
 and brooks, expending energy in turning wheels, and 
 at length is imprisoned by a barrier, by the Cone- 
 maugh dam. There it rests in a placid lake until the 
 barrier yields, releasing kinetic force enough to over- 
 whelm Johnstown. But a part of the story of trans- 
 mutating energies remains to be told. The sun's heat 
 unlocked the gravitative force of water by converting 
 
56 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 it into a passive or potential form in vapor, and cold 
 condensed the globules of moisture into rain into 
 water the precipitation displaying kinetic energy. 
 The heat of the sun, then, is the great source of 
 kinetic or active energy in the solar world, and is ex- 
 ternall}^ opposed to gravitation, though an interchange 
 of energies is repeatedly displayed, as in the vaporiz- 
 ing of water at the ocean's level, and its return again 
 to rain rills at the mountain tops. 
 
 In a not uninteresting way the kinetic energies 
 of the sun's rays may be traced through soils to plant 
 growth to the ripening of grain, or the storing of 
 potential energy in kernels of wheat in starch and 
 albumen. The bread we eat embodies the energy, 
 while digestion and assimilation impart a still higher 
 order of potential energy, to be unloosed and spent 
 kinetically in a wrestling match. It might be still 
 more interesting to trace the energizing influence to 
 the brain, and there by the unfolding of mental force 
 a form of energy fmd expression in u thoughts that 
 burn and words that move." 
 
 Foods rich in starch and albumen were not plen- 
 tiful in earlier geological histories. Little heads and 
 great bodies were first evolved. The ichthyosaurus is 
 representative of the idea, as the ostrich is at present. 
 But after phosphorus became plentiful and cereals 
 were endowed with potential energies, brains became 
 conspicuous; man, with a voluminous brain, entered 
 upon the scene where conditions were favorable to 
 his continuance. Higher forms succeeded the lower, 
 though not in any very definite order, modifying qual- 
 ities ever appearing in the order of evolution. In the 
 peopling process there was not always a "survival of 
 the fittest," but a continuance of the more fortunate. 
 
MATTER AND ENERGY. 57 
 
 In the cataclysm which swept over this continent, the 
 horse had to go, though a re-introduction of the ani- 
 mal has been attended with satisfactory success. The 
 mollusks whose cretaceous envelopes are imbedded in 
 our hill-sides, did not perish through imperfections in 
 their organization, but through a subsidence of the 
 shallow seas in which they had thrived. There was 
 no application of the survival of the fittest dogma. 
 When a w r hale strands and dies, its death does not de- 
 pend upon a deficit in its organization, but upon an 
 accident. An increase of temperature amounting to 
 a few degrees would end organic life on our planet ; 
 as would also excess of cold, or the withdrawal of a 
 few degrees of heat. And it may be inferentially 
 stated that a return of our accustomed temperature 
 would be attended with a gradual peopling of the 
 earth again. When the conditions are favorable to 
 life, there will it be manifested. The attributes of 
 matter under favorable influences are all vivifying and 
 life-sustaining, but are restricted by incidental and ac- 
 cidental conditions. 
 
DE SENEOTUTE." 
 
 " Grow old along with me ! 
 The best is yet to be ; 
 The last of life, for \vhich the first was made." 
 
 Robert Browning, in Rabbi Ben Ezra, begins a 
 philosophic poem as above. But the young will say 
 that the writer is making virtue of necessity. The 
 man at sixty, looking backward, sees what has gone, 
 and never to be regained ; and therefore tries to make 
 the best of the situation, praising the remnant of ex- 
 istence, calling it the best. But, is not there a verity in 
 the assertion that the first of life is necessary for the 
 attainment of the last ? If it were not for the fitful 
 blaze of youthful corruscations, the embers of age 
 would be the less enjoyable. While youth, in the acme 
 of its ambition, is struggling to reach the zenith of 
 blissful existence, age serenely views the contest, be- 
 lieving the attainment not worth the effort were it not 
 for that which is to come ! 
 
 Cicero's essay on "Old age" de senectnte is the 
 most philosophic and satisfactory of any of the great 
 orator's productions. In an address to a friend lie 
 says: "this work is so delightful that it has not only 
 obliterated the annoyance of age, but has rendered 
 existence more charming than it is possible for life to 
 be in youth." Further along he says: u to those who 
 have no resources within themselves for living hap- 
 pily, every age is burdensome." 
 
 Johnson, in Rambler, writes: "lie that would 
 (58) 
 
DE SENECTUTB. 59 
 
 pass the latter part of his life with honor and decency, 
 must, when he is young, consider that he shall one 
 day be old ; and remember, when he is old, that he 
 has once been young. In youth he must lay up 
 knowledge for his support, when his power of action 
 shall forsake him ; and in age forbear to animadvert 
 with rigor on faults which experience only can cor- 
 rect." Spectator, contains the following words on the 
 topic under consideration : " As to all the rational 
 and worthy pleasures of our being, the conscience of 
 a good fame, the contemplation of another life, the 
 respect and commerce of honest men our capacities 
 for such enjoyments are enlarged by years. While 
 health endures, the latter part of life, in the eye of 
 reason, is certainly the more eligible. The memory 
 of a well spent youth gives a peaceable, unmixed, and 
 elegant pleasure to the mind; and those who are so 
 unfortunate as not to be able to look back on youth 
 with satisfaction, may give themselves no little conso- 
 lation that they are under no temptation to repeat 
 their follies, and that they at present despise them." 
 The consciousness of a life well spent, and the recol- 
 lection of charitable and noble deeds, render existence 
 more than tolerable they make it delightful ! All 
 men can not be Scipios nor Alexanders ; and few such 
 are long happy. A life passed in peace and comfort 
 is more desirable than one inflamed by the storming 
 of cities by land and sea, and in the ephemeral dis- 
 play of conducting triumphs. Plato, in his eighty -first 
 year, died with pen in hand, while expressing the 
 beauties of philosophy. Isocrates wrote brilliantly in 
 his ninety-fourth year, declaring that he had no reason 
 to whine over the infirmities of age. 
 
 It is not becoming to regret the departure of what 
 
60 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 may be supplanted by something better. Does the 
 boy lament the loss of his infancy, or does the young 
 man regret that he is no longer a youth ? And it 
 might be asked with equal propriety if the well set- 
 tled adult longs for the uncertainties of early man- 
 hood? And, finally, is there need for repine on the 
 part of the elderly who enjoy intellectual repasts, as 
 well as a satiety of physical feasts ? 
 
 " Maturer life with smiling eye will view 
 The imperfect scenes which youthful fancy drew." 
 
 Sophocles when asked if he yet enjoyed carnal 
 pleasures, calmly replied : " The gods have given me 
 something better ; nay, I have run away from them 
 with gladness, as from a wild and furious tyrant." 
 
 There is such a large proportion of suicides 
 among adults, that the circumstance is taken as an ar- 
 gument favoring the idea that existence beyond youth 
 is hardly worth continuance. But in this we are not 
 to be misled. An ambitious man may become de- 
 spondent as soon as his schemes fail, and his future ap- 
 pears dark and uncertain. He has not wisely esti- 
 mated the world, but has entertained a more hopeful 
 outcome to it than facts warrant. The husbandman 
 who mortgages his crop in seed-time,. is not sure of a 
 harvest he would be wiser to wait till the danger of 
 frost and midge are over, and the golden grain is 
 ready for the sickle. Impatience and unreasonable 
 expectations are among the faults of youth, and lead 
 to untimely unhappiness. 
 
 Age does not alone insure comfort and repose, 
 nor is advanced life a surety; yet once attained, and 
 the environment be fortunate, who would exchange 
 
DE SENECTUTE. 61 
 
 its substantial worth for the uncertainties of youth ? 
 The young are chasing a phantom, the substance ever 
 evading their clutch ; the elderly, with the assurance 
 of support, and the possession of mental wealth, are 
 better off than the frivolous young, and infinitely hap- 
 pier. This the young can not appreciate till they pass 
 the meridian of life, and begin to descend the gentle 
 slope, going slow that there may be opportunity to 
 admire the ever lengthening shadows till the twilight 
 tints the horizon till it would be hard to tell when 
 the day doth end and the night begins. 
 
 A mind schooled in cultured ways never has time 
 hanging heavy, as if it were a burden; but the wit, 
 wisdom and worth, of the great masters in art and 
 literature, become enchanting studies, widening com- 
 prehension and enriching appreciation. To grow old 
 under such influences is not a burden or yoke hard to 
 bear, but to glide along an eddying pool after cascades 
 have been shot, and turbulent waters are calming, to 
 mingle with the sea. 
 
 Let noisy youth enjoy its huzzas ; and the ado- 
 lescent dream of bliss, almost within reach ; and the 
 stalwart adult just entering the race of real life strive 
 for prizes with an eagerness that challenges admira- 
 tion, yet only the elderly live to enjoy the best of life's 
 struggle. Then " grow old," the better is to come I 
 The first enjoyed was only good, that the last might 
 be the best ! 
 
 Old age is a misnomer there is no end of time. 
 The babe that died to-day was comparatively old its 
 term of life expired; the lad is young in years, yet 
 may be sporting on the brink of the grave. The 
 smiling, winsome, waltzing maiden is shocked at the 
 
62 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 wrinkled image of age, yet may be nearer the tomb 
 than her grandparents. The man of sturdy form and 
 iron will may hurl defiance at any foe but death 
 standing near; the aged alone are cairn and not 
 afraid they have seen all except the unseen and 
 cheerfully await the inevitable. 
 
DARWINISM : 
 
 ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 
 
 (Read before the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, Oct., 1879.) 
 
 Darwinism, so called, is not a complete and stead- 
 fast doctrine, but a somewhat disjointed combination 
 of theories and speculations invented to account for 
 the origin, continuance, and variation of organic forms 
 on the earth. Hypotheses of a kindred character 
 were discussed by the ancient Egyptians, and after- 
 ward obtained support from Aristotle, as well as other 
 classic philosophers. Views of a similar character 
 have been entertained by liberal minds of every age. 
 At a comparatively recent date, substantially the same 
 ideas were collated and expanded by Jean Lamarck, a 
 French physicist and contemporary of Cuvier. 
 
 The theory of the birth and development of the 
 organic kingdom, to say nothing of the evolution of 
 the sidereal and solar systems, did not spring full 
 grown from a single brain, but proves to be the patch- 
 work of many contributors, the most methodical and 
 scientific of whom was Charles Darwin, an English 
 naturalist of great experience, industry, and ability. 
 The doctrine of Evolution, as applied to cosmic 
 changes and organic development, was well along 
 toward recognition a century ago, but it required the 
 mind of a profound scientist to elaborate the many 
 facts and fancies into -the semblance of a system. 
 Darwin could do no better than to adopt the theories 
 
 (63) 
 
64 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 and principles of Lamarck, and follow his general 
 course of reasoning in regard to the evolution of our 
 planet and the vital objects that are upon it. The 
 doctrine of Evolution, so far as it pertains to the in- 
 organic world, is more Lamarckian than Darwinian. 
 The peculiar cosmic views entertained by the anony- 
 mous author of The Vestiges of the Natural History of 
 Creation, are substantially the same as those advocated 
 by Lamarck, and later by Darwin. The chief differ- 
 ence consists in the more methodical manner of treat- 
 ing vital problems that is characteristic of Darwin, 
 
 The doctrine of Evolution, as applied to biology, 
 has been strengthened from time to time by Huxley, 
 Hseckel, and other profound scientists, yet the name 
 of Darwin will be forever associated with the famous 
 theme that has so long engaged the attention of 
 scientific men. And from the amount of discussion 
 at present devoted to vital operations, past and pres- 
 ent, the topic seems as captivating as ever. 
 
 Lamarck held that the inanimate matter of the 
 universe embraces forces that have a reciprocal rela- 
 tion with the activities or functions of organic struct- 
 ures ; he looked upon the attributes of the physical 
 world as correlative with those that give life and form 
 to plants and animals. In other words, he was an 
 avowed materialist, declaring that the present state of 
 the earth was evolved from nebular masses, and moved 
 by impulses inherent in solar systems and sidereal 
 bodies. He argued that the earth's surface was di- 
 versified through necessity, and that the earth's inhab- 
 itants were a sequence in the great chain of cosmic 
 operations. Life was spontaneously generated, or the 
 outcome of chemical, magnetic, and other forces in- 
 alienable from planetary activities. He claimed that 
 
DARWINISM: ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 65 
 
 if life were to come to an end by some catastrophe, it 
 would soon appear again when original conditions 
 were repeated, a single cell coming first, and more 
 and more complex forms afterward, until the widest 
 range of variation be reached. Now, all this is but 
 Darwinism in a crude form. If an organism, how- 
 ever simple in structure, could be endowed with vital 
 attributes, through an inherent law of variation a 
 monad might be evolved into a mammal. 
 
 ]STo power was needed beyond what is comprised 
 in natural laws. A deviation in any creature estab- 
 lished a variety, and from varieties come species, and 
 from species genera, orders, kingdoms, and empires, 
 in the development of animals from lower to higher 
 forms. 
 
 Linnseus and Cuvier, who have given us our pres- 
 ent classification of plants and animals, believed in 
 special creations and undeviating types. These great 
 zoologists looked upon fundamental differences as 
 permanent, and upon variation as the result of acci- 
 dental circumstances or chance surroundings. Species 
 was defined as a combination of peculiarities in a 
 group of creatures so closely resembling each other 
 that they always filiated or formed fruitful unions ; 
 varieties were notable departures from original stock, 
 yet individuals of any number of varieties would 
 filiate with one another. Pugs and pointers among 
 dogs would form prolific associations, while wolves, 
 foxes, and dogs constituted so many species of the 
 canine family, and would not therefore voluntarily 
 filiate. This method of arranging animals into species 
 founded upon sexual mating is not without its defects, 
 yet it is tolerably definite. For instance, in the genus 
 equidce, the different species will cross, yet the progeny 
 
66 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 is sterile, thus showing difference or variance in a de- 
 gree that interferes with reproduction. Even if the 
 female mule is not always sterile, the exceptions are 
 so rare that for all practical purposes the rule is 
 distinctive. Besides, the different species of the 
 equine family will not filiate in a feral state, but only 
 when tampered with by man. This natural and defi- 
 nite method of designating species is easily under- 
 stood, and generally adopted by scientists, yet Mr. 
 Darwin would unsettle old classifications and intro- 
 duce fanciful notions in the arrangement of species in 
 order to prepare the way for the adoption of his 
 transmutation views. By so doing he has introduced 
 confusion into biological studies, and gained nothing 
 of importance. When it suits Darwin's purpose he 
 creates species out of mere varieties, basing the affin- 
 ity upon resemblance or some fanciful feature having 
 no fundamental principle in it. Although a fruitful 
 union has been forced between sheep and goats, the 
 difference between these races in a natural state is 
 enough to keep them distinct. They never filiate 
 voluntarily. It is important to insist upon a distinct- 
 ive feature as characterizing species in order to pos- 
 sess a definite rule for gauging grades in the human 
 family. If the different races of mankind would not 
 filiate, or prove prolific in cross connections, then we 
 should have true species among us. But as all kinds 
 of intermarriages are fruitful there are only varieties 
 in the genus homo. No species, nor mongrels, nor 
 hybrids exist. 
 
 Among the more plastic of domestic animals vari- 
 ation is cultivated to the fullest possible extent, the 
 limit of variability being reached only by refusal to- 
 be prolific. In an attempt to breed in a certain direc- 
 
DARWINISM: ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 67 
 
 tion the departure from original type at length reaches 
 a point where reproduction ceases, or is carried on 
 with great difficulty. A diminutive variety of the 
 black and tan terrier has been bred down to a degree 
 that admits of restricted fruitfulness. 
 
 It is a strange fact in regard to ancestral pecu- 
 liarities of a fractional nature, that the offspring of 
 the jack and the mare takes after the sire in voice, 
 and therefore brays; while the progeny of the stallion 
 and the jenny follows the dam, and also brays. This 
 circumstance tends to show that hybrids do not par- 
 take equally from either parent. It has been estimated 
 that the equine hybrid is two-fifths horse and three- 
 fifths asinine stock. These are not uncommon frac- 
 tions among results of cross-breeding. 
 
 Darwinism is supported by the appreciable ten- 
 dency in the organic world to deviate. It is a fact 
 that no two blades of grass are alike; even "as near 
 alike as two peas" is only a figurative comparison, for 
 no two seeds in a pod are identical in every feature. 
 Perfect resemblance between parent and child is never 
 seen. Even twins among children fail to present the 
 close resemblance generally accredited to them. Tend- 
 ency to variation must be regarded as an attribute 
 of organic bodies. Although the acknowledged vari- 
 ability is elastic enough to permit the evolution of 
 varieties, it is a question whether it will admit the 
 differences which constitute species. 
 
 Fossil bones from the Tertiary period of the earth's 
 geological history show that "giants lived in those 
 days;" not human beings of gigantic proportions, but 
 ponderous saurians and marine monsters. These, ac- 
 cording to Darwin, were naturally evolved from smaller 
 varieties, served the purposes of their bulky organiza- 
 
68 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 tions, and then became extinct. A cause for the tem- 
 porary existence of huge forms is flippantly given by 
 the illustrious scientist, yet the reasoning is that of a 
 fairy tale. Elephants would be as numerous a thou- 
 sand years hence as they ever were, if the cupidity of 
 man did not kill the animals for their tusks. It is 
 idle to talk about a lack of favorable surroundings for 
 the thrift of such large creatures. Mastodons lived 
 and died, and left their ponderous remains, and that is 
 the substance of all we know about the matter. 
 
 An early feature of Darwinism was that the 
 transitions going on in the vegetable and animal 
 kingdoms were exceedingly slow and by almost inap- 
 preciable grades, but amendments made later pre- 
 pared the way for bridging chasms by admitting leaps 
 or the intervention of a needful saltus. 
 
 There is no serious objection to this modification 
 of doctrine, especially as embryonic leaps are known, 
 to occur. It is merely a question of limitation in the 
 laws which govern evolution. If the elevating ten- 
 dencies are always gradual till the highest anthropoid 
 be reached, and then for the first time a leap is needed 
 to cross a chasm and land on the side of even savage 
 man, the extraordinary intervention is not admissible. 
 
 An attempt has been made by Darwin to show 
 that the crania of the lowest barbarians closely resem- 
 ble the skulls of the higher apes. As this is a vital 
 point in the evolution theory it may be well to quote 
 fairly from the arguments employed. Huxley says, 
 "the like of the Neanderthal skull has yet to be pro- 
 duced from among the crania of existing men." Now, 
 if the illustrious naturalist means that no two skulls 
 are alike, he is safe in the statement, but if he means 
 to convey the idea that the features of that famous 
 
DARWINISM: ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 69 
 
 skull are more Simian than those of the lower savages 
 among men, he is conveying a wrong impression. 
 Besides, as the skull from the Neanderthal grotto has 
 no companions, it may represent a savage dolt. 
 
 Some very low down skulls found in mounds near 
 Borresby, in Denmark, have, by Huxley, been com- 
 pared with the crania of the native Australian, also 
 with those of several degraded types, yet nothing 
 definitely arid specifically pithecoid in any of the 
 entire lot has been presented. There is as wide a 
 difference in the capacities of savage skulls as there 
 is in the crania of civilized men. The Esquimau 
 skull is larger on the whole than the average of 
 crania belonging to civilized nations. The heavy- 
 jawed and retreating skull of the Carib excites a feel- 
 ing of disgust on account of its variance from the 
 outlines and proportions of a cranium bearing the 
 features of an intellectual type of man, yet there is 
 nothing distinctively Simian in the make-up -of that 
 brutal organization. The skull and brain are em- 
 phatically savage, but in no respect pithecoid. Then 
 again the children of the Jowest savages can be reared 
 in such a way that they shall 'approximate the aver- 
 age of civilized men, while the young of the highest 
 anthropoids can not be made to talk, or otherwise 
 manifest specific human traits. In a consideration of 
 these matters we should not be misled by comparisons 
 made between the size of the brain of the gorilla and 
 that of a Bushman, but we are to compare tractability, 
 mental scope, and educability in the offspring of both 
 characters. 
 
 The advocates of Darwinism and evolution con- 
 tinue to reiterate that a creature which spanned the 
 gap between monkey and man lived at a period when 
 
70 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 what is now the bottom of a large part of the Indian 
 Ocean was above water. Such an hypothesis is in- 
 genious, inasmuch as it can not be successfully dis- 
 puted, and correspondingly weak because no part of 
 it can be proven. 
 
 Mr. Huxley, in his Prefatory Note to Hseckel's Free- 
 dom in Science and Teaching, page 14, says : " Equine 
 quadrupeds have undergone a series of changes ex- 
 actly such as the doctrine of evolution requires. Hence 
 sound analogical reasoning justifies the expectation 
 that, when we obtain the remains of the Pliocene, 
 Miocene, and Eocene anthropoidse, they will present 
 us with the like series of gradations, notwithstanding 
 the fact, if it be a fact, that the Quarternary men, like 
 the Quarternary horses, differ in no essential respect 
 from those which now live." But Mr. Huxley should 
 know that the lover of facts needs something more con- 
 vincing than " sound analogical reasoning" to prove 
 that our ancestors filiated with apes, or were evolved 
 from them. Even Haeckel admits that no pithecoid 
 form now exists from which man could spring ; and 
 hints that the remains of the connecting link are in 
 the bottom of tropical* seas. Professor Marsh, in his 
 Vertebrate Life in America, page 40, says : " The lesser 
 gap between the primitive man of America and the 
 Anthropoid apes is partially closed by still lower forms 
 of men, and doubtless also by higher apes, now extinct. 
 Analogy, and many facts as well, indicate that this 
 gap was smaller in the past. It certainly is becoming 
 wider now with every generation, for the lowest races 
 of men will soon become extinct, like the Tasmanians, 
 and the highest apes can not long survive." The 
 "many facts" above alluded to are thus far wanting; 
 
DARWINISM: ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 71 
 
 though the " analogy," for what it is worth, may be 
 safely conceded. 
 
 The postulate of Darwin, that there is a wider 
 difference between the highest ape and the lowest 
 monkey, than there is between the highest ape and 
 the lowest man (hence the inference that the human 
 family may have sprung from the Simian tribes), is 
 specious, but not logical or sound. The argument 
 would have been just as worthless if he had said that 
 there is a wider difference betw r een the highest and 
 the lowest marsupials than there is between a kan- 
 garoo and an ostrich ; or, that there is exhibited a 
 greater diversity between the largest and the smallest 
 saurians than is apparent between the highest reptile 
 and the lowest bird. 
 
 In considering Darwinism in all its bearings, the 
 student of nature finds much to admire. The great 
 naturalist, in his Origin of Species, has made use of 
 two or three expressions which in themselves suggest 
 a large amount of truth. Who does not see at a glance 
 that in the various forms and phases of life there is an 
 everlasting " struggle for existence ?" And the log- 
 ical sequence of that eternal effort means the "sur- 
 vival of the fittest." The earth and sea would soon be 
 crowded with inhabitants were it not for the fact that 
 the strongest and most favored eat up or destroy the 
 weak and unfortunate. In this never-ending turmoil, 
 the " fittest," i. e., the best, the strongest, or the clever- 
 est, have the surest chance to survive, and, of course, 
 to transmit excellencies to offspring. Such a potent 
 factor in the work of evolution ought in time to ac- 
 complish wonders. The doctrine of Evolution, as ad- 
 vocated by the champions of Darwinism, look upon 
 utility as the object aimed at by every developing 
 
72 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 organism, and futility as the forerunner of disability 
 and extinction, or death. To have this doctrine car- 
 ried out there must be purposive elements in all or- 
 ganic operations. This idea takes us back to the 
 beginning of things, where, according to the essence 
 of Darwinism, the primitive manifestation of life was 
 made. And it does not alter the plan, or modify 
 the hypothesis, whether it be supposed that vivified 
 protoplasm was the primary combination of vitality 
 and substance, or that a simple cell represents the or- 
 ganic starting point. Begin the Darwinian scheme 
 of life as we may, we have to presume that the forces 
 of the mineral world, such as gravitation, attraction, 
 repulsion, and other attributes of inorganic matter, 
 were once competent, when favorably displayed upon 
 "the physical basis of life," to start the vital machine 
 to inaugurate a beginning in living operations though 
 they had never accomplished any thing of the kind be- 
 fore. Previous to this departure the same potencies 
 had been engaged in evolving sidereal systems and de- 
 termining the planes and angles of crystals. In so 
 doing these potencies had acted in a general way, no 
 specific object or end being in view; and after the 
 earth was accidentally or purposely ready for the re- 
 ception of living beings, the forces referred to, oper- 
 ating upon impressible matter, began to act strongly 
 and specifically by imparting form and function to an 
 entirely new class of products to germs instead of 
 crystals to structures possessed of functions operated 
 independently of inorganic forces. The introduction 
 of new forms with novel forces upon earth must have 
 been revolutionary in character, and the most astound- 
 ing change that ever occurred in the universe, unless 
 
DARWINISM: ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 73 
 
 other planets had previously experienced similar trans- 
 formations. 
 
 In contemplating organic .activities which develop 
 germs into adult individuals, having powers of repro- 
 duction, we see nothing in the operations which re- 
 sembles the formations of a crystal in a saline solu- 
 tion. Indeed there is no fundamental resemblance 
 between a crystal and a cell, nor the slightest relation- 
 ship between the products. The history of a crystal 
 is that of a lifeless object an accretion of molecules 
 which never die, nor reproduce themselves. Crystals 
 in the aggregate constitute rocks, and their elements 
 are inanimate and inorganic. In one form or another 
 they have existed forever, but there was evidently a 
 time in the history of our planet when living germs 
 were to be, yet were not. The earth was ready for 
 the incoming of them, but nowhere did they exist. 
 The forces which have long been operating in connec- 
 tion with mineral substances have elaborated an albu- 
 minoid mass, called protoplasm, "the principal ele- 
 ments of which are oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and 
 nitrogen. In its typical state it presents the condi- 
 tion of a semi-fluid substance a tenacious, glairy 
 liquid with a consistence like that of the white of 
 an unboiled egg. While we watch it beneath the 
 microscope, movements are set up in it : waves trav- 
 erse its surface, or it may be seen to flow away in 
 streams not only w r here gravity would carry them, but 
 in a direction diametrically opposed to gravitation. 
 Though it is certain that these phenomena are in re- 
 sponse to some stimulus exerted on it by the outer 
 world, they are such as we never meet with in simply 
 physical fluid ; they are spontaneous movements re- 
 sulting from its proper irritability, from its essential 
 
74 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 constitution as living matter. Liquid as it is, it is a 
 living liquid ; organless and structureless as it is, it 
 manifests the essential phenomena of life." 
 
 The above quotation is made from the Address of 
 the President of the British Association for the Advance- 
 ment of Science, delivered at Sheffield, August 20, 
 1879. It will be seen by the teachings of Mr. All- 
 man, the speaker, that the disciples of Darwin and 
 the champions of evolution believe in spontaneous 
 generation, and that they start life by an irritating 
 " stimulus," acting upon an albuminous slime which 
 is organizable yet not organized. 
 
 Mr. Darwin, as previously stated, adopted the 
 leading features of Lamarck's doctrine, making of them 
 a warp into which were ingeniously woven his own 
 ideas in regard to organic succession upon earth. 
 Spontaneous generation was assumed, and lower forms 
 of organic beings were transmuted into higher grades, 
 the motive power in the elevating scheme consisting 
 of pure selfishness, though called " natural selection," 
 " struggle for existence," " survival of the fittest," etc. 
 Every individual, high or low, looks out for itself, sur- 
 rounding hostilities compelling each organization to 
 exert itself for self-preservation. Although taught 
 in childhood that greedy selfishness is a sin, in study- 
 ing Darwinism we see why the peccant humor is so 
 prevalent in the human race. If every organism, 
 from monad to man, has maintained existence and 
 vital continuance through the cultivation of selfish- 
 ness, it is no wonder self interest controls the attention 
 of mankind. 
 
 Well, however chimerical the spontaneous gen- 
 eration theory may be, and however unreasonable 
 transmutation hypotheses may seem, Darwin, Huxley, 
 
DARWINISM : ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 75 
 
 Hseckel, and other brilliant expounders of biology, 
 have presented plausible arguments in favor of evolu- 
 tion doctrines. Palaeontology teaches plainly that 
 there have been tolerably regular successions of plants 
 and animals during unmeasured periods of time, an 
 appreciable improvement being made in the passage 
 of each consecutive cycle. But as stumbling blocks 
 to the even flow of succession in the development of 
 the flora and fauna of our globe, there occur at fre- 
 quent intervals a perplexing number of gaps or miss- 
 ing links ; and we are complacently asked to fill them 
 with evidence gone down with submerged conti- 
 nents! The supporters of the doctrine of evolution 
 too often are forced to rely on probabilities, possibili- 
 ties, and feeMe sequences, to bridge ugly chasms in 
 their otherwise plausible theories. 
 
 Mr. Darwin experimented with dogs and pigeons, 
 and found variability existing so largely in them that 
 he would have his readers infer how species may have 
 been developed from varieties. The inference en- 
 forced by these examples seems to be that if the in- 
 genuity of man can accomplish so much in a few 
 years, how infinitely much more might be effected in 
 the way of variation during unlimited periods of 
 time! But before too much is conceded to the bent 
 of the argument, let it be considered that only the 
 most plastic of animals have been domesticated. Such 
 alone could be coerced or coaxed into unions that 
 promised variation. When attempts are made to ob- 
 tain varieties from more rigid forms, a discouraging 
 lack of success will be encountered. Sparrows and 
 ferrets will not display variability like pigeons and 
 rabbits. 
 
 It is consonant with evolution views to presume 
 
76 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 that every part of the earth fit for the existence of 
 certain animals should have developed them through 
 the forces of spontaneous generation, and the laws of 
 transmutation. If vitality de novo can obtain a foot- 
 ing spontaneously in one instance, it may arise a 
 thousand times, and in as many different parts of the 
 earth ; and with the supposition that each primitive 
 germ be endowed with a progressive and purposive 
 instinct, having variability as a leading principle, 
 every island and isolated region of the earth should at 
 length have a multitudinous variety of creatures, with 
 grades reaching up to and embracing man. Now it is 
 a fact that when Australia was discovered by civilized 
 man, this continental island did riot embrace many 
 classes of animals that might have flourished there. 
 As soon as fish, birds, and neat herds were taken to 
 these far off lands, the exotic creatures thrived aston- 
 ishingly. This shows that unassisted nature is some- 
 times unable to make the best of herself; and that the 
 powers of evolution are incompetent to people all 
 lands with the best organic forms. There was an ex- 
 cellent opportunity for carnivora to thrive, yet few 
 flesh eaters existed in Australia, Tasmania, or New 
 Zealand. 
 
 In estimating the merits of Darwinism, it should 
 be borne in mind that there is nothing strikingly new 
 in the " struggle for existence " doctrine. Long be- 
 fore Darwin lived the observing among mankind 
 must have perceived that all organic beings are of 
 necessity subjected to severe competition in obtaining 
 food. All the conditions of life necessitate activity 
 and rivalry. In the struggle for existence every- 
 where apparent, the most shocking injustice generally 
 prevails. The weak have to contribute to the strength 
 
DARWINISM: ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 77 
 
 x 
 
 of the already strong. When an Indian tribe is about 
 to march, the tomahawk is driven into the heads of 
 the aged and the infirm to get rid of the burdens. 
 An old bison is pressed out of the herd and turned 
 mercilessly over to the pursuing horde of hungry 
 coyotes. Working bees cast from the hive the useless 
 drones. Where communities exist among animals, 
 helpless individuals must be sacrificed for the general- 
 good. 
 
 In a published paper on Polydactyle Horses, recent 
 and extinct, by Prof. 0. C. Marsh, there is presented 
 the strongest argument in favor of evolution doctrines 
 that has ever been offered in the great biological in- 
 quiry. The able scientist has, by indefatigable in- 
 dustry, been enabled to offer unquestioned evidence 
 of the early existence among mammals of a diminu- 
 tive horse which probably sprang from a pentadactyle 
 ancestor. The professor possesses the fossil foot of a 
 four-toed animal, as well as that of the three and two 
 toed, there being a gradual rise and regular succession 
 in the development of the equine family. Besides, a 
 living horse with an extra toe on each fore-foot is 
 now on exhibition as a curiosity. The supernumerary 
 toe seems to be the late out-cropping of what was 
 once a normal state in an earl} 7 progenitor. 
 
 Hseckel, in his Evolution of Man, has contributed 
 a chapter on the morphology of the vertebrates, which 
 contains interesting arguments worked up in favor of 
 the evolution of the human brain from lower forms, 
 the descent ending in the brainless amphioxus. If it 
 were not for the offensive partisan character of the 
 writer, the book would be a strong support for Dar- 
 winism and evolution doctrines. Sensible people are 
 
78 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 x 
 
 averse to being driven into any particular state of 
 belief. When an argument is presented in a threaten- 
 ing way, it seldom carries conviction with it. 
 
 An objectionable manner of presenting the doc- 
 trine of evolution is to ask an intelligent person if he 
 be a believer in Darwinism ! The questioner seems 
 to be short-sighted enough to suppose that an indi- 
 vidual must take Darwinism in its entirety, or wholly 
 discredit the doctrine. There are educated people in 
 abundance who find reasons for crediting much which 
 Darwin has taught, yet do not believe in the spon- 
 taneous generation theory or the Simian origin of 
 man. . Darwinism is not a structure built of blocks 
 depending upon one another, like those of an arch, 
 so that if one be removed, the remainder must neces- 
 sarily tumble and fall ; but it is an edifice erected 
 after the designs of numerous architects, each of whom 
 has contributed an independent part that may be re- 
 moved without fatally weakening the main portion of 
 the temple. The building material, drawn from many 
 sources, is somewhat incongruous, yet the architecture 
 reveals the cunning of a master mind. There is 
 enough of truth in Darwinism to continue in some 
 form forever, yet the unreal and unreasonable in it 
 W 7 ill in time meet the fate of the feeble and the 
 false. 
 
 While Darwinism and the doctrine of evolution 
 are substantially identical in many phases, if a differ- 
 ence between them in certain other important features 
 be sought, a plain distinction may be found. There 
 are many points in biological science that do not war 
 against the theory of evolution, yet are hostile to the 
 Darwinian form of it. Mr. Huxley, in one of his ad- 
 
DARWINISM: ITS WEAK AND STRONG POINTS. 79 
 
 dresses, has aptly said : " It is possible to have a 
 complete faith in the general doctrine of evolution, 
 and yet to hesitate in accepting the Nebular, or the 
 Uniformitarian, or the Darwinian hypotheses in all 
 their integrity and fullness." 
 
SENSIBILITY, INTELLIGENCE, IN- 
 STINCT, AND MIND. 
 
 (Read before the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, Dec., 1879.) 
 
 Vegetable structures are known to be destitute of 
 nerves, yet certain well known plants exhibit sensi- 
 tiveness or irritability. The delicate Mimosa displays 
 an impressibility to touch which is quite remarkable. 
 If one of its leaves be rudely handled, its associates 
 close around the sufferer as if moved by sympathy ; 
 and the leaves of the entire plant fold about the 
 branches and stock as if they felt the rude shock. 
 
 The Fly-trap of Venus possesses bivalved leaves 
 which join at their bases with a hinge, and have their 
 edges set with prickles. Within the trap a sweet 
 juice is exuded. This attracts flies and other honey- 
 loving insects. In the deeper recesses of the snare 
 are three sensitive bristles, which, when touched by 
 any part of an unwary intruder, excite the jaw-like 
 leaves, and cause them to entrap whatever victim may 
 be within the closing folds. And any effort to escape 
 on the part of the prey is attended by a still firmer 
 grip on the part of the plant. After the struggles of 
 captives are over, the innocent leaves open again and 
 wait for another opportunity to manifest their merci- 
 less powers. 
 
 The Pitcher-plant is endowed with similar pur- 
 poses and activities. One variety raises its head like 
 a cobra, and spreads a hood over the similitude of 
 
 (80) 
 
SENSIBILITY AND MIND. 81 
 
 jaws. Directly beneath are red wattles that attract 
 flies, and above in a gaping cavity, like the fauces of 
 a serpent, is the nectar which allures insects, and the 
 slightest touch of the irritable semblance of a throat 
 provokes a twist in the neck of the pitcher and thereby 
 closes every avenue of escape, except into a fatal trap 
 below. The curious imitation of a snake in form and 
 cunning, as displayed in a beautiful plant, staggers 
 our powers of apprehension ; and challenges the in- 
 genious evolutionist to make the plan or purpose in- 
 telligible. It would seem as if the vegetable world 
 was playing fantastic pranks with the forces that gov- 
 ern the animal kingdom : or that vegetable sna^kes 
 foreshadowed the coming of deadly carnal creatures. 
 
 Orchids or air plants, in tropical climates, present 
 for consideration some features that indicate both the 
 desire and the ability to imitate or mimic animal pe- 
 culiarities. A terrestrial orchid, of Panama, at its 
 top has a whorl of white flowers which take the shape 
 of a dove so completely, that the superstitious see in 
 it an embodiment of the Sacred Spirit. In the island 
 of Trinidad is found an serial orchid whose flower 
 closely resembles a butterfly on the wing ; and as it 
 floats lazily upon the breeze, the wariest observer 
 may be deceived by the skill displayed in the 
 simulation or mimicry. Other orchids imitate the 
 forms of the bee, the spider, and creatures whose 
 outlines may be shadowed upon the unfolding plants. 
 If the imitations be accidental, chance can be cun- 
 ningly fanciful ; and reason may be confounded by the 
 phantasies of the fortuitous. The oddities of shape 
 assumed by fantastic orchids warrant a dreamy belief 
 in all the fairy tales ever told. 
 
 The sea is not outdone by the land in the exhibi- 
 
82 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 tion of the lower order of intelligences, as manifested 
 in the production of fanciful forms. The corallines 
 present a strange combination of the mineral, vegeta- 
 ble, and animal kingdoms, being petrous in the com- 
 position of their tree-like stalks- and branches, and 
 decidedly animal in their soft tissues. 
 
 . A true coral bud is the shell, case, or house of a 
 real polyp, and is developed with the growth and ac- 
 tivities of the animal, just as the carapace becomes 
 part of a tortoise, only the tiny radiate elaborates its 
 habitation from marine salts ; and to do this it must 
 possess central or axial neurine, with volition or per- 
 sonality that is akin to consciousness. A plant or tree 
 has no such neural center, yet a sponge, which is 
 plant-like in form and development, possesses animal 
 matter of a colloid character in its tubules, with no 
 visible signs of a neural admixture. However, there 
 is reason to suppose that the gelatinous flesh of a 
 spongiole is not absolutely nerveless. In fact, it is 
 difficult to conceive of living flesh without presuming 
 the presence of nerve influence. In starfishes, as well 
 as in all radiates and insects, there exists a series of 
 neural knots that act as batteries for the generation 
 or production of nerve forces. In regard to a clam, 
 oyster, or other mollusk, it can not be said that a 
 head exists, yet where the neural knots are placed 
 near together, generally in pairs, there is the cephalic 
 center or the seat of volition or " personality " already 
 alluded to. From that leading and controlling center 
 nervous impulses go out, and to it impressions flow 
 for recognition. For all practical purposes it is a 
 brain. Without that ideal " head " or center of neural 
 activity, there can be no complete and independent 
 personality no volition or purpose in the display of 
 
SENSIBILITY AND MIND. 83 
 
 action. With this ganglionic center of nerve force, 
 the slug or snail can exist within its environments or 
 surroundings as logically and effectually as an elephant 
 or an ox. The neural knots consist chiefly of fat and 
 phosphorus in the form of oleo-phosphoric acid ; and 
 the oxydation of the phosphorus is the chemical action 
 that evolves nervous energy or nerve force. The 
 neural apparatus is simple in a jelly-fish, yet it is im- 
 pressible, purposive, and executive. As the creature 
 spreads itself out into a thin net and sends but arms 
 to ensnare prey, a plan is displayed; and when the 
 colloid mass of living matter closes in upon or envel- 
 opes a victim to be used for food, a purpose is exe- 
 cuted ; and the entire procedure is carried out by the 
 action of a nervous system of the simplest kind con- 
 ceivable. A certain degree of intelligence is mani- 
 fested in the creature's operations ; and a kindred 
 intelligence, in varying degrees of intensity, takes 
 care of life as well as it can, in all grades or con- 
 ditions of animality. In the lowest appreciable form 
 there is collected into a knot a mass of phosphorized 
 fat which is vitalized; and this, through the medium 
 of oxygen constantly supplied, becomes a battery for 
 the evolution of nerve power. Placed in the soft body 
 of a snail it generates intelligence enough to enable the 
 creature to crawl forth in favorable weather to gather 
 food, and to withdraw within its shell when danger 
 threatens. If that intelligence be not- mind it answers 
 the purposes of one in the execution of the few desires 
 of an exceedingly humble creature. 
 
 In ascending the scale of living beings a class of 
 animals is encountered having segmented bodies, or 
 several parts chained together in rings, as spiders, 
 wasps, ants, and butterflies. All these have a collec- 
 
84 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 tion of neural knots about the mouth and throat, and 
 a neural cord extending along the ventral aspect of 
 the body ; and arranged on this cord at each segment 
 of the trunk is a pair of nerves to preside over the 
 movements of the wings, legs, feelers, or ovipositors. 
 The knots or ganglia located about the head and neck 
 constitute the knowing part of the animal. In these 
 knots of neural matter are developed degrees of in- 
 telligence that, in some features, rival the wisdom of 
 man. It is flippantly declared that these articulate 
 creatures are governed by instinct, and that they 
 have no mind that is improved by experience, or is 
 educable, but every trained observer has found that 
 instinctive knowledge, so called, is sharpened by ex- 
 perience, and often improved by the vicissitudes of 
 fortune. The intelligent principle resident in a set 
 of somewhat scattered neural ganglia may not be as 
 teachable and comprehensive as that developed in a 
 more compact nerve-mass, as the encephalon or brain 
 of the higher animals, yet it is both tractable and im- 
 provable. The spider has no brain, yet the creature 
 thinks, makes snares to net prey, lies in ambush, re- 
 pairs broken gins, changes hunting places when game 
 becomes scarce, or any thing has seriously interfered 
 with trapping operations in an old haunt. 
 
 A single neural knot or a pair of ganglia, with 
 riervules extending to and from this center of action, 
 constitutes the simplest demonstrable apparatus for 
 generating intelligence ; and four or five pairs of gan- 
 glia in a group about the head make a very strong 
 battery of neural activity. As a rule, invertebrate 
 animals are small, yet the octopus, or cuttle fish, is 
 sometimes monstrous in size, and generally very intel- 
 ligent. The centipede has more pairs of ganglia than 
 
SENSIBILITY AND MIND. 85 
 
 any winged articulate, yet no more neural knots about 
 the cephalic extremity of the body or the region in 
 which intelligence is developed or evolved. A pair 
 of ganglia seem to be necessary to work each pair of 
 legs, therefore in a creature like the centipede the 
 ganglia must be numerous. So far as general intelli- 
 gence is concerned the centipede ranks low. The 
 nerve forces of the creature are chiefly devoted to 
 locomotion, and not to the origination and execution 
 of purposes. 
 
 A peculiarity of articulates which have three 
 states of existence, is that in the worm or larva state 
 there are present more pairs of ganglia than can be 
 found in the pupa or chrysalis state, and there are 
 still less pairs in the imago or winged state. While 
 undergoing the various transformations the neural 
 ganglia become aggregated in the head and thorax, 
 while those in the caudal region disappear or become 
 insignificant in size and function. The metamorpho- 
 sis from the voracious worm to a mysterious pupa, 
 and then to a beautiful butterfly either not feeding at 
 all or confining its capricious diet to the most delicate 
 nectars, constitutes the most wonderful of phenomena, 
 especially when it is considered that the volition, 
 " personality," and selfish purposes undergo such rad- 
 ical changes. 
 
 It is said of instinct that its knowledge or intelli- 
 gence extends only to restricted limits, that it admits 
 of a certain range which is measured and bounded. 
 Well, let this be granted ; then endeavor to find out 
 whether animals that possess brains and quite high 
 grades of mental capacities, have given to them un- 
 limited scope for the exercise of their ambitious 
 desires. The white bear and musk ox stick to the 
 
86 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 arctic regions, and a thousand varieties of animals can 
 never leave the tropics. Man is the most flexible of 
 creatures, so far as the vicissitudes of climate are 
 concerned, yet he has struggled in vain to reach the 
 poles. 
 
 The lowest real brains appear in fishes ; and they 
 consist of four or five pairs of well defined masses of 
 neural matter crowded into a bony skull. Reaching 
 from the most posterior of these ganglia there extends 
 along the back and toward the tail a dorsal cord run- 
 ning in a canal inclosed by the vertebral chain of 
 bones. The skull ganglia constitute the encephalon 
 or brain, and some of them are capable of very high 
 range of development. The cerebral ganglia of man 
 attain a weight of several pounds. Between the low- 
 est encephalon and the highest there is more differ- 
 ence than between the diminutive brains of a tiny fish 
 and the largest ganglia of a water-beetle in the same 
 pool. The beetle is brainless, to be sure, but quite 
 intelligent; the stupid little fish can boast of possess- 
 ing brains, yet of less mental capacity than many 
 insects. It is a fact, too, that fishes and reptiles are 
 not capable of being far advanced by experience and 
 education. The shark family possesses comparatively 
 large brains and considerable intelligence. 
 
 Hseckel, in his Evolution of Man, page 251, says : 
 " The vertebrates have no connection with the great 
 group of articulated animals (arthropoda) ; but to the 
 latter belong not only the crabs, but also the spiders 
 and insects, which last form a single class, comprising 
 probably as many, if not more, distinct species than 
 all the other classes of animals together. Unfor- 
 tunately, we lose by this the relationship which 
 might otherwise connect us with termites, ants, bees, 
 
SENSIBILITY AND MIND. 87 
 
 and other virtuous members of the articulate class. 
 Among these insects are many well known patterns 
 of virtue which the fable writers of old classic times 
 held up as examples for men. In the civil and social 
 arrangements of the ants, especially, we meet with 
 highly developed institutions which we may even yet 
 regard as instructive examples. But, unfortunately, 
 these highly civilized animals are not related to us." 
 
 The above quotation, when considered in connec- 
 tion with the rest of the book, seems like mockery. 
 Hreckel, regretting that we have no relationship with 
 the ant and the bee, and other animals enjoying ad- 
 vanced systems of government, is in a certain sense 
 suggestively racy. 
 
 Several well known beetles will mimic death as 
 artfully as an opossum; and certain butterflies will 
 assume the form and general appearance of leaves and 
 sticks to escape the covetous eyes of birds and other 
 enemies. Mimicry for deceptive purposes seems to be 
 inherited in part, though the trick is improved upon 
 by experience. The well known little striped squirrel, 
 the first time it happens to be pounced upon by a cat, 
 will feign death so completely as to deceive the captor, 
 and thus obtain an opportunity to escape with a few 
 harmless bites or scratches. Certain birds of the thrush 
 and sparrow families will, when driven from their nests, 
 feign to be hurt, and lamely hobble away, as if to pro- 
 voke pursuit ; and the artful creature will fly out of 
 sight as soon as the pursuer is well away from the 
 nest. In birds the cerebral masses gradually rise from 
 the similitude of reptilian brains in the ostrich to the 
 comparatively advanced cerebral lobes or hemispheres 
 of parrots, finches, and canaries ; and the cerebral sur- 
 faces exhibit well marked convolutions. The turkey 
 
00 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 possesses small cerebral hemispheres, and a thin cover- 
 ing of gray neurine, almost without convolutions, and 
 the bird in picking up corn spread as a decoy, has not, 
 after stooping to pass under a gate, sense enough to 
 escape from the trap by the way of entrance, which is 
 still left open. 
 
 Geese are endowed with a low order of cerebral 
 matter and cephalic ganglia, yet the stupid creatures, 
 in a wild state, have intelligence enough to fly north 
 upon the approach of the breeding season, in order 
 that they may have a safe and healthy place to .rear 
 .their young. They have learned by experience that 
 there is no security for them in rivers, bayous, and 
 lagoons infested with alligators, huge gars, and other 
 voracious enemies. 
 
 In the comparison of degrees of intelligence, and 
 the quantity and quality of neural matter, it is inter- 
 esting to observe that all animals in geological periods 
 prior to the Tertiary were endowed with a scanty 
 amount of brain ; but at the commencement of the 
 Eocene, when mammals made their first appearance, 
 there occurred rapid and marked progress in the de- 
 velopment of the cerebral hemispheres. It would 
 seem as if a striking improvement in brain-making 
 was introduced somewhat abruptly, and that the pro- 
 gressive tendency was kept up until the cerebral evolu- 
 tion culminated in the elaboration of man's elevated 
 brain. 
 
 A purposive action originates in brain or neural 
 knots that generate intelligence. In some of the lower 
 vertebrates the spinal cord acts as a generator and dis- 
 tributing center of nerve force. However, the move- 
 ments produced by irritating the spinal nerves of de- 
 capitated Saurians, are not directed by intelligence ; 
 
SENSIBILITY AND MIND. 89 
 
 they result from the arousing of a headless battery of 
 nerve matter that is still working under the stimulus 
 of waning vitality. The battery is part of a vital 
 machine that once possessed a directing brain, yet is 
 now only an excito-motory center that executes func- 
 tion when provoked, and in directions habit has estab- 
 lished. Thus the trunk and tail of a decapitated 
 menopome will strike toward the part pinched or 
 worried as if to bite or hit the cause of the irritation. 
 The headless body, if turned upon its back, will make 
 an effort to regain its feet; and if the attempt be suc- 
 cessful, the trunk will remain still and at rest, there 
 being no struggle to run away. The effort to regain 
 the feet is not that of purpose, but one of habit. A 
 headless creature can have no desire or plan. The 
 trunk of a recently decapitated lizzard will poise itself 
 upon the feet, and even take steps forward, yet no in- 
 telligence is manifested by such movements. If a toe 
 be pinched, the stump of a neck will strike at the 
 pestering object, as if it were executing an intelligent 
 purpose, yet the movements are excito-motory, or auto- 
 matic. There can be no will or wish in the matter. 
 Even this excito-motory activity ceases in the course 
 of a few hours, or as soon as the nerve-battery in the 
 spinal centers is dead or unimpressible. The heart of 
 a menobranchus will beat for hours after the organ is 
 removed from the body, the muscular contractility 
 being kept up by neural ganglia in the cardiac tissue. 
 The throes or throbs are as rhythmic as if the heart 
 were in the living creature. The action is excito- 
 motory, and will continue as long as the nerve-battery 
 in the organ be vitalized. 
 
 In speaking of the physical properties and pro- 
 
90 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 ducts of the brain, I once made use of the following 
 language, which I will repeat on this occasion : 
 
 " In his physiology, at the commencement of the 
 second section. Dalton says : l In entering upon the 
 study of the nervous system, we commence the ex- 
 amination of an entirely different order of phenomena 
 from those which thus far have engaged our attention. 
 Hitherto we have studied physical and chemical ac- 
 tions taking place in the body and constituting the 
 process of nutrition. We have seen how the lungs 
 absorb and exhale different gases ; how the stomach 
 dissolves the food introduced into it; and how the 
 tissues produce and destroy different substances by 
 virtue of the varied transformations which take place 
 in the interior. In all these instances we have found 
 each organ and each tissue possessing certain proper- 
 ties and performing certain functions of a physical or 
 chemical nature (italics mine) which belong exclusively 
 to it, and are characteristic of its action. The func- 
 tions of the nervous system, however, are neither 
 physical nor chemical in their nature.' ' 
 
 How Professor Dalton could have considerately 
 written the above is more than I can comprehend. 
 He must know that brain and blood are the physical 
 agencies in mind-making, and that the function is 
 chemico-vital. The contact of the portal blood and 
 the ultimate granules of the liver are not less physical, 
 nor the elaboration of bile more chemical. The evolu- 
 tion of mental essence is thoroughly organic, mind is 
 an organic product, chemico-vital in origin. Mind 
 springs from living brains, and ceases to manifest itself 
 as soon as the cerebrum is dead ; it becomes suspended 
 in its activities as soon as a blow upon the head arrests 
 circulation in the brain, or stuns cell-action in the cere- 
 
SENSIBILITY AND MIND. 91 
 
 bral substance. Bleed a man till the brain suffers 
 through lack of blood till syncope comes on till 
 the brain evolves mind feebly, or withholds its func- 
 tion altogether, and we can see the agency of blood 
 in mind-making. Cut off all blood from the cerebral 
 mass, and no mind will be elaborated. 
 
 When zinc and copper plates are properly ar- 
 ranged in a galvanic battery, and dilute sulphuric acid 
 is poured upon the laminated metals, a force or energy 
 an entity is generated, though its presence and ac- 
 tivity, may not be rendered appreciable to the senses 
 until the agency be conducted on a wire, or otherwise 
 exibited or displayed. Although the galvanic product 
 be not visible as is bile, it is nevertheless a chemi- 
 cally elaborated something that can be made mani- 
 fest through proper media. The product of the brain, 
 spinal cord, and other nerve centers, displays itself on 
 the nerves of animal bodies ; magnetism, galvanism, 
 and electricity, move best on metallic media. 
 
 Living venous blood bathes the ultimate bodies 
 of the hepatic organ, and an inspissated fluid, called 
 bile, is elaborated and set aside (secreted). The chem- 
 ical action of the two bodies (liver and blood), under 
 the influence of vitality, sets the bile-making battery 
 in action, and hepatic fluid is produced ! Dead blood 
 poured upon defunct liver would not produce bile a 
 vital influence must be present. So with sanguine- 
 ous currents and the cerebral mass ; brain washed in 
 devitalized blood will not develop mind or intellectual 
 force ; the action is chemico- vital, yet none the less a 
 physical activity. 
 
 The brain is an organ, as is the liver. The one 
 elaborates or evolves mind, and the other bile. The 
 
92 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 products are quite different, yet they are both results 
 of chemico- vital action. The bile is a liquid as dense 
 as treacle, while the nervous fluid is as subtle as elec- 
 tricity ; but is it less a reality because of its subtlety? 
 And can all kinds of wonderful and unreasonable 
 powers be ascribed to it because it happens to be 
 subtle ? 
 
 What becomes of a galvanic battery when it is 
 burnt'out, used up, or exhausted, and why is its activity- 
 limited ? The acid in the bath loses its corroding 
 (vivifying) activity, and the zinc plate becomes so far 
 tarnished (oxidized) that the feeble erosive will not 
 decompose it; it began to act with a feeble energy, 
 then grew into raging activity, and finally grew weak 
 and died. If there had been a renewal of materials, 
 the battery would have kept going; if it could eat 
 and digest, it might go on till eating and digestion 
 were impossible. But what became of the magnetism 
 evolved or elaborated ? We are told that heat, light, 
 and electricity are correlative states or interchangeable 
 conditions ; probably the whole story has not been re- 
 lated, yet we are led to understand that the generated 
 magnetism is not absolutely lost it is diffused in 
 universe where nothing is lost. 
 
 A child is born with an undeveloped brain that 
 elaborates very little mind ; the- cerebral mass is almost 
 without convolutions, and the gray matter nerve 
 cells unfit to unfold even dreams. If death occur in 
 early infancy, the child never consciously thinks it 
 has never been conscious of existence. In time, with 
 vigorous health, the brain-cells develop, and the cere- 
 bral mass grows rich in phosphorus; to this is 
 pumped every second plenty of blood charged with 
 oxygen the nerve battery is in bounding activity, yet 
 
SENSIBILITY AND MIND. 93 
 
 grows stronger and stronger until impairment of ma- 
 terials supervenes. The battery is active in sleep and 
 while awake. In somnolence it generates incongru- 
 ous dreams ; in waking hours we exercise a will, or 
 regulating power, which we have obtained by culti- 
 vation. At night we lose control of the flow of ideas, 
 and the mind is generated in a random manner. The 
 battery is in order and running, but the regulator is 
 wanting. 
 
 In old age the nerve battery or mind producing 
 organ loses its wonted activities the cerebral mass 
 lacks phosphorus, and the blood is less rich in oxygen. 
 Besides, the thickness of the walls of the capillaries, 
 and the density of the parieties of the nerve-cells, are 
 reasonably presumed to favor inactivity. 
 
 A thrombus forms and enlarges in one of the 
 great cerebral arteries, so that one part of the brain 
 gets very little blood ; a condition of softening sets in, 
 and extends, for its nature is progressive. The victim 
 loses memory, sympathies, and affections ; and im- 
 becility and deranged mental activities exhibit them- 
 selves. Mental soundness is questioned; and the veil 
 of charity is stretched over the wreck. Did the feeble 
 infant mind grow into the playfulness of youth, the 
 resoluteness of adult life, and then decline to a state 
 of imbecility ? It most certainly did, and obeyed or- 
 ganic law all the while. That infant mind was born 
 in connection with an infant brain the battery was 
 weak ; it grew in scope as the brain developed into an 
 active mind-producing organ ; and it at length grew 
 weak again, because it was associated with an old and 
 worn-out cerebral mass. What became of all the 
 mind developed or evolved during a period of three 
 
94 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 score years and ten? Was it lost? No, not lost. 
 Nothing in the universe is absolutely lost. 
 
 If the brain be stunned by a blow, the nerve-cells 
 are so disturbed that no mind is evolved the injured 
 person is unconscious, and he is dreamless. His 
 mind-elaborating battery has suspended operations. 
 At length the disturbance of function is removed ; 
 then mind-making is resumed. The chemico-vital 
 machine gets into full operation again. The suspen- 
 sion was temporary, yet it might have been per- 
 manent, as in death. . . . . , 
 
 The infant mind, so far as it manifests itself, may, 
 while developing, exhibit certain peculiarities derived 
 from both parents, and certain others traceable to 
 more or less remote ancestors. The mixed mental in- 
 heritance is not more mysterious than the physical 
 combination which exhibits ancestral peculiarities of 
 a multiple character ; yet the complex influence that 
 stamps personality upon every recurring individual is 
 a product of general heredity and not the result of 
 mental growth in the person. In other words, through 
 the complexities of descent, a psychical power runs 
 which is not wholly mental in origin, though influ- 
 enced from generation to generation by intellectual 
 activities. A child is not mentally just like its father 
 nor its mother, nor like any of its ancestors, but it 
 possesses a new combination of psychical powers 
 which simply resemble those that have gone before. 
 Each child comes into existence with a novel admix- 
 ture of psychical peculiarities it comes with a soul 
 inheriting the features of all its ancestors commingled. 
 In the new being are renewed all the characteristics 
 of antecedent races of mankind ; and new combina- 
 tions will live forever, or as long as the human race 
 
SENSIBILITY AND MIND. 95 
 
 lasts. A man need not ask whether he shall live 
 again, for a psychical continuance, through natural 
 descent, is unavoidable. 
 
 The ruler who designed the Pyramids and entered 
 upon their construction, exerted an influence upon 
 mankind that will be forever felt ; the philosophers of 
 Greece have left as lasting monuments, though in 
 psychical impressions ; the creations of Shakespeare 
 and Goethe will endure as long as the statues of 
 Phidias ; and every deed worthy of admiration will 
 exert an influence upon generations yet unborn. 
 
ABBOTSFORD AND MELROSE ABBEY. 
 
 The American, whether he visits England or not, 
 always feels as if he inherited certain rights there ; 
 and that he should, if the occasion present itself, look 
 after ancestral interests. Although our fathers, as 
 colonists, had a quarrel with the petulant u Home 
 Government," and we succeeded in setting up house- 
 keeping for ourselves, we no longer entertain a grudge 
 against the descendants of those who. thought we 
 were wrong! We have a country of our own, and 
 quite naturally glory in its marvelous growth, but we 
 do not forget that our laws and customs have been 
 largely copied from English samples; and we love to 
 read in prose and verse the stirring words of the best 
 English authors. Indeed, we claim partial ownership 
 in the literary productions of the mother country. 
 We purchase her publications, and trust that our 
 patronage Has been appreciated. If we have appro- 
 priated any thing without giving due credit, we have 
 done it much as a boy takes a cake from his mother's 
 pantry. 
 
 The most thrilling tales read in our boyhood are 
 from Border Minstrelsy; and the general reader can* 
 not help admiring the witching poesy of Sir Walter 
 Scott. The knighted bard was born in Edinburgh, 
 but spent much of his boyhood in a region of country 
 often fought over in a strife for territory, in struggles 
 for prestige, and in making reprisals. Then there 
 were the endless disputes about Succession to the 
 (96) 
 
ABBOTSFORD AXD MELROSE ABBEY. 97 
 
 Scottish crown on the part of kings and chieftains ; 
 and bloody bickerings between Scot and Britain in 
 regard to the Anglo -Nor man frontier. The results of 
 a battle reconstructed boundaries, and provoked ani- 
 mosities which became chronic. The land was full of 
 song and story ; the valiant deeds of chieftains were 
 rehearsed at every fireside on the border, and the 
 youthful maker of rhymes wove these tales into capti- 
 vating prose and verse. Walter Scott was naturally 
 a genius, but the surroundings of the man helped to 
 develop his talents, and to give them a turn in a given 
 direction. He was a patriotic son of Scotia, and 
 warmly sympathized with the gallant heroes who 
 triumphed well at Bannockburn, but lost at Floclden 
 Field. In these decisive battles, fought mostly in 
 hand-to-hand encounters, were ample opportunities 
 to display 
 
 "That stern joy which warriors feel 
 In foemen worthy of their steel." 
 
 The Lay of the Last Minstrel and Marmion are 
 faithful representations of contests in armor, the 
 weapons of the cavaliers being swords, spears, and 
 halberts. Individual tilts took place on horseback as 
 \vell as on foot. Sometimes heads were severed by 
 the stalwart blow of a battle-ax. The issue of a 
 fight depended more upon the display of personal 
 bravery on the part of leaders than upon the disci- 
 pline and skillful handling of troops. 
 
 The famous "Border Wars" were over before 
 Scott was born, therefore he became a subject of the 
 English Crown. But his heart was ever loyal to the 
 land of his birth and that of his ancestry. He could 
 not help bestowing glory upon Scotland and champ- 
 
98 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 ioning her causes. His burning patriotism bursts forth 
 in the lines 
 
 " Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 
 Who never to himself hath said, 
 
 This is my own, my native land?" 
 
 In early life, Walter Scott was physically feeble, 
 and a sickness resulted in a lameness which always 
 continued. In manhood he was robust and jolly, but 
 in the last years of his life he became a paralytic, and 
 died at the age of sixty-one, at Abbotsford. His re- 
 mains were buried beside those of his wife, in Dry burg 
 Abbey. As a student, the youthful Scott was easy to 
 learn, and possessed a remarkably good memory. He 
 took to modern languages, and knew little of the 
 classics. 
 
 Through the influence of distinguished friends, 
 young Scott obtained a lucrative office at Selkirk. 
 Having much leisure, he read much, and began to try 
 his talents at ballad writing. At twenty-five he was 
 established on a liberal salary in Edinburgh, and there 
 wrote Border Minstrelsy. At thirty-two he gave to 
 the world The Lay of the Last Minstrel, and stepped 
 to the front as a popular writer. Then in rapid suc- 
 cession came Marmion and The Lady of the Lake. 
 
 At twenty-six he married, and lived happily with 
 his wife during her lifetime. Sometimes they dwelt 
 in Edinburgh, and sometimes in the country. As 
 Scott's fortune grew, a desire developed to have a 
 home in a rustic neighborhood. After consulting the 
 wishes of his consort, the admirer of rural scenes 
 bought a farm-house on the " Border," and converted 
 the estate into "Abbotsford," as he christened his 
 growing mansion. On some broad acres of alluvial 
 
ABBOTSFORD AND MELROSE ABBEY. 99 
 
 soil, in a bend of the Tweed, still stands the ''Romance 
 in Stone ;" and the renown of its founder draws thou- 
 sands of pilgrims to the place every year. The loca- 
 tion for a home was carefully selected, and the erec- 
 tion of the huil dings and the ornamentation of the 
 estate were conducted at intervals as leisure and in- 
 come permitted. The surrounding at best is attractive 
 only to a moderate degree. The land is not fertile, 
 except in occasional spots near the bank of the river ; 
 and the pastoral inhabitants are plain as they are 
 honest. The hills are not covered with timber, but 
 with heather and brushwood covers for rabbits and 
 pheasants. The Duke of Buccleuch owns large es- 
 tates hereabouts, and maintains a hunter's lodge in 
 the vicinity. Occasionally he entertains members of 
 the Royal family, and takes his visitors on a fox hunt. 
 Then the musical bay of the hounds calls to the fields 
 the entire population of the vicinage. 
 
 When Washington Irving paid Abbotsford a 
 visit, he remarked to his distinguished host that the 
 scenery of " Borderland " had been a disappointment 
 that " the hills were too bare to be beautiful, and 
 too low to be impressive." Scott hummed a moment 
 as if at a loss for a proper reply, and then bravely 
 said : " It may be pertinacity in me, but to my eye 
 these gray hills and all this Border country have 
 beauties peculiar to themselves. I like the very 
 nakedness of the land ; it has something bold, stern, 
 and solitary about it. When I have been for some 
 time in the rich scenery about Edinburgh, which is 
 like ornamental garden land, I begin to wish myself 
 back again among my own honest gray hills ; and if 
 I did not see the heather at least once a year, 1 think I 
 should die" 
 
100 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 A business transaction of an unfortunate charac- 
 ter called Sir Walter Scott to Edinburgh, and kept 
 him there during a period of life he had planned to 
 pass in retirement among the crags and glens of the 
 " Border ;" and there in the great mart of trade he 
 delved like a galley slave, with an unwavering pur- 
 pose to free himself from every pecuniary obligation. 
 And his prolific pen and his popularity as a writer 
 soon wiped out the larger part of a debt which at first 
 seemed a mountain. But the incessant toil sapped 
 the foundation of a vigorous constitution, so that the 
 recreative influence of foreign travel failed to restore 
 vigor to the impaired body and mind. Death did 
 not too soon close a life which at length became a 
 burden. 
 
 A lineal descendant of Sir Walter Scott now re- 
 sides at the old homestead, and shows tourists the 
 most interesting features of the somewhat extensive 
 demesne. From the large windows of the breakfast- 
 room is a view of rare loveliness. Cattle and sheep 
 graze on the grassy mead which stretches a few hun- 
 dred yards to the gurgling Tweed, which is here shal- 
 low Abbot's ford. A large hall is filled with old 
 armor, and other curiosities of a multitudinous char- 
 acter. A drawing-room is hung with valuable paint- 
 ings, and embraces carved furniture, with images in 
 ebony and ivory. The library is the largest room in 
 the house, and contains seventy thousand volumes. 
 The grounds within the domain are kept in fine or- 
 der; and the visitor feels quite well paid for the time 
 and money spent in a pilgrimage to the villa. 
 
 The railway which takes the traveler to the vicin- 
 ity of Abbotsford runs from Edinburgh to Carlisle, 
 passing through Ilawick (where is the manufactory of 
 
ABBOTTSFORD AND MELROSE ABBEY. 101 
 
 " tweeds ") and having a station at Melrose, a village 
 three miles from the Scott estate. Before arranging 
 for the drive to Abbotsford, the tourist takes a survey 
 of Melrose Abbey, a cloistered ruin of beauty and re- 
 nown. The dilapidated monastery was built in 1136, 
 under the liberal patronage of St. David, or David L, 
 of Scotland ; and a colony of Benedictine monks was 
 invited to conduct the ceremonies of the conventicle. 
 The English, in a foray over the border, destroyed the 
 structure in 1322, and scattered the pious band. This 
 hardship made the members all the more influential. 
 They were a highly educated class, and skilled in the 
 arts of an advanced civilization ; therefore, they natu- 
 rally became schoolmasters for the rising generations, 
 and cultivated the arts of peace among the warlike 
 dwellers on the Border. They shed a refining influ- 
 ence on every hand, and earned the protection and 
 patronage of those in authority. At length Robert 
 Bruce was moved to rebuild the Abbey, and through 
 the scattered monks to re-establish the ceremonials 
 arid hospitalities of the place. In the restored condi- 
 tion the monastery continued to flourish until the 
 throes of the Reformation despoiled the sacred vest- 
 ments and art treasures, and defaced the venerated 
 structure. 
 
 While tenanted by monks of the Cistercian order, 
 the Abbey was often a place given to wine and wassail ; 
 and the following verse was perpetrated to satirize the 
 doings of the cloister : 
 
 " The monks of Melrose made glide kail 
 On Fridays when they fasted ; 
 Nor wanted they gude beef and ale 
 As long's their neighbors' lasted." 
 
102 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 The inclosing walls of the Abbey are nearly en- 
 tire, and a part of the roof, supported on the arches of 
 Gothic columns, still shelters the foot of the crucial 
 nave. The body of St. David was buried near the head 
 of the auditorium. To the left of the King's grave 
 was placed the embalmed heart of Robert Bruce. 
 
 Adjoining the ruin on two sides is a burying 
 ground, whose moss-covered head-stones can scarcely 
 be seen, and whose graves are level with the inter- 
 vening ground. The most ancient of English letter- 
 ing is on the more pretentious monuments; and 
 the curious among tourists spend days and days in 
 attempts to decipher the epitaphs. Nearly all the 
 interments are centuries old. A few families of the 
 neighborhood possess rights in the grounds, and there 
 are some recent burials made by them. Fragments of 
 sculpture, half overgrown with grass, are to be seen 
 here and there, but whether wrecked by time or icono- 
 clastic hands is left to conjecture. A few statues still 
 hold their places on the cornices of the Abbey, 
 and serve as samples of what might have been the 
 original ornamentation of the architects. The first- 
 stanza in Canto Second, of The Lay of the Last Min- 
 strel, is a metrical and rhymed description of the 
 famous ruin : 
 
 " If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, 
 Go visit it by the pale moonlight; 
 For the gay beams of lightsome day 
 Gild, but do not flout, the ruins gray. 
 When the broken arches are black in night, 
 And each shafted oriel glimmers white ; 
 When the cold light's uncertain shower 
 Streams on the ruined central tower ; 
 When buttress and buttress, alternately, 
 Seem framed of ebon and ivofy ; 
 
ABBOTTSFORD AND MELROSE ABBEY. 103 
 
 When silver edges the imagery, 
 
 And the scrolls that teach thee to live and die ; 
 
 When distant Tweed is heard to rave, 
 
 And the owlet to hoot o'er the dead man's grave. 
 
 Then go but go alone the while 
 
 There view St. David's ruined pile, 
 
 And home returning, soothly swear, 
 
 Was never scene so sad and fair." 
 
 The good people of Melrose are timid about fol- 
 lowing Scott's formula; they are not given to viewing 
 the Abbey at night. In fact, they declare the night 
 air in the vicinity of the ruin to be unwholesome, and 
 hint that on certain crispy nights in autumn the nar- 
 row galleries are visited by phantom monks who chant 
 weird music to the accompaniment of lute and harp. 
 The belief is that specters and goblins haunt the place, 
 and do not relish having their nocturnal orgies viewed 
 by mortal eyes. The testimony is that spirits have 
 been seen flitting in dark corners of the crumbling 
 pile ; and the suggestion that the mysterious move- 
 ments may have been produced by the wings of bat 
 or owl is treated with derision. Scott's advice to "go 
 alone" to the ruined pile, and at night, is treated with 
 contempt, the idea being that we have no right to 
 trifle with the powders of darkness ! A brave citizen 
 stated that he should not be afraid to visit every part 
 of the dilapidated building at midnight, if there were 
 any good reason for so doing, but he should not go 
 unbid. Why should he disturb the repose of the 
 dead at night? Scott might do it, but he would not. 
 He believed the low musical notes, like the subdued 
 chants of a choir, were produced by the wind while 
 forced through the fluted corbels. He did not think 
 that the spirits of departed monks revisited the conse- 
 crated place. 
 
104 ANDKEW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 At the inn adjoining the Abbey are apartments 
 looking upon the ruin and the adjacent burying 
 ground, and guests aim to secure lodgings in these 
 rooms. There is so much fascination in connection 
 with the old monastery that occupants of these fa- 
 vored quarters spend much time in gazing upon the 
 " scene so sad and fair," and in musing upon events 
 connected with the history of the "ruined pile." The 
 desolate and dismantled Abbey was constructed of 
 such durable material, and the foundations were so 
 well placed, that the sanctified and despoiled structure 
 is liable to last a thousand years. The ravages of time 
 alone are likely to disturb the interesting ruin. A 
 pious reverence for the founders of the notable Abbey, 
 and a cherished hate for its destroyers, tend to per- 
 petuate a profound interest in the hallowed shrine. 
 
AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. 
 
 (Read before the Cincinnati Natural History Society, Nov., 1877.) 
 
 Archaeology pertains to people now extinct, and 
 whose history could not be traced were it not for im- 
 perishable objects which bear marks of a display of 
 human skill. Scratch! ngs or markings on the face of 
 a rock near Dighton, Mass., the Round Tower at 
 Newport, R. I., the Earth Mounds so plentiful in the 
 West and South, and the Pyramid of Cholulu^ in 
 Mexico, are among the larger objects of an archaeolog- 
 ical character. It is possible that the first, two are 
 apocryphal, or were the production of the early col- 
 onists, but there is no question in regard to the genu- 
 ineness of the last two. The ancient Mexican pyra- 
 mid is two hundred feet high, and so sloping that a 
 horse can be -ridden to its truncated summit. It is 
 constructed of thin slabs or bricks ; and the work 
 bears evidence of great antiquity. The earth mounds 
 alluded to are covered with old forest trees, and other- 
 wise furnish proof of being at least five hundred years 
 old, and possibly two thousand years have elapsed 
 since their construction. The Indian tribes found in 
 the country have no traditions in regard to the build- 
 ers or purposes of these works. They are usually 
 found in the vicinity of rivers, yet on the second ter- 
 race or above high water. This would seem to indi- 
 cate that they were forts, especially as the positions 
 and outlines of many of them show that they would 
 
 (105) 
 
106 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 make good places in which to stand a siege. Those 
 in Wisconsin mostly take the form of alligators, birds, 
 and other animals, and are not sot certainly erected 
 along large streams, though an abundance of water is 
 never far away. These earth mounds are the most 
 frequently met in Ohio, and are the thickest in the 
 more fertile regions a fact which indicates that the 
 people who built them were of an agricultural turn. 
 Where the soil is poor the mounds are small and 
 scattered. If the builders of these monuments had 
 lived chiefly by fishing and hunting, they would have 
 erected the greater number by the ocean and lakes, 
 and little attention would have been paid to the fer- 
 tility of soils. A few mounds have been met in New 
 York and Pennsylvania, and occasionally in Canada. 
 The North-western States embrace several, and the 
 Southern States as many. The mound building race 
 can be traced from Labrador through the United 
 States and Mexico, and even into the interior of South 
 America. 
 
 Whether the " Mound Builders," as they are 
 called, were radically different from the Indians who 
 succeeded them, and from savages inhabiting other 
 parts of the earth, is a question not yet settled. 
 Their implements were mostly made of stone, and 
 fashioned much as are the utensils which characterize 
 what has been denominated the " Stone Age " in 
 Europe. Copper axes, bracelets, and amulets are not 
 unfrequently found in graves and mounds, but as the 
 native ore in its purity existed in various parts of the 
 country, especially in the region of Lake Superior, 
 the working of copper did not indicate a higher de- 
 velopment of art than in the modeling of stone ; 
 therefore the Mound Builders could not be said to 
 
AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. 107 
 
 agree in intellectual advancement with a people that 
 wrought bronze in Europe, and established the reason 
 for styling its products as those of the "Bronze Age," 
 a period intermediate between the Stone and the Iron 
 Ages. However, the graves of the Chiriqui Indians 
 have been found to contain ingeniously wrought uten- 
 sils of gold in its virgin purity, and of gold amalgam- 
 ated with copper, which is a feature in advance of 
 the Bronze Age of Europe. Silver ornaments are oc- 
 casionally found in graves and mounds in various 
 parts of the country. But, notwithstanding the un- 
 mistakable evidence of a knowledge of working the 
 precious metals, this feature does not prove much, for 
 the ores in their purity exist in the country, and 
 could be worked with as little skill as is required to 
 manufacture pottery or to chip flint implements. 
 
 Although the Indian tribes of North America 
 were incapable of making the earthen pottery, imple- 
 ments of flint, and utensils of stone which were de- 
 vised and constructed by the Mound Builders, the 
 natives of Central America, who do not differ essen- 
 tially from many of the Indian tribes found further 
 north, seern to be competent to fashion as high an or- 
 der of weapons, ornaments, and utensils as were exe- 
 cuted by the mound building race. Indeed, there is 
 much to convince the archaeologist and ethnologist 
 that they were all one and the same people, differing 
 no more than the various tribes of modern savages. 
 
 Many of the earth mounds have been opened, 
 and their contents carefully scrutinized. Commonly 
 a perpendicular shaft is sunk from the apex or most 
 prominent point to the bottom of the tumulus, and a 
 drift is carried on a level with the original ground so 
 as to strike the vertical well in the center. At this 
 
108 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 point or near it a bed of ashes and charred wood is 
 met, and beneath this the remnants of a human skele- 
 ton. It is not uncommon to find pieces of pottery 
 and a few stone and flint implements near the skele- 
 ton and the spot where the fire was. There is no 
 evidence that the body was cremated, but probably a 
 funereal fire was built near, and perhaps sacrifies were 
 made, as bones and teeth of deer, bear, and some of 
 the smaller animals, are generally found about the ash 
 heap. In sinking the shaft and in driving the drift 
 it is common to find relics of a rude or savage people, 
 in the shape of flint arrows and spear heads, stone 
 axes and pipes, bone awls and drills, or other kinds of 
 weapons, implements and utensils. If a grave or two 
 be struck near the summit or surface, the bones of a 
 body buried in a sitting posture will indicate that the 
 remains of an Indian have been discovered. It was 
 quite common for the Indians to bury their dead in 
 the slope of a mound. The bones found beneath the 
 ashes and charcoal have been buried so long that they 
 readily crumble. If a cranium comes out in its en- 
 tirety it is apt to tumble in pieces as soon as exposed 
 to the air. The animal matter has been dissipated, 
 the lime only remaining, and retaining the form of the 
 bone as long as left unhandled. As mounds are made 
 of the surrounding alluvium, gravel, and sand, skele- 
 tons in the centers of the tumuli have been subjected 
 to about the same influences, consequently if one will 
 easily crumble, all may be expected to fall in frag- 
 ments. It is rare to find a strong and unbroken 
 Mound Builder's skull. Many of those taken from 
 mounds in a good state of preservation are of modern 
 Indians, and may not have been buried a hundred 
 
AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. 109 
 
 years. Skeletons in the centers of mounds have 
 probably been there from one to two thousand years. 
 
 It is highly probable that a skeleton taken from 
 the depths of a tumulus has been that of a chief or 
 noted personage, for a people could not afford such a 
 laborious burial for a common individual. Ordinary 
 persons of the mound building class were buried in 
 graveyards, some of which are occasionally stumbled 
 upon while excavating building sites, canals, and rail- 
 roads. In some instances the bones are in a good state 
 of preservation. They are generally recognized by 
 their position, which exhibits, horizontal burial, and 
 not the sitting posture conimon to Indians. 
 
 The features of the mound builder's skeleton are 
 not very distinctive. The height of adults was 'mod- 
 erate, though occasionally the bones of a giant are 
 discovered. The skulls are flattened in the occipital 
 region as if compressed in infancy ; and their walls are 
 thick or otherwise savage or semi-civilized. The brain 
 capacity of the skulls is below the average among 
 civilized peoples. The forehead is rather low and re- 
 treating, consequently the intellectual powers of the 
 race must have been medium or below that of ordi- 
 nary men. Evidence of great mental development is 
 nowhere met. The teeth of the Mound Builders 
 show that the possessors lived in part, at least, upon 
 the fruits of agriculture, for they are not worn down 
 in adult life, as are those of savages who are univers- 
 ally given to the chewing of roots, the grit on which 
 grinds away the faces of the teeth. 
 
 In some parts of the country the mound building 
 race buried their dead in graves walled up and covered 
 with stone. In these the skeletons are apt to be toler- 
 ably well preserved, together with the pottery and 
 
110 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 utensils placed beside the dead. When children were 
 buried in stone-lined graves, an earthen cup and shell 
 spoon were placed on one side of the head. 
 
 It is easy to speculate upon the uses of the mounds, 
 as places of sepulture for the chieftains, look-out sta- 
 tions, elevations for the distinguished at noted gather- 
 ings, and for a thousand other objects equally plausi- 
 ble, but all is the merest conjecture. These tumuli 
 may have served several purposes, though erected 
 with a single object in view. One prominent theory 
 is that the Mound Builders were sun worshipers, and 
 that the people or priests assembled on these elevated 
 places to welcome the rising luminar}^, arid to bid him 
 a reverential adieu at evening. The early settlers con- 
 jectured that these artificial earth works had treasures 
 deposited in them, hence many tumuli were opened 
 solely through avaricious motives. At present a 
 mound is rarely opened except by an association of 
 reliable men whose chief object is to make archaeolog- 
 ical discoveries; and the work is so conducted that 
 little opportunity is given for the practice of deceit. 
 The country is thronged with relic hunters, and some 
 of them can not be trusted to make honest reports of 
 "finds." Although a curiously wrought pipe, vase, 
 weapon, or utensil possesses no intrinsic value, as a 
 relic the article may sell to collectors of such things 
 for several dollars. It is not uncommon for ten dol- 
 lars to be paid for a rare specimen. Common stone 
 axes, hatchets, and skin dressers, will not command 
 more than a dollar or two, and if the lot is somewhat 
 indifferent, two or three pieces may be obtained for a 
 dollar. I have known fancy and highly wrought relics 
 to sell for twenty -five dollars, but such sales are ex- 
 ceedingly rare. In all large cities there are parties 
 
AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. Ill 
 
 who get a good living by trafficking in archaeological 
 goods. The dealers buy, sell, and exchange, and be- 
 come experts in the purchasable worth of relics. The 
 plow and the spade are constantly turning up new ma- 
 terial. The best preserved hollow utensils, as vases, 
 water jugs, pans and plates, are now brought from 
 Missouri. Some specimens are so fresh and perfect 
 that the suspicion has arisen that a modern manu- 
 factory may have been started in that region. At 
 McCutchinville, in Northern Ohio, a man has a 
 large and curious stock of " archaeological goods," 
 which he has made with his own hands. He has 
 agents out to supply those persons who have a desire 
 to possess a rare collection of " relics." A critical 
 and experienced collector will determine what is 
 spurious and what is genuine as readily as a banker 
 can detect a counterfeit note. 
 
 In this connection it may be stated that several 
 noted frauds have been committed by persons who at 
 first were deemed incompetent to practice them. There 
 has been such a desire to discover alphabetical signs 
 or characters which should indicate the origin of the 
 mound building race that the inducement to acquire 
 fame by unearthing a pictured or inscribed stone, or 
 one bearing engraved characters that might be inter- 
 preted, has actually led to the execution of a few gross 
 deceptions. In 1860, an engraved stone was put on 
 exhibition in Cincinnati. The specimen was called 
 the " Holy Stone " by its alleged finder, possessor, and 
 exhibitor. It was claimed to have been exhumed 
 from a mound opened near Newark, Licking county, 
 Ohio. Every body supposed the stone was genuine, 
 until some critical Hebrew scholars examined the 
 characters plainly chiseled on the face of the u dor- 
 
112 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 nick." These Hebrew critics discovered that the con- 
 sonants were attended with vowel marks that had 
 been introduced in the twelfth century, consequently 
 the engraving was comparatively recent, and, of course, 
 a barefaced deception. Although the exhibitor was 
 denounced as an imposter, he unearthed a stone from 
 another mound which bore an epitome of the Ten 
 Commandments in the same modern Hebrew charac- 
 ters. The neighbors of the finder of these astounding 
 relics declared that he was as ignorant of Hebrew as 
 he was of tattoo marks on the Fegee Islanders, there- 
 fore the inscriptions must be out of his power to 
 design. After the death of the finder, a Hebrew 
 Bible was found in his house, and from that he had 
 patiently copied the letters. 
 
 The so-called " Grave Creek Stone," which has 
 several characters or letters engraved upon it, is al- 
 leged to have been taken from the bottom of a mound 
 seventy -five feet high, which is located on Grave 
 Creek, near the Ohio River, twelve miles below 
 Wheeling, in West Virginia. The mound was opened 
 in 1838, by sinking a shaft from its apex to the level 
 of the ground on which the earthwork was raised, 
 and a horizontal canal or " drift " which should 
 meet the vertical well in the center of the base of 
 the tumulus. Just as the central point was reached 
 the perpendicular earth fell into the horizontal shaft 
 or drift. The loosened earth was carried out in wheel- 
 barrows, and while it was being dumped, a stone as 
 big as a Mexican dollar, and about twice as thick, was 
 discovered. This was scrutinized very closely by the 
 several gentlemen present, for one of its surfaces bore 
 three lines of characters or letters that could be dis- 
 tinctly seen. Some of the characters were thought to 
 
AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY. 113 
 
 be Runic or Phceoecian, therefore the stone was sent 
 to Europe for an interpretation by scholars and pundits 
 of the " universities." Casts were taken of it in plaster 
 and wax, and the genuine stone and its copies received 
 extended attention. Our Government had a drawing 
 made of the famous stone, the work being done to 
 illustrate "Schoolcraft's Indian Tribes." At the time 
 the stone was found, and for a number of years after- 
 ward, no one questioned its genuine character, but at 
 length Mr. Squier, an eminent archaeologist, suggested 
 that the whole thing might be a fraud, although the 
 "find" was made before many impositions of the 
 kind were practiced. Prof. Charles Whittlesey, of 
 Cleveland, a man well versed in archaeological science, 
 in his pamphlet, !N"o. 33, denounces the Grave Creek 
 Stone as an imposition. Mr. J. E.Wharton, of Ports- 
 mouth, Ohio, claims to be the only person now living 
 who saw the stone taken from the earth when dumped 
 from the wheelbarrow. He says that the loam adher- 
 ing to its lettered surface bore evidence of having 
 been there for centuries, and there was no oppor- 
 tunity for fraud in the case, nor inducement, inas- 
 much as the relic was never offered for sale by its 
 owners. It is now in the Smithsonian Institute, at 
 Washington. 
 
 The next engraved stone in the line of impor- 
 tance, perhaps, is the one taken from a mound in this 
 city. The tumulus was at the intersection of Mound 
 and Longworth streets, and was razed to grade the 
 ground for street purposes. While the loam was be- 
 ing carted away a stone five inches long, three inches 
 broad, and half an inch thick was found, and upon 
 cleaning its surface a fine display of ornamental fiut- 
 ings was discovered. This stone bears the name of 
 
114 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 the "Cincinnati Tablet," and is here believed to be a 
 genuine a iind," though Mr. Whittlesey, before quoted, 
 pronounces it a fraud. The genuineness of the stone 
 has this in its favor, that it was picked up by honest 
 hands, and the act was witnessed by those whose word 
 has never been questioned. The history of the find- 
 ing of the Tablet, together with an able description 
 of the ancient earthworks that once existed on the 
 plateau where Cincinnati now stands, was prepared 
 and published by Robert Clarke, in a pamphlet whose 
 title page bears the following words : " The Pre-His- 
 toric Remains which were found on the site of the 
 City of Cincinnati, Ohio; with a Vindication of the 
 * Cincinnati Tablet,' 1876." 
 
 While I have no reason to question the genuine 
 character of the Cincinnati Tablet, I do not see as 
 much in its engraved fltitings to convince me that a 
 written or pictorial language existed among the 
 Mound Builders, as I find in other sources. Mr. 
 Mercer, a dealer in archseological goods of this city, 
 possesses a vase in good state of preservation which 
 has figures upon its outer surface that were molded 
 there when the utensil was made. The figures are of 
 a different colored clay from the main part of the 
 vase. The vessel will hold a gallon or more ; is trun- 
 cated at the base, bulges in the middle, is constricted 
 in the neck, and flaring a little at the mouth. The 
 decoration may be tortured into a bird with a long neck 
 extended over the wretched outline of a man, the feet 
 of the bird reaching in a circular sweep toward the 
 beak. The ancient artist may have had no intention 
 of representing any such thing, but merely meant to 
 lay on the red clay in a fantastic manner, chiefly de- 
 signing to have the vessel ornamented. 
 
AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. 115 
 
 Vases ornamented with turtle's feet and head are 
 not uncommon. The outlines of birds, frogs, and of 
 the human figure, are frequently found wrought in pot- 
 tery, as well as in stone pipes, and other implements. 
 
 The language of a savage people is largely made 
 up of animal forms, and ideas associated with their 
 nature. If Sitting Bull were to construct his auto- 
 biography, he would take a dressed buffalo skin, and 
 paint its entire surface with pictures of birds, snakes, 
 beavers, wolves, bears, antelopes, panthers, and such 
 animals as he conceived to represent his authority, his 
 achievements, his ambition, his revenge, his victories, 
 and his defeats. If asked to read this pictorial life 
 history or autobiography, he might be an hour in put- 
 ting these symbols of extended thought into words, and 
 he would declare that what he said was all embraced 
 in the signification he gave these animal forms. 
 
 If the Mound Builders ever employed figures to 
 represent ideas, so much was left to the imagination 
 to supply, that the knowledge could not be conveyed 
 to a stranger, nor handed down from one generation 
 to another, except that the figure of an eagle, a bear, 
 a wolf, or a snake was the heraldic emblem of the 
 family. All savage races possess a disposition to or- 
 nament their weapons and utensils ; and some of them 
 tattoo their persons. A Cannibal Islander may have 
 his skin covered with ornamental figures, yet none ot 
 them may represent an idea. 
 
 I believe it to be unreasonable to expect the dis- 
 covery of any thing that can be dignified with the 
 name of a written language among the relics of the 
 Mound Builders. They were in the habit of fashion- 
 ing weapons, implements, and utensils from stone and 
 other imperishable materials they grooved, drilled, 
 
116 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 polished, and engraved them, yet they have left no 
 connection of characters that can be interpreted as 
 conveying more than the meaning that may be at- 
 tached to a frog or a bird. As long as people are in- 
 tensely interested in archaeology and ethnological 
 studies, individuals will be met who earnestly believe 
 that a race capable of accomplishing so much, must 
 have been ingenious enough to construct a written 
 language, whether it be alphabetical or pictorial ; and 
 they will also cherish the idea that a key a Rosetta 
 Stone will yet be found w r hich shall unlock the 
 mysteries now hanging about the animal figures rep- 
 resented in the shape of mounds, and engraved upon 
 stone implements, or molded in the soft clay that 
 was to be baked into pottery. 
 
 Some years ago the extensive collection of archae- 
 ological objects brought together by Messrs. Squier 
 and Davis in their explorations of the tumuli and 
 earth- works of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, was 
 offered for sale, and as no Antiquarian Society in the 
 United States seemed disposed to buy it, Mr. Black- 
 more, an English gentlemen of wealth came into its 
 possession by purchase, and added it to his museum 
 at Salisbury, England. The departure from our 
 shores of such a rich and varied cabinet of American 
 antiquities was regarded as an irreparable loss to the 
 nation, but the contributions of kindred articles to the 
 Smithsonian Institute, the Philadelphia Academy of 
 Natural Sciences, and other institutions of a similar 
 character in various parts of the country, and the ex- 
 tensive and growing cabinets of a private nature in 
 almost every large town and city in the land, will in 
 part compensate for the collection which left us with 
 so much regret. Every year adds largely to the 
 
AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY. 117 
 
 stock of archaeological goods in American hands ; and 
 the zeal for collecting relics is evidently on the in- 
 crease. 
 
 In Cincinnati, which is a somewhat noted place 
 for large collections of " Indian Relics " in individual 
 hands, can be found cabinets embracing thousands of 
 specimens, and nearly all were obtained in Ohio and 
 Kentucky. Mr. Thomas Cleariey has paid thousands 
 of dollars for his exceedingly rich and rare collection. 
 Dr. H. H. Hill has made exchanges with European 
 collections, so that his cabinet is quite interesting by 
 the intermixture of foreign patterns. Among these 
 importations are stone axes having a hole drilled for 
 the fixation of the handle, as in our modern steel 
 axes. 
 
 In Europe an attempt has been made, with a 
 rational degree of success, to divide the " Stone Age " 
 of savage man into the Palaeolithic and Neolithic 
 periods. It is not denied that the one reached into 
 the other, and continued as such while the other was 
 progressing, but the former is presumed to represent 
 the earliest and crudest productions of savage man, 
 the stone implements being rough and ill-shapen, 
 while the products of the Neolithic period are polished 
 and more artistic in form. In America no such dis- 
 tinction has been drawn by archaeologists, though a 
 rude and unpolished axe is pronounced to be the pro- 
 duction of the " Palaeolithic Age." It may be sug- 
 gested that the earliest savage men came to this coun- 
 try from Europe, and their migrations may have oc- 
 curred during the Neolithic period, consequently relics 
 of the Palaeolithic period need not be looked for on 
 this continent. But, specimens of handiwork ob- 
 tained from modern savages in various parts of the 
 
118 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 world show that representatives of the Paleolithic 
 and of the Neolithic periods have reached our time, 
 just as the elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, 
 and a few other thick-skinned animals, have come 
 down to us from the Miocene period of the earth's 
 geological history. These animals became extinct on 
 tle Western continent, but recent upheavals in the 
 Eastern world, near the Equator, in passing through 
 their phases of terrestrial evolution, were in a state 
 favorable to the continuance of Miocene productions. 
 It is not easy to conjecture what may have been 
 the uses of many of the stone manufactures of the 
 pre-historic races. Most of them bear evidence of 
 having been used extensively, as they are worn away 
 or polished by contact with the hand. The flint arrow 
 and spear-heads are easily recognized, and so are the 
 stone axes, but other forms are not so readily distin- 
 guished. The pipes for smoking " soothing weeds " 
 are correctly pronounced upon at once ; and so, per- 
 haps, are the jars, vases, and water jugs, but when we 
 come to amulets, ornaments, badges of distinction, or 
 signs of office, much guess-work has to be done. 
 Flint utensils chipped to the form of a spade may have 
 been used as such, and as hoes and plows. Flints 
 broken into semi-lunar forms, with a sharp edge on 
 the concave arc, were probably used as knives and 
 scrapers. Slender flints brought to a point at one 
 end may have been employed as drills ; others brought 
 to a sharp edge at one end may have served as gouges 
 and chisels, or as cutting tools for various purposes. 
 Bone awls and needles, generally fashioned from the 
 leg bones of a deer, are met quite often. Perforated 
 shells and the grooved teeth of the bear seem to have 
 been employed as beads or money. Double concave 
 
AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. 119 
 
 stone discs may have been, used in amusing or gam- 
 bling games. Bark peelers, root and twig cutters, 
 have been so named from the fact that certain hematite 
 implements with a wedge-like extremity, could serve 
 for such purposes. 
 
 Stone mortars, pestles, and rollers are exceedingly 
 common; so are molded and burnt pieces of domestic 
 ware, to answer our use of pots, kettles, stew-pans, 
 mngs, pitchers, and jugs. Globular stones are found 
 which have been used much in the hands, possibly as 
 hand-hammers, nut-crackers, or sling-stones. The 
 stone axes mostly have a deep groove near the head to 
 receive a withe which served as a handle. These were 
 sometimes very large, weighing from twelve to fifteen 
 pounds, though half that weight was more common. 
 Many were light, and may have been employed as 
 hatchets. As compared with modern steel instru- 
 ments, these stone tools are clumsy enough to be 
 laughed at, but in strong hands they were made to 
 serve the purposes of the savage in maintaining a 
 vigorous existence. 
 
HEREDITY. 
 
 (Read before the Cincinnati Natural History Society, March 5,1889. 
 
 Inheritance signifies the transmission of peculiari- 
 ties, properties or qualities, from parent to progeny, or 
 the descent of ancestral features to posterity. In the 
 bequest, both paternal and maternal instincts are 
 transmitted. Inasmuch as the son takes the name of 
 his father the family cognomen the popular impres- 
 sion is that paternal impressions are the stronger, and 
 therefore likely to dominate, or to be leading, swerv- 
 ingly influential. In this there is a chance to perpetu- 
 ate a mistake. A child is not the descendant of the 
 father or the mother, but of the two combined or 
 commingled, there being a compromise and not an in- 
 dividual feature from either parent. Furthermore, 
 there may not be an equable division of parental 
 qualities, but the child shall inherit unequally, as it 
 were, partaking physically of the father, and mentally 
 of the mother, or vice versa, yet closely resembling 
 neither in any peculiarity. Besides, heredity does not 
 necessarily mean the direct transmission of parental 
 qualities, but refers to more or less remote ancestral 
 forms which are inclined to crop out and assert them- 
 selves upon the first favorable opportunity. 
 
 The fact that a child can not possibly follow 
 either father or mother establishes the necessity for 
 variation, which is opposed to heredity in a restricted 
 sense. Although there may be a proud satisfaction in 
 the thought that children are to be like their parents, 
 
 (120) 
 
HEREDITY. 121 
 
 the contemplation is somewhat illusory ; progeny is a 
 tangle between sire and dam, and the intricate re- 
 lations of ancestry. A long nose in a father and a 
 short nose in a mother do not necessarily impart a 
 medium nose to offspring; nor does a brittle temper 
 in a mother with one slow of anger in a father to a 
 certainty insure a model spirit in a child, but there 
 will be a combination quite puzzling to the analytical 
 observer. In some instances an advantage is gained, 
 and in others a depreciation is the result. It has been 
 asserted as a scientific presumption, that the child fol- 
 lows the father physically and the mother mentally, 
 but there is no substantial ground for the asseveration. 
 Among stock breeders it is well known that the dam 
 and sire must be of goodly heritage if line descendants 
 be sought ; an excellent pedigree on one side is not 
 sufficient. And then in each new generation there will 
 be apparent some divergence from parental stock. 
 
 The farmer who sows wheat expects the same 
 kind of grain, and not oats, barley or "cheat." The 
 latter appears here and there almost every year a 
 barren spike showing itself among well tilled heads ; 
 but when the season is unpropitious, and the environ- 
 ment unfavorable, the sterile spikes become more nu- 
 merous, and in rare instances they may be in the ma- 
 jority. The husbandman will remark that there is 
 much " cheat" in the fields this year. 
 
 It has been demonstated, I believe, that wheat, 
 oats and barley were once grasses ; but through selec- 
 tion and cultivation, have been developed into a 
 high order of cereals wheat becoming the most valu- 
 able of all, the richest in starch granules, in bread- 
 making qualities. The botanist recognizes several 
 kinds of wheat, though all appear much alike. The 
 
122 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 kernels of one variety may develop beards while an- 
 other kind may be quite bare of barbs. Then, again, 
 a still other variety may be short in the spike, and 
 another long or multiple, making quite a notable va- 
 riance in brands, though all may pass in the markets 
 of the world as belonging to the great bread pro- 
 ducing staple. 
 
 Sometimes growing wheat is said to be "blasted," 
 the spikes failing to fill with seeds, and the plants pre- 
 senting a grassy appearance. The solution of the 
 matter is that there has been manifest a " reversion," 
 a retrograde movement, a return to graminaceous 
 states to ancestral stock. It is a rare field of grain 
 in which every spike or pericarp is filled with plump 
 kernels ; but light or imperfect seeds in the process of 
 winnowing are blown away with the chaff; thus a se- 
 lective procedure is unconsciously carried on, the best 
 being preserved for food and for the next season's 
 planting. It is common for the agriculturist to select 
 the fairest ears of corn for a coming seedtime, hence a 
 selective process, aiming at betterment, is continually 
 practiced in the development of farm products. 
 
 All varieties of apples, so far as known, have 
 been evolved from crabstock by processes known to 
 horticulturists. The original fruit is small, white, 
 hard, sour and unpalatable, yet how delicious have 
 become the finer grades of fruits in our orchards ! If 
 it were not for the principle of variation in hereditary 
 descent, we might be compelled to eat repulsive crab- 
 apples to the end of time. The laws of evolution 
 have rendered improvement possible, as well as dem- 
 onstrated the vigilance needed to prevent a return to 
 primitive worthlessness. A fruit tree of any kind 
 left untrimmed and untended soon becomes a tangle 
 
HEREDITY. 123 
 
 of twigs and branches, and the fruit small and unpal- 
 atable. 
 
 The cotton plant, if well cultivated, will become 
 a tree and develop hundreds of bolls, yet left to itself, 
 to be choked with weeds, is an insignificant stalk with 
 only two pericarps. I can cite no vegetable cultivated 
 as a crop, which develops in such multiple ratios by 
 agricultural attention as does gossypium, or the com- 
 mon cotton plant. 
 
 As the finest garden seeds are selected by the 
 farmer's wife for the next year's planting, so the stock 
 raiser chooses the finest specimens for reproduction 
 among kine, horses, sheep, and swine, while the prog- 
 eny of scrub stock goes to slaughter; yet, so strong 
 is the tendency to return to original or primitive 
 ugliness or worth lessness, that ever watchful care is 
 required to sustain an elevated status in farm pro- 
 ducts. Even with the exercise of eternal vigilance, a 
 lapse will now and then occur. Though winning 
 horses are the parents of winners, colts with pedigree 
 are often worthless. The best breeds having been 
 attained by intelligent selection through many gener- 
 ations, it is logically presumable that an average status 
 of the most valuable stock can be secured and repro- 
 duced over and over again. But the tendency to 
 degenerate is ever present and pressing. Stock breed- 
 ers are always in a speculative state of mind in regard 
 to what anticipated progeny may be worth. Perhaps 
 uncertainty adds to the mysterious interest, especially 
 in stock with a reputable pedigree. 
 
 It is generally supposed that plants and animals 
 are at their best when they were first discovered, or 
 existed as primitive stock, but there is abundant proof 
 to show that improvement often takes place by fur- 
 
124 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 nishing a better environment or by offering more ac- 
 ceptable nutriment. The soil and climate of America 
 have contributed beauty to exotic flowers, and added 
 flavor to foreign fruits. The Arabian horse grazed 
 for generations on the blue grass of Kentucky, has 
 acquired qualities superior to those developed or man- 
 ifested in ancestral stock. 
 
 The followers of Darwin and the champions of 
 evolution are prone to utilize certain terms or expres- 
 sions; for instance, "survival of the fittest," "sexual 
 selection," "tendency to reversion," and the like, as 
 if they expressed laws or signified principles, when 
 they are merely catch-words to represent vital opera- 
 tions or sequences. On the other hand, the advocates 
 of heredity of Biblically attested inheritance cite 
 old formulas to prove that there has always been an 
 unvarying transmission from sire to son, from parents 
 to offspring, generation after generation, organisms 
 continuing ever the same to the end of time. 
 
 Now, to both of these methods for conveying in- 
 formation there are valid objections, because neither 
 is absolutely true. The fittest, or strongest, or most 
 favored, do not always survive or continue, but acci- 
 dent or chance has something to do with heredity. 
 Once the elephant and the horse flourished on this 
 continent, but became extinct through causes beyond 
 control ; and when, at a subsequent period, they were 
 reintroduced from the old world they throve as though 
 fitness were in their favor. Sexual preference is a 
 fancy, and often damaging as an influence in shaping 
 the destinies of the race; and "reversion" only means 
 a backward oscillation of the pendulum which has 
 swung too far from the center of attraction. As pre- 
 viously stated, direct inheritance without modification 
 
HEREDITY. 125 
 
 can never occur, from the fact that the inheritor is a 
 compromise between two beings, and therefore can 
 not be like either must vary from both. Admitting 
 that all nations of the earth were originally of one 
 blood, the evidence of variability is every- where pro- 
 nounced. If there came from the ark two of a kind 
 (male and female) except so far as Noah was con- 
 cerned, the carnivorous must have destroyed many 
 kinds of animals not mentioned and not represented 
 since that time; and, what is now to be observed, the 
 yellow lion of South Africa will not consort with a 
 black variety in Algiers and Morocco; and the Bengal 
 tiger of India will have nothing to do with the great 
 feline of Thibet, though it be well known that the cat 
 family varies less than almost any other. If ancient 
 notions of heredity be true, how are we to account for 
 the tailless or manx cat of the Isle of Man? Here 
 seems to be a " sport" or saltus as great as that which 
 robs an ape of its caudal appendage ! 
 
 When a sudden and marked change takes place 
 in the organic world, quite violating the accepted or 
 avowed principles of heredity, we are forced to admit 
 something like a saltatory influence to account for the 
 spanning of wide gaps in the history of organic life, 
 or for the accomplishment of what has taken place 
 without evidence of the slow transforming processes 
 peculiar to the changes of evolution. We have seen 
 that a plant under unfavorable surroundings may drift 
 backward at a rapid rate. While an upward course 
 must be necessarily slow, a retrograde movement may 
 be in leaps "descensus averni facile est." 
 
 It does not seem that the skeletal parts of a pter- 
 odactyl could be developed slowly ; they should come 
 at a leap, with a bounce. Then how could a bat's 
 
126 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 wing be evolved by a slow process? Besides, if there 
 were gradually modified forms, there is no fossil evi- 
 dence of the fact. It is possible for the flipper of the 
 penguin to be slowly transformed from a wing into its 
 present fin-like form. Always swimming and never 
 flying might exert a transforming influence. How- 
 ever, the chick penguin should be hatched with quills 
 in its pectoral limbs, which logically is the fact. This 
 calls to mind the circumstance that the young of sev- 
 eral kinds of animals do not resemble the parents in 
 color. The spotted fawn of the American deer squints 
 at a change of hue on the part of the parent which 
 had as an ancestor the mottled fallow deer of Europe. 
 The chicks of grouse are striped like the recently 
 hatched broods of domestic fowls. 
 
 Palaeontology teaches that vast changes have 
 taken place in the size and general features of plants 
 and animals in certain portions of the earth. For in- 
 stance, there was a time when the megatherium, an 
 animal of huge proportions, inhabited Brazilian for- 
 ests. Being now extinct, the character of the great 
 beast has to be judged by its bones. A finely pre- 
 served skeleton is to be seen in the National Museum 
 of Madrid. The skeletal parts indicate that the ani- 
 mal in form and habits was allied to the sloth, a small 
 animal which now inhabits South American forests, 
 living among the branches of trees, and rarely coming 
 to the ground. The megatherium was strong enough 
 to uproot trees, that it might feed upon the twigs and 
 leaves, and the arboreal bradypus (sloth), with nails 
 developed into long hooks, lives where it can feed 
 upon foliage. Now, the question suggests itself 
 whether the gigantic animal was developed from the 
 little sloth, or the large animal degenerated into the 
 
HEREDITY. 127 
 
 small one. Possibly they were distinct creatures, the 
 larger having become extinct from causes which at 
 present do not appear. It is quite certain that inter- 
 mediate types did not exist. 
 
 In New Zealand a similar relationship exists be- 
 tween an extinct bird and an existing one. The moa, 
 or dinornis, was a wingless bird ten or twelve feet in 
 height, and once lived where the apteryx, a bird not 
 larger than a turkey, now exists. The skeleton of 
 the moa is destitute of wing marks, while the little 
 apteryx has rudimentary wings with a nail or claw 
 at the tips, thus corresponding to the dwarfed wings 
 of the ostrich, the nail being a reptilian feature. The 
 point to be settled is, whether, in New Zealand, there 
 were two distinct creations, or by the forces or influ- 
 ences of evolution the one was related to the other 
 in a rising or falling scale. 
 
 A peculiarity of the fauna of Australia is that the 
 marsupial type prevails, the kangaroo being the 
 largest and the most pronounced. The platypus is an 
 exception to the marsupial characteristic in the ani- 
 mals of the island or continent, and seems to combine 
 the features of a mole and a bird. In the peculiar 
 combination the evolutionist finds a puzzle, and the 
 supporter of heredity sees evidence of special creations. 
 Neither " natural selection " nor " reversion " will 
 solve the organic riddle ; and in a creative fiat the 
 reason for the intermixed combination is not apparent, 
 especially as the singular production is in proximity 
 with the echidna and other unusual forms. 
 
 In the contemplation of Australian animals, the 
 speculative mind might see a novel fauna in a state 
 of arrested development. However, the country is 
 capable of sustaining exotics, whether vegetable or 
 
128 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 animal. Rabbits taken there have multiplied to an 
 alarming extent, there being few carnivorous creatures 
 to hold them in check. The only carnivorous animal, 
 native to the island, is an arboreal bear not larger 
 than a common cat. 
 
 In tracing the lineage of a class of animals, say 
 that of pachyderms, a certain peculiarity is to be ob- 
 served in the muzzle and in the digits. The ele- 
 phant presents a wonderfully developed proboscis, or 
 prolongation of the upper lip and nose ; and the huge 
 creature possesses an odd number of toes. The rhi- 
 noceros is a perissodactyl (odd toed), and presents a 
 long snout. The tapir, odd-toed, has almost a pro- 
 boscis. The peccary is a rooter, and so is the pig, 
 though they are generally artiodactyl (even-toed). 
 However, a "mule-footed" swine in Florida and 
 Texas has three toes incased in a single hoof. The 
 variety is not much cultivated. Possibly through a 
 superstition that the animal is unclean because it does 
 not divide the hoof. To an Israelite the pig is un- 
 clean, because it is not a ruminant, and would be more 
 repulsive if odd-toed. 
 
 The horse has a palseoutological lineage Avhich is 
 quite remarkable. The Eocene animal was not more 
 than three feet high, and possessed five toes. Its 
 equine character is determined by its teeth and ver- 
 tebrae. The Miocene orohtppus had three toes to each 
 foot, and was as large as a Shetland pony ; and the 
 Pliocene hippus had one toe, and was the ances- 
 tor of the modern horse. It will be seen that the 
 perissodactyl type clung to the beast through all its 
 transformations. No other animal presents such a 
 wonderful record. Whether the progression was 
 steadily upward from the primitive horse to the pres- 
 
HEREDITY. 129 
 
 ent equine animal, can not be clearly determined, but the 
 presumption is that no saltus is needed to span gaps. 
 An interesting circumstance confirming the evolution 
 theory is, that a three-toed foal occasionally appears 
 in the breeding of horses. In other words, " rever- 
 sion " sustains the hypothesis of equine evolution ; 
 and all horses have dwarfed splint bones in their legs,, 
 which plainly indicate a three-toed ancestry. 
 
 There was once a larger elk in Ireland and Den- 
 mark than now exists in any country, yet so nearly 
 resembled a modern animal of the class, that we can 
 not help being impressed with the idea that there 
 existed some kind of relationship between them, 
 though no direct connection could have been main- 
 tained; there must have intervened some kind of a 
 chasm. The saber-toothed tiger, whose bones were 
 found in Kent's Hole and other caverns in England, 
 must have been a larger feline than now exists. 
 
 The bones of the cave-bear indicate the existence 
 of an ursine monster considerably larger than the 
 grizzly of the Rocky Mountains, or the great bear of 
 Russia. But whether these enormous creatures were 
 primitive or ancestral, we have no means of knowing, 
 except that they lived at a period earlier than any 
 species of an order now in existence. 
 
 But I propose to introduce other kinds of matter 
 to elucidate heredity. Writers upon mental qualities 
 would have us to believe that the average criminal is 
 not responsible for his acts ; that he has inherited a 
 predisposition to indulge in criminality; and that 
 while indulging his propensities, he is merely obeying 
 impulses over which he has no control ! While there 
 is something worthy of consideration in the argument, 
 the danger is in going quite too far in the defense of 
 
130 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 evil doers. A man may inherit a predisposition to 
 gout, but by a rigid course of living may avoid the 
 disease. So it is in regard to the tendency to commit 
 crime. If an inherited impulse to do wrong be felt, 
 the feeling should be all the more resisted criminals 
 know when they are doing wrong ! 
 
 Maudsley, in his Responsibility in Mental. Disease, 
 has taken a very rational view of the subject he has 
 ably treated, but may have gone too far in an attempt 
 to apologize for criminality. It is a mistake to think 
 that a suicide can not abstain from taking 1 his life. 
 
 o 
 
 In the majority of instances there is ability to turn 
 from the deed, but not the inclination. I know of a 
 suicide who wrote just before committing the deadly 
 act : " I do this deliberately, fearing that in an ap- 
 proaching state of senility I shall not have the resolu- 
 tion to do what I think is best for me and my friends." 
 Another wrote : " I have no purpose but to execute 
 a long-settled plan, that I have a right to take my 
 own life when threatening infirmities remind me that 
 I may not have the courage in later life to do what I 
 may know to be best." 
 
 In neither case was there an inherited predisposi- 
 tion to suicide: and in both there was premeditation, 
 no maniacal influence being present. 
 
 The strongest point made by apologists for crimes 
 and misdemeanors on hereditary grounds is that 
 drunkards inherit a predisposition to drink or tipple. 
 The argument made is that a love of temporary brain- 
 joy is transmitted from parent to child; and that the 
 predisposition can not well be resisted. Xow, it 
 seems to me that the drunkard returns to his cups 
 through a habit he has e>tablished a habit which 
 has become a disease, an abnormal state. The lover 
 
HEREDITY. 131 
 
 of stimulants can abstain from indulgence while he is 
 well and in control of his appetites, but the toper is 
 a diseased man, and feeble of intellect; he is not 
 wholly responsible for his acts while his brain is crazed 
 with drink. But there was a time when the sot real- 
 ized that he should govern his appetite for drink, 
 even if he inherited a love for alcoholic stimulants ; 
 he is therefore responsible for his acts, and to hold 
 otherwise is to grant license to crime. If a man 
 knows that alcohol crazes his brain, he certainly 
 knows that he should not risk taking the intoxicating 
 stuff. 
 
 The disease of inebriety is not inherited, but ac- 
 quired. The morbid condition is felt in the brain, in 
 the fauces, and in the stomach ; and grows worse by 
 indulgence in alcoholic beverages. The bad sensa- 
 tions are relieved temporarily, yet to return with ag- 
 gravation. Bright ideas awakened by the accustomed 
 stimulant pass away like a disappointing mirage. 
 
 As a general thing, drunkards do not spring 
 from drunken parents. Quite often they come from 
 most exemplary parentage. The children of a besot- 
 ted father or mother are often ashamed of the family 
 disgrace, and in the intensity of their grief resolve to 
 steer clear of the distinctive stain. The vice of ine- 
 briety is like other crimes it must be hated to be 
 avoided ; and to be detested it must be contemplated 
 and understood. In the beginning of a drinking ca- 
 reer, the craving for tipple is never so strong that it 
 can not be resisted; but indulgence leads to irresolu- 
 tion ; therefore it is a sin and a crime to continue. 
 The law punishes the criminal for the crime under 
 investigation ; but the moral lapse reaches back to a 
 time when the incentive to criminality should have 
 
132 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 been held in restraint. Parents are at fault for not 
 instructing their children to avoid the road that leads 
 ultimately to evil. A " taste for liquor," in the ordi- 
 nary acceptance of the term, is never inherited, but a 
 love of mental exhilaration may be hereditary. 
 
 The opium habit, so called, is not often inher- 
 ited, except among Chinese, yet may be readily ac- 
 quired. A few doses of morphia administered to 
 allay pain or to overcome insomnia, may beget a lik- 
 ing for the drug's intoxicating influence. The aver- 
 age man is not harmed by the medication, but the ex- 
 ceptional partaker is. At least so experience proves. 
 An "opium eater" may spring from the most tem- 
 perate and self-denying family in Christendom, and 
 become as debased as the most degraded among man- 
 kind. 
 
 As I stated in regard to alcoholism, the taste of 
 the intoxicant is not bewitching, but a depressed 
 mental state calls for a stimulant ; so it is with opium. 
 The nauseous drug is not beloved, is generally dis- 
 gusting, yet the stupefying effect of the opiate is en- 
 ticing, too much so to be resisted by a person whose 
 moral strength has been undermined by long periods 
 of indulgence. 
 
 The chewing of tobacco is not an inherited, but 
 an acquired habit. Think of a child with an instinct- 
 ive love for the taste or effect of " the weed !" There 
 is a worm which feeds upon the tender leaves of 
 growing tobacco, which inherits a love for the succu- 
 lent plant, but a desire to chew the narcotic which 
 man has acquired is not transmitted as a legacy to 
 children. A disposition to chew something as a pas- 
 time is easily acquired, and if that something be a 
 narcotic, a habit hard to resist is soon established. 
 
HEREDITY. 133 
 
 Not only a quid is craved, but one which embraces an 
 appreciable amount of tipple. The first time a boy 
 uses the filthy weed he is sickened and disgusted, but 
 forces himself to overcome the nausea in order to ap- 
 pear manly ! 
 
 In a review of Galton's " Hereditary Genius," it 
 is plain that his citations lend strong support to the 
 position he has taken, which is that men of marked 
 talent have sprung from parents or ancestral stock of 
 acknowledged ability ; arid this is as might be ex- 
 pected. 
 
 It is easy to see that in a country like England, 
 where so much hinges on traditional descent, a pater- 
 nal chief-justice, statesman, or divine should be suc- 
 ceeded by a son who at length attains the same or a 
 similar office of honor and trust. On the other hand, 
 the distinguished genealogist does not mention the 
 distinguished men who have riot left sons eminent for 
 ability, nor has he been particular to enumerate the 
 instances in which men of brilliant talents have sprung 
 from humble origin. In the latter condition there 
 have been intellectual leaps which quite outmatch any 
 to be cited of a saltatory character in physical trans- 
 formations. It is easy to understand how and why 
 inheritance helps in the unfolding of talent, in the 
 evolution of genius, and in the elevation of progeny 
 favored with influential parents ; yet to rise in the 
 world while stemming a tide of adverse circumstances 
 is to approach the borderland of the marvelous. In 
 Queen Elizabeth's reign, the people of England were 
 divided into villains, yeomanry, burgesses, squires, 
 clergy, and noblemen ; and there was, from the fixed 
 nature of the affairs of the time, a meager opportunity 
 for even a daring and ambitious individual to ascend 
 
134 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 from one condition in life to a higher sphere. Amer- 
 icans esteem the inheritance of property and the 
 worth of a good family history ; but we hold in higher 
 estimation the opportunity to attain through perse- 
 verance and integrity the most exalted stations in the 
 Great Republic. Woman in the past, Biblically and 
 otherwise, has been treated as inferior to man, and 
 thus the human race has been degraded. In America 
 the son does not feel disgraced from evidence of serv- 
 ility on the maternal side. We are assured that as 
 we sow, thus shall we reap; and that grapes do not 
 spring from thorns, nor figs from thistles. Or, as 
 Horace poetically expressed the idea in Ode IY : 
 
 " Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis, 
 Est in juvencis, est iu equis patrum, 
 Virtus, neque imbelleni feroces, 
 Progenerant aquilae coluinbam." 
 
THE PENTADACTYL TYPE. 
 
 Medicine is a branch of natural science ; in its 
 range it dips deeply into Zoology. The anatomy of 
 man does not differ essentially from that of other mam- 
 mals. The philosophic anatomist finds interesting and 
 instructive material for reflection in the structures of 
 what are called the "inferior" animals. Indeed, it 
 has heen asserted by the most distinguished scientists 
 that the human body is bes*t understood by those who 
 have compared each part of it, so far as compari- 
 sons can be made, with homologous parts in the lower 
 animal forms. And those who are just entering upon 
 such studies will be astonished to find how closely na- 
 ture sticks to a primitive type or form. If she departs 
 from the typical formula for special or adaptive pur- 
 poses, there seems to be a disposition to return, fully 
 or in part, to the original and favorite model. This 
 tendency to adhere to a fundamental rule is exempli- 
 fied in the number of cervical vertebrae in mammals. 
 Man in his comparatively short neck has seven bones, 
 and so have the bat, the porpoise, and other almost 
 neckless creatures ; and in the long-necked giraffe, 
 camel, horse, deer, and weasel, there are but seven 
 vertebrae a typical number which prevails with won- 
 derful pertinacity, considering the scope for adaptive 
 variety in the length and functions of mammals' necks. 
 The only exceptions are in a species of sloth and the 
 tropical manati. 
 
 Five is a common number for digital division 
 
 (135) 
 
136 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 among vertebrates ; and our own hands and feet pre- 
 sent these digits in a high degree of perfection. Our 
 fingers, with the opposable thumb, are not equaled in 
 function by the digital development reached by any 
 other animal. Man has been classed alone as bimanous, 
 on account of his possessing two hands. A unity of 
 method in the construction of the carpal and tarsal ter- 
 minations is strikingly apparent not only in the higher, 
 but in the lower vertebrates, fishes alone forming ex- 
 ceptions. The pentadactyl has a wide range of appli- 
 cation it reaches reptiles as well as walking, swim- 
 ming, and flying mammals. Divergencies are common, 
 for the necessities of modified organizations enforce 
 variety. The herbivora must have feet and legs suited 
 to their manner of living; and the carnivora need 
 digital terminations which shall enable them to cap- 
 ture and tear in pieces their prey. If the claw be 
 sharp its point is protected by a sheath and by being 
 raised from the ground. Amphibious animals adhere 
 quite closely to the pentadactyl type, though their 
 digits may be concealed by a web. Birds apparently 
 depart considerably from the prevailing order of digital 
 division, yet in their legs and wings may be found the 
 evidence that they are constructed in accordance with 
 the somewhat rigid formula. 
 
 Variations of digital termination can not be fully 
 comprehended without considering, anatomically and 
 functionally, all the bones which constitute what are 
 denominated the shoulder and pelvic girdles. In an 
 anterior limb may be found a scapula, humerus, radius 
 and ulna, and carpal and metacarpal bones, to which 
 the phalanges are attached ; and the greater the num- 
 ber of digits, the nearer certain it is that a distinct 
 ulna and the usual complement of metacarpal bones 
 
THE PENTADACTYL TYPE. 137 
 
 will be present. A posterior extremity embraces a 
 haunch bone, a femur, tibia and fibula, tarsal and 
 metatarsal bones, and phalanges ; and when five toes 
 are fully developed, as many metatarsal bones exist, 
 and the fibula is present. But if two digits disappear, 
 there is a corresponding shrinkage in the metatarsus, 
 and a dwindling effect manifested in the fibula. 
 
 The Simian thumb is not opposable to all the 
 fingers it is dwarfed and imperfect ; and in the in- 
 ferior animals this digit is the first to shrink and dis- 
 appear. The fifth or " little finger " is occasionally 
 rudimentary, yet it puts in an appearance oftener than 
 the pollex, or first digit. The third and fourth dig- 
 its not unfrequently attain gigantic proportions, and 
 usually at the expense of the other digits. The hal- 
 lux, or "great toe," is functionally important in the 
 monkey, but it is apt to shrink and vanish in the lower 
 animals. The raccoon, which is anatomically allied to 
 the monkey, and exhibits many Simian freaks of char- 
 acter, possesses five digits upon each pedal extremity. 
 The opossum is also pentadactyl, and the hallux is 
 placed at right angles with, and is opposable to, the 
 other four digits ; it has a short and thick terminal phal- 
 anx that bears no nail. Foxes, dogs, wolves, and hyenas, 
 possess four functional toes which reach the ground, 
 and a rudimentary digit of greater or less develop- 
 ment, which bears a nail, but does not come to the 
 ground, nor havo any functional importance ; and this 
 dwarfed toe is on the inside of the carpus or tarsus, 
 where the most important digit exists in man. 
 
 All the feline race are pentadactyl, yet the first 
 digit in each foot is rudimentary and mostly devoid of 
 function. Minks, otters, and beavers exhibit five dig- 
 its on each foot ; and so do many of the great aquatic 
 
138 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 mammals. Frogs have five toes behind, and four in 
 front, with a knob on the carpus to represent the fifth. 
 The alligator has five digits in front, and four be- 
 hind, with a mark for the fifth. Animals with a 
 lizard-like conformation have from three to five toes ; 
 and in some lacertian swimmers the shoulder and 
 pelvic girdles are rudimentary all the way through, 
 the legs being too feeble and undeveloped to sustain 
 the weight of the body. 
 
 Herbivorous animals have mostly, for each foot, 
 two strong toes that come to the ground, and two 
 rudimentary digits which are called "dew claws," and 
 have no functional importance. The latter bear di- 
 minutive hoofs, embrace phalanges, and have meta- 
 carpal and metatarsal splint bones. The fifth digit in 
 these cud-chewers, or ruminants, is rarely or barely 
 represented by a mark or sign, hence such animals are 
 denominated artiodactyl, or even-toed. Most of them 
 present no upper incisor teeth ; and they grind their 
 food imperfectly while it is being cropped and swal- 
 lowed. Their intestinal canal is long and complicated, 
 for the purpose of extracting nutriment from herbage 
 not always rich in nutritious supplies. 
 
 Man possesses a distinct radius and ulna, and a 
 tibia and fibula ; and so do most of the perissodactyl 
 or odd-toed animals those having one, three, or five 
 digits. The pig has upper and lower incisor teeth, 
 ankylosed radius and ulna, and a distinct tibia and 
 fibula. Its toes are like those of ruminants, two 
 functional and two rudimental on each foot. 
 
 The sheep, the goat, the ox, the buffalo, the 
 moose, the deer, and the antelope, have an ulna with 
 a well developed olecranon process, but the lower ex- 
 tremity blends with the radius ; the fibula of these 
 
THE PENTADACTYL TYPE. 139 
 
 animals is wholly wanting, or is represented by a 
 mere knob on the upper extremity of the tibia. The 
 limbs of turtles and alligators possess a radius and an 
 ulna, and a tibia and fibula, all being as distinct and 
 evenly divided as corresponding bones in the limbs of 
 the human race. 
 
 The horse is a one-toed creature; but the fossil 
 remains of its extinct predecessors show that the orig- 
 inal hippuSj or the earliest of the equine family, pos- 
 sessed five toes, and was not larger than the smallest 
 ponies now in existence. The fossil bones of a horse 
 with three toes, the central digit being the largest, are 
 found in the Eocene and Miocene beds of the Upper 
 Missouri River in the "bad lands" of Wyoming. 
 In the Pliocene strata are found the fossil bones of a 
 bigger horse, which had a large toe that reached the 
 ground, and two lateral toes that were rudimentary, 
 as are the "dew-claws" of an ox or other even-toed 
 animal. 
 
 The horse of our time is one of the most beauti- 
 ful and highly developed of the great animals. He 
 is fleet of foot and strong of limb. Each pedal ex- 
 tremity possesses a series of toggle-joints, as the 
 articulations of the limbs may be called, consequently 
 in him is made the best provision for an outlay of 
 muscular and mechanical power. The legs are long 
 and slender, and moved by muscles which are admi- 
 rably arranged for the development of strength and 
 speed. The spinous processes of the anterior dorsal 
 vertebrae are long and high, to give an elevated at- 
 tachment to muscles which indirectly lift the feet 
 from the ground. A horse "high in the withers" is 
 riot likely to stumble when he trots. The moose is a 
 trotting animal, and has few smooth roads to travel 
 
140 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 upon, consequently it is very high in the withers, 
 even higher than the horse. The deer runs by leaps, 
 and rarely trots, therefore it need not be high in the 
 withers, and is not relatively so high in that region 
 as the moose. The humerus of the horse is buried 
 in the flesh of the shoulder, and the femur in the 
 tissues of the hip, so that neither can be traced in 
 the outline of the limb ; yet these bones are very 
 large and compact; and so obliquely placed as re- 
 gards adjacent bones that they afford admirable 
 angles for dissipating jars and shocks. What is 
 ordinarily regarded as the knee in the front and hind 
 limbs, is really what in man are the wrist and the 
 ankle. The ulna is prominently developed in the 
 olecranon process, but becomes a splint below, and 
 blends with the radius ; the fibula is represented only 
 by a process of bone projecting from the upper ex- 
 tremity of the tibia. The carpus and tarsus of the 
 horse consist of two chains of comparatively small 
 bones, as representative parts do in man ; but the 
 metacarpus and metatarsus are wonderfully trans- 
 formed or differentiated. The central metacarpal 
 and metatarsal bones called cannon bones are large, 
 long, and strong ; and the lateral metacarpals and 
 metatarsals are represented by spints, which can be 
 barely outlined from the upper end of the cannon 
 bones to a point a little below the middle of the great 
 central shaft, which represents about all there is of 
 the metacarpus and metatarsus. And below this is a 
 central continuation of a single row of phalanges, 
 without even splints to represent lateral digits. Five 
 sets of phalanges are consolidated in one row. This 
 consists of the upper pastern, the lower pastern, and 
 the coffin bone, which represents the terminal or nn- 
 
THE PENTADACTYL TYPE. 141 
 
 gual phalanx, and supports a hoof instead of a nail, 
 as in man and many other animals. 
 
 The horse has long lips to gather in its food, and 
 six good incisors in each jaw to crop grass ; behind 
 these are short tusks in the male, then comes a toothless 
 space for the " bit," and still further back are the im- 
 mense grinders which do such excellent service in mash- 
 ing and pulpifying the food, whether it be grass, hay, or 
 grain. And the grinding is so well done that the food 
 does not have to be regurgitated and chewed over as a cud. 
 
 The elephant's foot conforms pretty nearly to the 
 pentadactyl standard, for it terminates in five toes; 
 yet the inner toe (hallux and pollex) is somewhat im- 
 perfect, or rudimentary in its fundamental character. 
 The hippopotamus treads upon four toes, and has the 
 rudiment of a fifth, which is on the inside of the 
 carpus and tarsus. The rhinoceros goes upon three 
 toes, the "little toe" vanishing entirely, and the 
 "great toe" existing in a rudimentary state, or is not 
 developed sufficiently to reach the ground. 
 
 The kangaroo- has five digits in each of its fore- 
 paws ; and apparently three, though really four, in 
 each of the hind feet. The failure is on the inside of 
 the foot, the hallux is wanting, and the next two are 
 so dwarfed that in the seemingly combined state they 
 are not equal to the outside digit, which again is 
 smaller than the immensely developed fourth toe 
 reckoned in the order from "great" to " little." The 
 two dwarfed toes which appear in the living animal 
 as single, have but one metatarsal bone that reaches 
 back to the tarsus ; and this is very slender. When 
 the animal sits at rest the os calcis reaches the 
 ground, but in hopping about the two outside toes 
 in each hind foot receive the weight of the body, and 
 
142 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 break the shock by means of a well developed plantar 
 arch and elastic plantar ligaments which stretch from 
 heel to toe as a cord subtends a bow. The tracks of 
 the kangaroo are much like those of a hopping bird. 
 The bandicoot has a hind foot similar to that of the 
 kangaroo, yet the "little" or outside toe is compara- 
 tively dwarfed, and the one next to it is as much more 
 enlarged and elongated it becomes the greater part 
 of the foot, while the others dwindle to insignificance. 
 
 In the fore foot of the rnole there is seemingly a 
 violation of the pentadactyl type, for six terminal 
 claws are found. But upon dissecting the limb it is 
 shown that the supernumerary claw is a falciform 
 hook that springs from the radius, and is not there- 
 fore carpal except in function a splint to give width 
 and strength to the spade-like hand. 
 
 The sloth has but two toes functionally devel- 
 oped in front ; and two rudimentary digits exist, 
 yet the animal is called two-toed. The nails on the 
 developed digits are long, strong, and so curved that 
 when hooked upon the branch of a tree, they will 
 not let go, though the animal be asleep or even 
 dead. A species of the sloth has three toes in the 
 fore foot, and a rudimentary fourth. The jerboa has 
 three toes to each hind foot, and three ankylosed 
 metatarsal bones. The conformation of the entire 
 limb is much like that of a bird. 
 
 The anterior extremity of the bat has four enor- 
 mously extended phalanges to give expanse to skinny 
 wings ; the fifth digit is only a hook or undeveloped 
 claw. The posterior extremities present five digits to 
 each foot; thus, in the anterior arid posterior extrem- 
 ities, the pentadactyl type is followed. 
 
THAT SAME SWEET FACE." 
 
 As a notable Swedish songstress, who was about 
 to depart from home to win fortune and fame in for- 
 eign lands, bid farewell to parents and friends, she 
 said to her mother, " What shall I bring you when I 
 return ?" The maternal reply was, " That same sweet 
 face." But the mother was asking for something 
 which is flitting ; she was governed by an emotion ; 
 she sighed for that which could not be. That face 
 must change its semblance could only be retained in 
 memory and marble. If the daughter of the Swedish 
 matron had never returned, the same sweet face 
 would have been ever present, but after years of exile, 
 of toil, of hope, of triumph, of rivalry, of disappoint- 
 ment, and of heart-rending scenes, the features of that 
 still lovely countenance must have changed. In fact 
 it could not remain as it was. Time is exacting. The 
 varied experiences of each passing year leave their in- 
 delible impress. What did it avail when the maiden 
 
 said, 
 
 " Backward, roll backward, O Time, in thy flight, 
 Make me a child again, just for to-night!" 
 
 The man of fifty has a face on which are written 
 in somewhat mysterious hieroglyphics, the character 
 of the individual. If the possessor of the countenance 
 chiseled by half a century of time has lived a spirit- 
 ual, intellectual, and moral life, that face is a study 
 for the painter and the sculptor ; but if the owner has 
 indulged in stormy passions, partaken of bloating and 
 
 (143) 
 
144 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 gluttonous drinks and foods, and cultivated selfish 
 propensities, the features of such a face beget aver- 
 sion in the mind of the beholder. 
 
 It has been eloquently declared that every man is 
 the architect of his fortune ; it might as truthfully 
 be said that every man is the carver of his own 
 facial expression. If a man wear a severe look, he 
 has cultivated that tone of countenance. It never 
 came by accident, nor grew carelessly like a weed. 
 An habitual face is the work of years. That disap- 
 pointed maiden of fifty never acquired a hateful visage 
 in thinking and wishing well of her neighbors ; and 
 the old shrew around the corner never obtained that 
 woeful countenance while doing good to the feeble 
 and unfortunate. 
 
 The good Mrs. Bountiful did not stamp that lova- 
 ble face of hers with benign expressions while trying 
 to pull down a rival or somebody enjoying prosperity. 
 Her smile is a perpetual benediction. Every body 
 that meets her looks happy. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Holly has the expression which the 
 coal-heaver would pronounce "Apostolic," yet how 
 was that facial expression obtained ? Why, it was 
 secured during many years of divine thoughts and no- 
 ble actions. A right-minded man has been limning 
 that face for a long time. That serene beauty never 
 came by chance it was attained little by little, and 
 is a marvel of excellence. 
 
 Canova said he could not appreciate the beautiful 
 in the world till he had made it a study for years. 
 "We are not critics of human faces till we have had 
 great opportunities to study character in its various 
 aspects. A keen detective at a crowded fair will 
 catch a glimpse of every pickpocket present, though 
 
145 
 
 he may not catch one in the thieving act. He has 
 cultivated an accuteness for the special work. On 
 the other hand, the experienced thief recognizes the 
 detective at once and avoids meeting him. 
 
 The profession a man pursues leaves its marks 
 upon the possessor. The average physician can be 
 pointed out on a crowded thoroughfare ; the attorney 
 need not have his green bag with him in order to 
 have his vocation known ; nor need the clergyman 
 wear a white neckerchief to be recognized in his true 
 character. 
 
 The physiognomy of avocation js well understood 
 and every-where acknowledged. If a physician would 
 be regarded as an earnest, honest, conscientious man, 
 he must cultivate those qualities of head and heart. 
 If a common-place doctor thinks he will succeed by 
 thinking and talking ill of his competitors, he will 
 find at length what a grave mistake he has made. If 
 a crusty old physician thinks he can crush that studi- 
 ous, polite, and genial young doctor who has had the 
 hardihood to settle in town, he will egregiously 
 blunder. People have been tired of the old curmud- 
 geon for years, and are delighted with the idea of 
 making a flattering change. 
 
 Lately I met on the street a woman clad in sable 
 weeds, and with a face plainly stamped with despair. 
 Ten years ago that face and form were divine. What 
 had wrought the change? Thank heaven, she had 
 no mother to ask for " that same sweet face." The 
 original loveliness had nearly all disappeared. The 
 figure was still slight, and the threadbare dress neat 
 and tidy. From a friend I learned that the girl had 
 married a handsome choir singer, and speculator. 
 Drink brutalized what manhood there ever was in 
 
146 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 him ; and he beat his poor wife for his bad luck and 
 ill-fortune. The death of a beloved child, sickness, 
 and poverty drove the woman mad with disappoint- 
 ment and hopelessness. In a few years that once 
 beautiful face was fixed and furrowed like the coun- 
 tenance of a maniac. Can lovely features be made to 
 take the place of those so wo-begone? No, time 
 never rolls backward in its flight. Hope and an agree- 
 able change of circumstances would do something 
 toward restoring cheerful features, yet the same sweet 
 face will never return. 
 
 But, what is ,to compensate for this loss of youth- 
 ful comeliness ? Are our faces to be agreeable only 
 in youth? Let us see. Mrs. Linneman, a lady of 
 fifty in our acquaintance, does not appear old, even to 
 children. Her features are those of a cultivated 
 woman ; her posture is superb ; her general presence 
 is gentle, winning, and commanding. Her face is ex- 
 pressive of matronly goodness, kindness, and grace. 
 Was that face ever so handsome before in her life? 
 Probably not. As a girl she may have been beautful, 
 but as she lost a feature of mere physical beauty, she 
 gained its equivalent in spiritual charms; and as years 
 rolled by the changes necessarily occurring were not 
 against her, but in her favor. Her womanly graces 
 are not less admired than were her youthful attrac- 
 tions. 
 
 The stately gentleman on our streets was said to 
 be handsome when he was twenty -five ; he is fifty 
 now, yet he is still handsome every body acknowl- 
 edges it. That head, face, neck, and shoulders all 
 combine to display the portraiture of a man. Those 
 eyes kindle with light almost divine. There is an in- 
 tellectual halo emanating from that head. It is not 
 
147 
 
 the brazen aureola painters have thrown around the 
 head of Christ and the Virgin, but it is appreciable, 
 and actively impresses the beholder. How was that 
 wonderful face obtained ? The handsome youth of 
 twenty has no such attraction his is all physical it 
 cost no effort it is what time effaces ; but that- 
 scholarly and cultivated countenance exhibited by the 
 man of fifty or sixty, or even seventy, is a work of 
 art. It is worthy of study; and the more it is ob- 
 served the more it is admired. In that maturity of 
 manly beauty are peace, plenty, and assurance. The 
 student in science or morals may show premature 
 wrinkles, but these lines are not repulsive they 
 seem to be the etchings of elves engaged in the por- 
 trayal of expression. The face as a whole may ex- 
 hibit the marks of care and sorrow, but they do not 
 detract from the interest centering there. The man 
 of fifty who has not passed through solemnizing 
 scenes, who has not been chastened by untoward 
 events, is a phenomenon, and not representative. 
 
 I will not depict a face of fifty, wrung with mis- 
 fortune, pinched with selfishness, and warped by 
 avarice. Such visages are common as clods, and need 
 no delineation. Cultivated faces alone are worthy of 
 study, for they show a subjugation of the lower in- 
 stincts, and a forcing to the front of the higher in- 
 tellectual and moral qualities. A fine face costs a 
 lifetime of good thinking and well-doing; bad feat- 
 ures are the result of passive negligence. Every in- 
 dividual is largely responsible for facial expression. 
 The juvenile feature is the sport of time, but the 
 beauty of the mature face is a work of artistic elabora- 
 tion, the soul officiating as the divine limner. 
 
DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SUR- 
 FACE. 
 
 (Read before the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, Oct., 1888.) 
 
 The contents of oceans and seas hold in solution 
 a variable amount of chloride of sodium and other 
 saline matter, the degree of salinity depending largely 
 upon the relative aqueous waste through evaporation. 
 If a kettle of brine be boiled till all the water has es- 
 caped in steam, the utensil will contain the saline in- 
 gredients as a crystalline incrustation at the bottom. 
 The dissipated steam represents ordinary vapor rising 
 from the surface of a pool, pond, lake, or sea, through 
 the heating agency of the Sun. The watery particles 
 floating in the atmosphere are at length condensed 
 into clouds and precipitated as rain, returning to the 
 earth what was seemingly lost through evaporation. 
 Thus the circulation of water goes on ; and the gen- 
 eral level of water in basins having no outlets is main- 
 tained. 
 
 In ordinary ponds and lakes the water is confined 
 by dams, dykes, and natural barriers till it attains a 
 height equal to the lowest point in its surroundings. 
 Then as much will be discharged as the inlets furnish. 
 If, however, a pool or pond evaporate more water in 
 dry weather than the feeders supply, the outflow 
 ceases, and the shore line sinks or retreats within a 
 smaller circumference. Now, if this shrinkage con- 
 tinue, the basin must at length become dry, or nearly 
 
 (148) 
 
DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE. 149 
 
 so, and the residue would be brackish or salty. Con- 
 ditions of this kind exist in almost every country as 
 a, normal state of things. Where the rainfall is abun- 
 dant, as it is on most mountain chains, or the precipi- 
 tation is in snow, the rivers reach the ocean ; but in 
 arid districts the streams are small and the evapora- 
 tion correspondingly large, hench fresh water lakes 
 are few, and brackish pools prevail. 
 
 The ocean is a boundless body of water with no 
 outlet, and the salts of the earth being washed into it, 
 and having no means of escape, must constantly ac- 
 cumulate. The inflowing rivers are innumerable, yet 
 the loss through evaporation equals the supply, and 
 maintains the recognized sea-level. 
 
 Seas are defined as basins of salt water, and lakes 
 as bodies of water whose contents are 'fresh, though 
 the reverse exists in exceptional instances. The Sea 
 of Galilee is perfectly fresh, and the largest lake of 
 Utah is intensely saline. A body of water may be 
 fresh a part of the year, and brackish the rest of the 
 season. When the inflow is great enough to maintain 
 an outlet, the pool of water is strictly a lake ; and is 
 a sea when a reverse state exists. There are bodies 
 of water in California which are legitimately seas in 
 summer, yet lakes in winter. 
 
 Fresh water lakes are mostly located far above 
 sea-level sometimes at vast heights. The most ele- 
 vated thus far known is Lake Sirikol, its surface be- 
 ing 15,000 feet above the Sea of Aral, into which its 
 waters flow through the river Oxus. Next to it in 
 height is Lake Titicaca, in Bolivia, at an elevation of 
 nearly 13,000 feet above the ocean. 
 
 The Caspian Sea is the largest inland water on 
 the globe, covering 130,000 square miles. The Volga 
 
150 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 and the Ural supply the basin with vast quantities of 
 fresh water, yet the evaporative agency is so enor- 
 mous that these great rivers scarcely supply the de- 
 mand, though they keep the sea less saline than the 
 ocean. 
 
 The Aral is less salty than the Caspian, yet its 
 saltiness is increasing every year. The Aral once 
 communicated with the Caspian through a depression 
 still to be seen, but both seas have been gradually 
 sinking, till they are now below the surface of the ocean. 
 The increasing salinity of these inland seas is extin- 
 guishing many kinds of fish and aquatic animals; and 
 the plants are becoming more and more marine. If 
 evaporation be not on the increase in those seas, their 
 tributaries are furnishing less supplies. 
 
 The steppes of the Volga embrace immense areas 
 of low lands which overflow during rainy seasons, 
 and in droughty weather present multitudes of brack- 
 ish basins. The river flows so sluggishly that in 
 places it is difficult to observe which way the water 
 runs. The country about the Caspian and Aral Seas 
 is practically a great depression in the continent, and 
 habitable only in restricted areas. 
 
 The Caspian Sea, for convenience of description 
 may be considered in thirds : the northern or upper 
 end is kept comparatively fresh by the inflowing 
 rivers, arid shallow from the deposit of sediment ; the 
 middle third is deeper and salter, and its border is 
 broken into gulfs and bays, with sand-bars deposited 
 in front of their entrances. The largest of these 
 pockets is the Gulf of Scythia, which has an expanse 
 of several thousand square miles and has become in- 
 tensely saline from the circumstance that a current 
 from the sea is always setting into the basin. The 
 
DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE. 151 
 
 inflow is exhausted through evaporative agencies, and 
 not carried out by subterranean passages as was sup- 
 posed by the ancients. If the straits should com- 
 pletely close, as the tendency seems to be, the gulf 
 would become an isolated and independent sea, and 
 rapidly shrink to a restricted area perhaps to a dry 
 basin with the bottom incrusted with salt. 
 
 The lower or southern third of the Caspian Sea is 
 very deep, its greatest depth being 3,000 feet; and the 
 water is much salter than in the upper third. It is 
 highly probable that the contents of the Black and 
 Caspian seas once commingled, but became divorced 
 through causes already mentioned, the Caspian lower- 
 ing gradually through excessive evaporation, till it is 
 now 85 feet below the level of its old associate. An 
 ancient waterway can still be traced between the two 
 seas, sand-ridges appearing here and there which were 
 once bars thrown up in shallow straits and by a pro- 
 cess now going on at the mouth of the Scythian gulf. 
 
 If the Caspian Sea should, through diminished 
 evaporation, regain its ancient level, its contents would 
 obliterate the Volga as far up stream as Saratov, and 
 inundate plains of vast extent, so low and flat is the 
 country stretching northward. The water-shed be- 
 tween streams flowing into the Polar Sea and those de- 
 scending into the Caspian basin is so slight an elevation 
 that, at an earlier period, the waters of the White and 
 the Black seas may have connected with each other. 
 Lake Elton seems to be a remnant of the old com- 
 munion. Its waters are so intensely saline that it must 
 have been refilled many times with sea water after re- 
 peated lowerings through evaporation. Being very 
 shallow, it constitutes an excellent evaporating basin, 
 
152 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 its contributions of salt to the needs of commerce 
 amounting to thousands of tons annually. 
 
 An arid area reaching from Persia through Tur- 
 kistan to the eastern confines of the great desert of 
 Gobi, a distance of 3,000 miles, embraces a vast inland 
 depression in Asia which is growing in interest, though 
 still an inhospitable region, with only here and there 
 an oasis or habitable locality. Spurs of mountain 
 chains extend into the desert waste and contribute 
 supplies of fresh water, yet the rivers are not large 
 enough to push their way to the ocean, they dwindle 
 as they flow, and at length end in a brackish marsh or 
 a saline basin having no outlet. Irrigation is carried 
 on in districts where the contents of streams can bo 
 utilized for such purposes, yet a fixed population can 
 barely obtain a sustenance. This barren belt consti- 
 tutes a formidable barrier between Russia and the 
 government of India, yet both powers seem to be pro- 
 jecting railways into the uninviting waste, probably 
 for political purposes. 
 
 The deepest depression in the earth's surface, ex- 
 cept ocean beds, is " the Valley of the Jordan." It ex- 
 tends from defiles on the borders of Palestine and Syria, 
 and nominally ends in the Dead Sea, but really extends, 
 to Akaba Gulf, an arm of the Red Sea. The low-lying 
 ravine may have been produced by volcanic action. 
 
 The River Jordan, an historic feature of the fa- 
 mous valley, rises in the Lebanon Mountains near 
 Mount Hermon, sharing a division of the waters of 
 the range with the classical Orontes, a wild stream 
 which empties into the Mediterranean. 
 
 The Jordan begins in rills and rivulets, as other 
 rivers do, gathering contributions as it proceeds on its 
 rapidly descending course; and after attaining the size 
 
DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE. 153 
 
 of a scarcely fordable stream, expands into a shal- 
 low and reedy lake Huleh by name a pool 100 feet 
 above sea-level. Resuming its course, the river runs 
 southward, descending hurriedly through a wild chan- 
 nel, then expands into " the Sea of Galilee, which is 
 the Sea of Tiberias." (John vi, 1.) This lake, which 
 was sometimes called Gennesaret, is the only body of 
 fresh water on the globe which is below the level of the 
 ocean, being 636 feet lower than the surface of the 
 Mediterranean. As might be expected, the water be- 
 ing fresh, the lake is well supplied with fish and other 
 organic products of an aquatic character. On the 
 shores of Galilee the fishermen, Peter and Andrew, 
 were "casting their nets;" and in the immediate vi- 
 cinity John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness, 
 said, " Repent ye, for the kingdom of Heaven is at 
 hand ;" and here is where the marvelous Nazarene 
 sought the itinerant preacher " to be baptized of 
 him." 
 
 The Sea of Galilee is quite restricted in area, be- 
 ing 13 miles long and 6 broad ; and it is so shallow 
 that the current of the Jordan can be traced clear 
 through the still water, from inlet to outlet. After 
 .the river leaves Lake Galilee, it descends rapidly 
 southward 70 miles in a ravine, and then discharges 
 its contents into " Lake Asphaltites," or the Dead Sea, 
 a body of intensely salt water, 1,298 feet below the 
 level of the Mediterranean. The area of this his- 
 torical water is 40 miles in length and 7 miles in 
 width ; and its greatest depth is 1,300 feet. The 
 shores of the sea are precipitous in places, yet shal- 
 lowing to a beach on the eastern boundary. Near the 
 southern border is an isolated mass of rock-salt; and 
 not far from this is a pillar or shaft of pure salt 40 
 
154 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 feet in height. Bat, as far as known, the salinity of 
 the Dead Sea does not come from masses of salt within 
 its immediate vicinity, but from saline matter washed 
 into it by the Jordan, evaporation doing the work of 
 " boiling down," long periods of time having been 
 consumed in the condensing process. The salinity of 
 the ocean is about 3J per cent, while that of the Dead 
 Sea is 25 per cent. However, a sink or basin in Asia 
 Minor contains water with 32 per cent of saltiness, 
 which is less than is found in Lake Elton. 
 
 The Dead Sea was so named because neither plant 
 nor animal could exist in its waters. A lowly marine 
 plant is occasionally seen near an inlet, and a fora- 
 miniferous crustacean bores in mud along the beach. 
 If the Jordan carry a fish into the bitter water the 
 creature immediately dies. It has been asserted that 
 the presence of bromine makes the waters deadly, but 
 the high degree of salinity is enough to account for 
 the hostility to life. All waters which contain 20 per 
 cent of salt are incompatible with vital operations. 
 It is fortunate that the ocean is not too salty for the 
 thrift of marine organisms. 
 
 Storks and other aquatic birds find plenty of food 
 in the Sea of Galilee, but obtain nothing eatable in the 
 Dead Sea. Water fowls occasionally alight on the 
 surface, and attempt to bathe in the waters, but soon 
 wing their way to more inviting scenes. In fact, birds 
 can not dive into waters as dense as those of the 
 Dead Sea. 
 
 Although the atmosphere is appreciably con- 
 densed in the low level of the Jordan Valley, the 
 tourist is not rendered uncomfortable by the pressure. 
 Indeed, the asthmatic breathes easier in a depression 
 
DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE. 155 
 
 below sea-level than on an elevated plateau. The 
 lungs seem to be more easily filled by the denser air. 
 
 The Jordan is a famous river in which to bathe, 
 though the fact has not been demonstrated that the 
 sacred waters possess therapeutic virtues. 
 
 In a country where pools of fresh water are 
 scarce, it might naturally be supposed that w r ayfarers 
 and nomads would long to lave their tired limbs in 
 the cool and refreshing eddies of so bountiful a stream. 
 No wonder the tourist feels like resting when such an 
 inviting environment is presented. In this historic 
 valley Christianity was cradled ; the solemn scenes of 
 the Crucifixion and Resurrection were riot far away ; 
 in this vicinity the sublime teachings of the Gospel 
 were first uttered, and the miracles of Christ per- 
 formed. Truly this is Holy Land ! 
 
 Africa has many depressions below ocean level. 
 The ancient " bitter lakes," now in the course of the 
 Suez Canal, are below sea level; and an arid depres- 
 sion between the shores of the Red Sea and the table 
 lands of Abyssinia embraces Lake Assal, which is 700 
 feet below the ocean. Although only 25 miles from 
 the port of Tajurrah, caravans resort to the saline 
 basin for supplies of salt some of them coming from 
 the interior of Abyssinia. The shores of the lakes 
 are incrusted to the depth of six inches, and present 
 the picturesque appearance of being covered with 
 freshly fallen snow. The salinity of the water is fully 
 equal to that of the Dead Sea. 
 
 In South Africa, near the 20th parallel of lati- 
 tude, is an extensive depression in which there is a 
 series of saline lakes and brackish lagoons. It is 
 almost a rainless region, and repulsively sterile. 
 
 Bovines and antelopes resort to these saline basins 
 
156 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 for the coveted salt, and their paths become infested 
 with lions, leopards, and other great felines which lie 
 in wait for salt-loving ruminants. A thorough ex- 
 ploration of this desert region will develop features 
 meriting more than the mere mention of them. 
 
 In the Libyan Desert, three hundred miles west 
 of Cairo, is the oasis of Siwah, which, by barometrical 
 measurement, is 120 feet below ocean level, and the 
 oasis of Araj in the same desert is 265 feet below the 
 Mediterranean. These oases contain fresh water 
 springs and brackish sink holes ; and the moisture 
 from them lends growth to palm and other tropical 
 trees. 
 
 To the south of the Barbary plateau is a desert 
 country having wadis and oases here and there, and 
 many saline basins which have water in them a part 
 of the year. To the south of Algeria is the bed of 
 an ancient sea which once communicated with the 
 Mediterranean, but is now 160 feet below the Gulf of 
 Cabes. 
 
 In striking contrast with the general level of the 
 Desert of Sahara is Mount Djebel Haggar, sufficiently 
 elevated to be covered with snow from December to 
 March and in the midst of the Great Desert, where 
 the sun at noon-day is scorching hot, there is an oc- 
 casional frost at night. 
 
 A large portion of the great African desert, from 
 the plains of Senegambia to the Nile, is made up of 
 depressions and dunes fora distance of over two thou- 
 sand miles. To obliterate this vast waste and to 
 modify the torrid climate, it has been proposed to cut 
 through the barriers along the Atlantic coast, and 
 permit the ocean to inundate the sterile plateau. It 
 
DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE. 157 
 
 is possible thus to create an inland sea larger than the 
 Caspian. 
 
 What the effect of inundating a large portion of 
 the desert region of Northern Africa might be is open 
 to speculation on the part of those who take an in- 
 terest in problems of mammoth proportions. The 
 contemplated sea would be too shallow for naviga- 
 tion ; and the evaporation from such an expanded 
 surface would render the water salter than the sea, 
 and thus become destructive to organic life, enforcing 
 the question, what advantage a barren sea can have 
 over sterile lands. Besides, it is now practicable to 
 bore artesian wells in rainless districts of country, and 
 bring to the surface sufficient fresh water to irrigate 
 arid wastes, making " the desert rejoice, and bloom as 
 the rose." 
 
 Australia has a depression all through its center, 
 its general outline being compared to a dinner plate, 
 the rim on the border keeping out the ocean. In 
 places there exists a shore range of mountains ; and 
 in the south-western portion of the great island, is a 
 small river system sustained by rains and melting 
 snows. The Murray River, when full, is navigable for 
 some distance inland, yet Lake Torrens is little better 
 than a brackish lagoon, and is below sea level, though 
 it once communicated with Spencer Gulf. In droughty 
 seasons, and nearly all are such, the rivers which tind 
 a place on maps dwindle to mere " water holes," or 
 occasional basins. The Murray has been known to 
 shrink to a chain of pools with no water flowing be- 
 tween them. 
 
 South America, like other large countries, has 
 mountain ranges, great rivers,' and desert tracts. In 
 the latter are numerous salt lakes, brackish lagoons, 
 
158 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 and saline basins. Along the Atlantic coast, in the 
 vicinity of large rivers, there exist circumscribed areas 
 of stagnant and brackish waters, the surfaces of which 
 through evaporation are often below sea level. On 
 the Pacific side, between the Andes and an upraised 
 shore line, there are saline marshes which have no 
 outlet. Patagonia embraces rainless areas which ex- 
 hibit saline depressions, though all are above the level 
 of the ocean. 
 
 Land-locked tracts in Chili and Bolivia consti- 
 tute the desert of Atacama. A series of pits along 
 the western border of the imprisoned desert are liter- 
 ally packed with masses of salt, showing that the sea 
 once had access to them. Some of these salt mines 
 are worked at a great profit to the government of 
 Peru. 
 
 Central America and Mexico cover arid and 
 sterile tracts, and not a few -saline depressions. Most 
 of these basins are above sea level, being located on 
 the table lands of the interior; and would not exist in 
 a country favored with a normal or plenteous rainfall. 
 
 The United States have what is sometimes de- 
 nominated the great inland or central basin. The 
 depression on the west is near the Pacific coast, being 
 separated from the sea by the Sierra Nevada or coast 
 range of mountains. Within this extensive area is 
 located Salt Lake, a body of water larger than the 
 Dead Sea, though not so deep. 
 
 The general aspect of the arid plateau is forbid- 
 ding, yet is far from being a sterile waste. Its borders 
 present an irregular outline, winding in and out as 
 headlands and ravines alternately occur. This vast 
 depression was once a sea, and shorelines in parallels 
 can be distinctly traced at higher and lower levels 
 
DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE. 159 
 
 around the entire basin. This inland sea was filled 
 with fresh water, but after evaporation shrunk it be- 
 low a normal outlet, its contents became gradually 
 brackish or salty. And after an incalculable period 
 of time the waters fell to the present dimensions of 
 Salt Lake. 
 
 Intermingled with the soil in the great depression 
 are particles of saline or alkaline matter which, as 
 moving dust, penetrates the eyes, nose, mouth and 
 throat, and creates a smarting sensation. The soil is 
 coarse, and furrowed by rivulets produced by occa- 
 sional rains. The sage bush artemisia grows every- 
 where, its aroma being omnipresent. The stunted 
 tree or shrub affords shelter for grouse, rabbits and 
 coyotes. Tufts of grass grow here and there, afford- 
 ing scanty food for antelope. If the soil in the de- 
 pressed area be irrigated, the finest crops can be grown. 
 Wherever artesian wells have been sunk, the watered 
 land is easily and profitably tilled. Experience has 
 proved that an abundant harvest is more reliable on 
 irrigated land than it is where the development of a 
 crop hinges upon the earlier and the later rains. 
 
 Salt Lake is a body of water 250 miles in cir- 
 cumference ; but its greatest depth is only 32 feet. 
 The degree of salinity reaches from 23 to 25 per cent., 
 so that incrustations of salt are plentiful on its shores. 
 Its tributaries are Bear and Weber rivers, and the 
 Jordan which flows from Lake Utah. These are all 
 dashing streams fed by melting snows on the western 
 declivity of the Wasatch range of mountains, whose 
 snowy tops are in plain view. 
 
 On islands in the lake the pelican rears her young, 
 and secures food trout in the rivers named. All 
 forms of organic life are debarred from existence in 
 
160 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 the saline waters, as in the Dead sea. Aquatic fowls 
 may rest their wings for a short time on the bitter 
 waters, but finding no food they soon fly to more 
 welcome haunts. The passing gull turns its eyes 
 askance at the lifeless waters, and quickly flies away. 
 
 Salt Lake City is built at the base of the snow- 
 capped range, at a distance of three miles from the 
 lake's beach ; and the thrifty and enterprising inhab- 
 itants have conducted bounteous supplies of fresh 
 water through the streets. The founders of the city 
 are Mormons, who, while on a pilgrimage in search of 
 a promised land, Avere forced, through exhaustion, to 
 sojourn in this inhospitable^spot. They were polyga- 
 mous, and sought a remote place where they could 
 sustain the peculiar domestic relation and not be mo- 
 lested. By their industries and economies they have 
 become prosperous in worldly affairs they have 
 " made the desert like a garden." 
 
 To the westward of Salt Lake, other basins of 
 water exist, with a high per cent, of salinity. The 
 Humboldt sinks or brackish pools, into which streams 
 from the ipner slopes of the Sierra Nevada find their 
 way, have no outlets, though the hypothesis has been 
 advanced that subterranean passages give exit to ac- 
 cumulating waters. But, if there were underground 
 means of escape, water in these pools would be fresh, 
 and not brackish. The evidence is that the inflowing 
 waters penetrate the coarse gravel of the valley, and 
 at length escape through evaporative and other dis- 
 sipating agencies. 
 
 To the southward of the great Utah depression, 
 in the semi-desert regions which extend through 
 Southern California, are basins and circumscribed de- 
 pressions much lower than the great Utah basin. The 
 
DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE. 161 
 
 deepest of these is in San Diego county, a hundred 
 miles south of Los Angeles. It bears the name of 
 Dry Lake or San Felipe basin, and is 365 feet below 
 sea-level, being the third, as regards depth, of known 
 depressions in the earth's surface. The Southern 
 Pacific Railway, beyond Fort Yuma, runs along the 
 border of the depression, Indio being the station 
 where the tourist may stop to visit the bottom of the 
 basin. On the borders of the Lacustrine bed a few 
 fruit-bearing date-palms lift their heads, showing that 
 the arid environment is not unsuited to the nature of 
 the trees. 
 
 Since the railroad was constructed, extensive mills 
 have been erected in the dry valley for grinding and 
 putting up salt for commercial purposes, and hundreds 
 of tons are shipped every month. Indio, 20 feet be- 
 low sea level, is already visited by consumptives, 
 rheumatics and asthmatics; and accommodations for 
 permanent residence in the deeper levels of the de- 
 pression are contemplated. The theory has been ad- 
 vanced that those persons who suffer from respiratory 
 troubles may breathe easier in the condensed atmos- 
 phere of the low-level of the valley. 
 
 A few miles to the east of Indio are some geysers 
 and mud volcanoes which have acquired a reputation 
 for benefitting patients once consigned for treatment 
 to the Hot Springs of Arkansas. Thermal waters 
 coming directly from the bowels of the earth are 
 every-where presumed to be curative, though their 
 therapeutic qualities are apt to be overestimated. How- 
 ever, steaming geyser water, bubbling baths of mud, 
 with the dense atmosphere of a valley 350 feet below 
 sea-level, may offer a combination of attractions not 
 presented to invalids elsewhere. 
 
162 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 Ill the valley of the Jordan a wealthy American 
 is about to erect a commodious sanitarium for the 
 residence of such patients as are benefitted by in- 
 haling compressed air in " cabinets " and pneumatic 
 chambers. The enterprising individual claims to have 
 been cured by a year's residence in the immediate 
 vicinity of the Jordan. 
 
 The depression in Southern California is much 
 more accessible for American invalids than the valley 
 of the Jordan, hence they are likely to patronize the 
 basin of San Felipe, especially when eligible accom- 
 modations are offered as an inducement to visit the 
 sanitary retreat. 
 
 The depression of Amorgosa, near the eastern 
 border of California, is a saline basin below sea-level; 
 and has the advantage of being remote from the cold 
 winds of the ocean ; but at present is not accessible to 
 invalids. The San Felipe valley is excessively hot in 
 summer, and chilly in winter, yet is favored with al- 
 most uninterrupted sunny weather. 
 
"HUNTERIAN ORATION." 
 
 (Addressed to the Cincinnati Natural History Society, May, 1877.) 
 
 Biographical sketches do not confer great benefits 
 upon mankind if they are brought out for the sole 
 purpose of bestowing fulsome flattery upon favorite 
 characters in history; but when salient points in the 
 career of those who have made themselves illustrious, 
 are placed in a light calculated to inspire us with am- 
 bition to repeat good deeds, and to shuri what ought 
 not to be followed, the higher advantages of instruc- 
 tion may be secured. 
 
 One who has attained the highest honors in scien- 
 tific pursuits, and accomplished a great work in hon- 
 orable ways, must have possessed qualities which can 
 be studied with profit. It may not be wise to attempt 
 to imitate the career of a man who has risen to emi- 
 nence in any profession, yet it is interesting and in- 
 structive to review his incentives to labor, and the 
 methods he has employed successfully. A person 
 springing from the humbler walks of life does not be- 
 come distinguished in any branch of learning without 
 bringing into play a vast amount of energy and perse- 
 verance. Even the most favored can not reach the 
 higher levels of scientific repute without toil and 
 drudgery. 
 
 The history of scientific men furnishes few char- 
 acters which are as pronounced as that of John Hunter. 
 His early life was not attractive, nor characterized by 
 striking incidents. There is no evidence that he was 
 
164 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 a promising lad. He was inclined to be idle, and his 
 education was neglected. At the age of eighteen he 
 worked a year or two at cabinet making with a brother- 
 in-law at Glasgow; and might have continued at that 
 trade had his relative succeeded in business, but finan- 
 cial disaster threw him out of employment. At twenty 
 he was casting about for means of support, and ac- 
 cepted the first offer which presented itself. If this 
 had been to go on a whaling trip, he would have gone, 
 for he was listlessly waiting for something to turn up. 
 He was as likely to become a vagabond as any youth 
 floating about with nothing to do. As it happened, 
 the opportunity was auspicious and improved. From 
 this time he worked diligently, and finally became one 
 of the world's great men. Westminster Abbey, the 
 burial place of England's illustrious dead, contains a 
 tablet that bears the following inscription : "Beneath 
 are deposited the remains of John Hunter. Born at 
 Long Calderwood, on the 13th of February, 1728; 
 died in London on the 16th of October, 1793. His 
 remains were removed from the Church of St. Mar- 
 tins-in-the-Fields to this Abbey on the 28th of March ,. 
 1859." 
 
 The circumstance that opened the way to great- 
 ness for John Hunter consisted in his having an older 
 brother who had obtained a reputable medical practice 
 in London, and who invited John to live awhile with 
 him, the conditions being that if he made no satis- 
 factory progress in dissections and anatomical studies, 
 he should go into the army. 
 
 Dr. William Hunter, who thus gave his brother 
 an opportunity to display his talents, was teacher of 
 anatomy, and possessed quite a collection of specimens 
 in natural history; and it is highly probable that such 
 
HUNTERIAN ORATION. 165 
 
 surroundings kindled in the mind of the younger 
 Hunter an ardent desire to study comparative anatomy, 
 and to learn all he could about plants and animals. At 
 any rate, it was not long before the untutored rustic 
 drifted into the habits of a scientific student. Al- 
 though biological subjects had begun to be discussed 
 at that time, there were no schools where comparative 
 physiology was taught or encouraged as a practical 
 study. Young Hunter had to be his own teacher ; 
 and he pursued his own methods of investigation. 
 And notwithstanding the many blunders he must have 
 made, his progress was so marked that he soon at- 
 tracted the attention of the scientific men of Europe. 
 But what puzzled the wiseacres most was to fathom 
 the object Hunter had in view. The fact that he was 
 an enthusiastic worker showed that he might become 
 somebody in the world, yet was he intending to be a 
 surgeon or a biologist ? Was he endeavoring to find 
 out the cause of organic development, or was he seek- 
 ing facts in a general way for the sake of ripening his 
 understanding? Perhaps he found the ordinary details 
 of the medical profession too dry, and was inquiring 
 into the origin, growth, decline, and death of organic 
 bodies just for recreation. Possibly he was seeking 
 physiological knowledge which might prove service- 
 able in curing surgical diseases. To the shortsighted 
 it seemed that too much time was spent over compar- 
 ative anatomy and physiology if the practice of medi- 
 cine was in view as an end ; and too much attention 
 was devoted to surgery, if the student was preparing 
 himself to be a naturalist. 
 
 The contemporaries of Hunter, rather his com- 
 petitors in the medical profession, looked upon him 
 as a man possessed of an erratic mind, and little 
 
166 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 dreamed that he was building upon the only founda- 
 tion which would sustain a massive superstructure of 
 science and art, such as he was aiming to make out 
 of surgery. Certain of his friends supposed that 
 Hunter, while he was at work upon animal structures, 
 might be making a private cabinet of stuffed birds 
 and pickled fishes; and if they desired to get rid 
 of him as a rival, they were undoubtedly willing that 
 he should spend his time at such an innocent, amuse- 
 ment. Hunter published few papers, rarely engaged 
 in discussions, and was a dull lecturer; therefore what 
 reason could there be to suppose he was obtaining 
 knowledge which should overthrow many of the old 
 ideas in surgery, and establish a new system upon a 
 physiological basis ? And could it be expected that 
 the rivals of Hunter in surgical practice would admit 
 that he had made any substantial improvements ? 
 They accused him of being an enthusiast and inno- 
 vator; and were slow in admitting that he ever de- 
 veloped a new and valuable idea. 
 
 John Hunter rested in an humble grave for 'more 
 than sixty years, or until all animosity springing from 
 rivalry had vanished, and another generation of culti- 
 vated men occupied the stage of life. Then it was 
 that the unrivaled talents of Hunter were fully appre- 
 ciated then it became known what his cabinet was 
 designed to illustrate. A succeeding generation dis- 
 covered the great talents of Hunter, and acknowledged 
 the improvements he had made in surgery. After the 
 heart-burnings which spring from rivalry had passed 
 away, the most famous of modern burial places was 
 not too distinguished for the ashes of the profound 
 student of nature. 
 
 In 1814, what is called the " Hunterian Oration " 
 
HUNTERIAN ORATION. 167 
 
 was founded in the Boyal College of Surgeons, by 
 Dr. Matthew Baillie and Sir Everard Home ; and for 
 forty years a festival was held on each returning birth- 
 day of the great experimental surgeon, 'fhe oration 
 and celebration are now repeated biennially; and the 
 occasion does not decrease in interest as time passes. 
 The high character of the orations, and the intellectual 
 status of the guests, indicate the esteem in which the 
 memory of a man of transcendent ability is held. 
 Although the remains of John Hunter rest in West- 
 minster Abbey, the example of patient labor the great 
 physiologist set, and the value of his discoveries, exert 
 such an influence upon mankind to-day, that it is 
 easy to see that the spirit of the man still lives. 
 
 If it be legitimate in this country to reverence 
 the name of Shakespeare as profoundly as it is done 
 in England, why may we not bestow praise upon the 
 eminent mental qualities of John Hunter? Indeed, 
 the right has been acknowledged. In 1860, when a 
 call was made in London for contributions to aid in 
 the erection of a statue to the memory of " the father 
 of modern surgery," a respectable sum of money was 
 forwarded by physicians in the United States. All 
 English speaking people, and the scientists of every 
 country, will ever hold in lively appreciation the name 
 and worthy fame of John Hunter. 
 
 The interest which is now taken in biological 
 studies has brought the labors of Hunter into renewed 
 prominence. The advocates of organic evolution have 
 appropriated as their own such facts developed by 
 Hunter as could be warped into the support of their 
 theory ; but nothing which Hunter wrote can be tor- 
 tured into the support of biological evolution. While 
 making a collection of fossils, Hunter became ac- 
 
168 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 quairrted with the products of the different geological 
 strata, and recognized the order in which they are 
 superimposed, generally finding that the lowest forms 
 of animal and vegetable life appeared first in the or- 
 der of succession, and that higher grades followed, 
 yet not systematically. He often found the remains 
 of higher forms in the lower beds ; and called atten- 
 tion to the fact as demonstrating that the simplest or- 
 ganic structures did not always exist before those 
 which were more complicated in their organization. 
 These points show that he would not have been a 
 champion of evolution if he had lived at the present 
 time, for the same arguments yet remain unanswered. 
 Those who would make out that Hunter was an evo- 
 lutionist, make him say while he was studying the de- 
 velopment of embryo-birds that "he had seen enough 
 to convince him that every higher creature, in its 
 transformation from a germ to the end of its foetal 
 state, passed through a series of changes, in each of 
 which it exhibited traces of the perfect form of some 
 order lower than itself." But this does not show that 
 he believed in spontaneous generation, and that proto- 
 plasm was the origin of life. Many of those who 
 look upon the doctrine of evolution as fanciful, are 
 willing to admit that a part of the scheme is true 
 true to a certain extent true as a method of organic 
 development, but not as the beginning of organic 
 life not as demonstrating the origin of the vital prin- 
 ciple. Vitality may have attributes which, under the 
 influence of various forces in nature, might be able to 
 modify the organic material with which it is insepa- 
 rably connected. Hunter believed that the vital prin- 
 ciple combined with it, as one of its attributes, a moiety 
 of intelligence, and that this was in some degree con- 
 
HUNTERIAN ORATION. 169 
 
 servative or protective in its nature. He indicated 
 that physical force, which is inseparable from the in- 
 organic world, is blind ; and that vital force, which is 
 never separated from an organism, can see, or is 
 adaptive in its scope. What is called instinct in ani- 
 mals may be a higher development of it. When the 
 root of a tree extends several -rods for the sole and un- 
 questioned purpose of obtaining an abundance of 
 moisture or nutriment, this intelligent principle, which 
 is an attribute of vitality, leads the way. It may be 
 thwarted, and stumble, and fail, yet an intelligent 
 purpose is manifested. John Hunter did not attempt 
 to investigate the origin of life, but spent his time in 
 experimenting with life in order that he might under- 
 stand the principle of growth, and the essential feat- 
 ures of repair, his object being to understand the re- 
 cuperative processes in the human body. He was a 
 practical surgeon, and desired to know as much of 
 life as possible, in order that all knowledge thus ob- 
 tained might be utilized in the treatment of the 
 diseases of his fellow-men. He was such an enthusi- 
 astic student of pathology that he inoculated himself 
 with a loathsome disease for the avowed purpose of 
 observing its phases. He inflicted wounds upon trees 
 and animals, and then watched the vital disturbance, 
 and the almost intellectual processes of repair. He 
 transplanted the spur of a cock to the comb in order 
 to learn under what circumstances the grafting of ani- 
 mal structures could be rendered successful. He 
 froze one ear of a rabbit to ascertain how the frosted 
 organ compared with the other after inflammation had 
 set in ; he made deep incisions in the muscles of a don- 
 key, and then took the temperature of the cavities 
 every day while the wounds were healing. He labored 
 
170 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 long to find out what constituted the essential differ- 
 ence between a warm and a cold-blooded animal. He 
 employed a thermometer to learn the variation of tem- 
 perature in a hive of bees in winter ; and speculated upon 
 the cause of an increase of heat as soon as the insects 
 were aroused from their usual torpidity. In short, he 
 carried on at the same time a great variety of experi- 
 ments for the purpose of obtaining knowledge per se, 
 and with the object of utilizing in his surgical prac- 
 tice such facts as he might discover. And while he 
 was delving for the good of surgery he was pursuing 
 the very best course to develop a philosophical biology. 
 At the end of a moderately long life spent in pro- 
 fessional labor and in the preparation of specimens 
 illustrative of pathology and comparative anatomy, 
 Hunter left little for the support of his family, except 
 a huge collection of materials that came through his 
 hands, a considerable portion of which being un- 
 finished. These specimens were at length sold for 
 fifteen thousand pounds sterling ; and thus the famous 
 " Hunterian Museum" was established. The funds 
 were sufficient to render comfortable those of his im- 
 mediate kin who had been dependent upon him. The 
 cabinet, now considerably enlarged, shows what can 
 be accomplished by the utilization of odds and ends of 
 time which are too commonly wasted by those who 
 flatter themselves that they are busy. It is reported 
 of Hunter that he never seemed tired nor weary; he 
 always expressed himself as being intensely happy, 
 only regretting that he had no more time to devote to 
 the study of nature. If he felt chagrined at the 
 trivial way in which his boyhood was spent, he never 
 confessed it, but worked on as if to regain what had 
 been lost. 
 
HUNTERIAN ORATION. 171 
 
 Hunter did not make much headway in collecting 
 for his cabinet until the income from his surgical prac- 
 tice would warrant the outlay; and his professional 
 fees were not lucrative until he was about fifty years' 
 of age. As soon as his pecuniary circumstances would 
 warrant the expenditure, he sent orders to distant 
 parts of the earth for specimens in natural history. 
 Often the captain of a fishing smack would bring in 
 rare and valuable animals; and a liberal compensation 
 was sure to be obtained. Hunter contrived to secure 
 most of the caged animals that died in the Tower 
 and in traveling menageries. The flaying, dissecting, 
 mounting, and preserving of these animal structures 
 served to convert Mr. Hunter into an expert taxider- 
 mist; and the manipulation led to observations in 
 regard to the mechanism of organization, and con- 
 tributed to a deeper knowledge of the habits of 
 animals. 
 
 Although Hunter never took a lesson in drawing, 
 he acquired the art of making sketches, an accom- 
 plishment which proved valuable in illustrating his 
 lectures and publications. The acquisition was all 
 the more valuable from the fact that it was never easy 
 for him to explain a subject under discussion unless 
 he could employ a diagram. 
 
 While surgeon at St. George's Hospital, Hunter 
 wanted parts of a whale to elucidate some point in 
 physiology, anatomy, or surgery, and the following 
 letter shows how determined was his purpose and how 
 little came from his enterprise in trying to supply the 
 want : "As the opportunities for ascertaining the ana- 
 tomical structures of large marine animals are gen- 
 erally accidental, I have availed myself as much as 
 possible of all that have occurred ; and, anxious to get 
 
172 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 more extended information, I engaged a surgeon, at 
 considerable expense, to make a voyage to Greenland 
 in one of the ships employed in the whale fishery, and 
 furnished him with such necessaries as was thought 
 might be requisite for examining and preserving the 
 more interesting parts, and with instructions for mak- 
 ing general observations ; but the only return I re- 
 ceived for the expenses was a piece of whale-skin with 
 some small animals (barnacles) sticking upon it." 
 
 The labors of a naturalist can not be carried on 
 in a great city, therefore Hunter purchased a piece of 
 land, and put on it a cottage, with suitable outbuild- 
 ings, at Earl's Court, about a mile beyond B romp ton. 
 This retired spot became at length a moderate Zoolog- 
 ical Garden, and was shunned by all who are shy of 
 w T ild beasts and doctor's things. At the back of the 
 house was a lawn stocked with animals of the strangest 
 selection ; and in the lofts of his barn were eagles, owls, 
 and many kinds of rare birds. Moving free in his 
 grounds were ostriches, tortoises, kangaroos, and pen- 
 guins. On the slope were bear-pits, and dens for the 
 fiercest of beasts. One day two leopards escaped, and 
 were creating great commotion in the neighborhood. 
 Hunter, knowing the animals intimately, went to 
 them, and taking each by the nape of the neck, led 
 them safely back to their cages. 
 
 In an underground retreat which few visited, 
 Hunter made many of his anatomical preparations. 
 It was there that the giant skeleton of O'Brien was 
 cleaned and mounted ; it was there " the old copper 
 kettle" came often into use. This subterranean pas- 
 sage was heated in winter to keep the equatorial ani- 
 mals from suffering and dying with cold. The hedge- 
 hogs, coiled up in the leaves of the garden when the 
 
HUNTERIAN ORATION. 173 
 
 weather was frosty, were occasionally taken into a 
 warm room to see what effect heat would exert upon 
 their appetites and activities. The bottom of an arti- 
 ficial pond was dredged in winter to ascertain what 
 the eels and turtles were about. 
 
 During the earlier years of Hunter's career as a 
 naturalist, there was no system in his collections nor 
 in his observations. He would pick up any thing 
 that could be found, purchased, or levied upon, if it 
 promised to be serviceable in making a comparison. 
 Every junk-shop was visited for bones, teeth, horns, 
 hoofs, and claws. Every butcher in London was ac- 
 quainted with Hunter, and many a fisherman on the 
 coast was watching for an opportunity to secure a rare 
 contribution for the " knowledgeable man," especially 
 as Hunter understood the seductive influence of a 
 generous fee. One day a boy, who had heard of 
 Hunter's inclination to purchase specimens in natural 
 history, carried a land-turtle five or six miles in order 
 that he might obtain the reward. Hunter had plenty 
 of such creatures on his estate at Earl's Court, which 
 he would be glad to sell at six-pence apiece, but he 
 gave the lad two shillings for his prize, saying, " Now 
 bring me a live otter and I will give you a guinea for 
 it," w T ell knowing that he should not see the boy again 
 very soon. 
 
 A museum such as Hunter established and left 
 for the benefit of future generations, can not be erected 
 in a clay nor a year. One specimen after another is 
 gathered in, and when several of the same family or 
 species have been collected, the work of classification 
 can commence ; and when many classes get a repre- 
 sentation, the successful first steps have been taken. 
 No one knew the difficulties and extensive labors of 
 
174 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 such an enterprise better than Hunter ; and few ever 
 entered upon such a great work with his zeal and 
 assurance of success. 
 
 Hunter had the faculty of making one branch of 
 study help another; and he always exhibited a dispo- 
 sition to institute comparisons while carrying out ex- 
 periments. One night he dressed the leg of a man 
 who had sustained a compound fracture ; and the 
 next morning he broke the leg of a pig, leaving it to 
 get along without treatment, in order that some valu- 
 able hint might be derived from the phases of a case 
 left to take care of itself. The humane laws of En- 
 gland recently passed to prevent vivisection and cruelty 
 to animals, would, if enacted a hundred years ago, 
 have deprived Hunter of many prolific sources of ob- 
 servation. No wonder the scientific men of to-day 
 have raised their voices against these encroachments 
 upon the right to carry on investigation, especially as 
 many of these kind-hearted law makers own pre- 
 serves where animals are kept for the sole pleasure of 
 the chase. 
 
 As an author Hunter was a success, although he 
 did not live to carry into execution the half he had 
 prepared for publication. His first work that on 
 Human Teeth is clear and comprehensive, though 
 not so large as the topic would permit at the present 
 day. His work on the Blood and Inflammation, 
 which is crammed with original observations, he la- 
 bored upon more or less for a period of forty years, 
 and had only begun to put it in type when he sud- 
 denly died. The stock of unpublished manuscript 
 left behind was immense. It is to be expected that a 
 busy man will begin more than he can finish. Mr. 
 Flower, in speaking of the writings of Hunter, says: 
 
HUNTERIAN ORATION. 175 
 
 " He had before the time of Cuvier and Meckel, col- 
 lected materials for a work which needed but the fin- 
 ishing touches to have made it one of the greatest, 
 most durable, and valuable contributions ever made 
 by one man to the advancement of the science of com- 
 parative anatomy." 
 
 Hunter's surgical teachings contain so much that 
 is fundamental and authoritative that no teacher of 
 surgery in any medical college of Europe or America 
 fails to inform his class in the course of his instruction, 
 that such and such an idea originated with Hunter. 
 Sometimes, to be sure, with the remark on the part of 
 the egotistical " professor," that he has improved upon 
 the great author. Hunter was the first to demonstrate 
 that aneurism could be cured by tying the artery on 
 the cardiac side of the disease. Other plans of cure 
 have been devised, but none which has wholly super- 
 seded the Hunterian method. Great improvements 
 had been made upon the surgery of mediaeval times, 
 yet Hunter found it " an empirical handicraft, and 
 raised it to a scientific art." He introduced so many 
 rational ideas into surgical practice that he fairly 
 earned the right to be crowned " the father of modern 
 surgery." 
 
 One of the grand mistakes committed on the part 
 of those who would imitate the career of Hunter, has 
 consisted chiefly in a misapprehension of the character 
 of the man copied after. It is a blunder to suppose that 
 Hunter won renown by simply making a great collec- 
 tion of anatomical rubbish, and by getting together a 
 heap of facts and fossils. Any body can make obser- 
 vations in physiology and pathology, but how few 
 possess Hunter's philosophical method of investiga- 
 tion, or the mental scope to classify fossils and facts 
 
176 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 so they shall convey an intelligent meaning ? Large 
 cabinets of natural history specimens are being formed 
 in the large cities of the world, yet unless they be col- 
 lected and arranged with the view of portraying the 
 leading features of the organic world, and the wisdom 
 manifested in organization, the objects brought to- 
 gether will mean little except a display of natural 
 curiosities. 
 
MORAL RESPONSIBILITY. 
 
 How often we hear the outspoken grief of a wo- 
 man who is deploring the debased condition of a son 
 or a daughter. In the depth of her woe she will ex- 
 claim : " What have I done that such wretchedness 
 should come upon me ? " It would suit the situation 
 better if she should inquire what she had left undone. 
 The mother of a child is the molder of its future. 
 The plastic and pliant creature is as clay in a potter's 
 hands. If the expanding mind be impulsive, irri- 
 table, and impatient of restraint, the peculiarity is 
 largely due to inheritance the unruly spirit came 
 from father or mother or other progenitor, and is to 
 be duly considered, and wisely modified. A parent 
 may be proud of a pretty feature in a darling girl or 
 boy, but feature alone is not conveyed to offspring 
 mental peculiarities are also inherited. Not a beauti- 
 ful eye alone is transmitted, but a splay-foot and a 
 vicious will are reprodued and entailed. If the 
 twisted foot and wicked temper be judiciously treated 
 they will nearly disappear; and in the course of sev- 
 eral generations of thoughtful management, the de- 
 fects may be substantially eradicated. Intelligent 
 parents should know what their children's tastes and 
 inclinations are to become by a consideration of their 
 own. Children are not exactly like either parent in 
 mental endowment or physical make-up, but they ex- 
 hibit a blending or compromise of the two parents. 
 If the mother be the daughter of a good mother, she 
 
 (177) 
 
178 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 will be the grandmother of good grandchildren. If a 
 mother possesses a noticeable lack of moral qualities, her 
 daughter will display a like defect at a corresponding 
 age. If the mother be a kleptomaniac, the daughter 
 will be " light-fingered." The heels of a filly foaled 
 by a kicking dam can not be trusted. This is Nature ; 
 and who would have it otherwise ? Each kind repro- 
 duces itself, yet with a capability for improvement in 
 offspring. If the capacity for betterment were not in 
 the hereditary scheme, bad stock should be squelched 
 at once, and not be permitted to reproduce. As it is, 
 a better race is within the range of possibilities. By 
 crossings, trainings, and provident attentions to a 
 thousand influences more or less swerving, a breeder 
 of stock may develop desirable or valuable qualities 
 in the objects he would improve. Thus it is with hu- 
 man beings as a family or race we may rise in the 
 world or degenerate ; and the elevating and depress- 
 ing influences are not wholly beyond our control. If 
 a boy is ambitious enough to aspire to wealth and dis- 
 tinction, he may accomplish wonders he may mount 
 higher than he ever dreamed of ascending. What 
 possibilities are within the grasp of every fairly favored 
 youth ! What degradation and misery are in store 
 for those who follow their baser instincts, and trust 
 to the foolish proverb that " the world owes them a 
 living." How came the world thus in debt to any- 
 body? What values have the shiftless imparted 
 that they should be recompensed by an unearned 
 living ? 
 
 But, I have departed in some degree from the 
 idea I aimed to elucidate. Let parents study the 
 favored and weak points in their offspring ; and let 
 them endeavor to be wise in the management of pe- 
 
MORAL RESPONSIBILITY. 179 
 
 culiarities. The boy that is unhappy, unless enter- 
 tained, can be made contented at home at a cheaper 
 rate than in a neighboring saloon. Evening gossip at 
 a corner grocery may be quite engaging to a lad who 
 hears nothing but snaps and snarls at home ; but home 
 should be made more attractive to the young than a 
 tavern or a news-room. Story books, pictures, and 
 games are needed to entertain and instruct a child. 
 It is less costly to have a billiard table at home than 
 to pay the contingencies of a boy's sports at a billiard 
 saloon. A wise father should take his sons to repu- 
 table places of amusement, and endeavor to hold com- 
 panionship with them. A mother should hold con- 
 versations with her half-grown boy, and impart sim- 
 ple lessons that impress indelibly the youthful brain. 
 A young man discreetly handled will not marry be- 
 neath his rank he will aim to win the daughter of a 
 good mother. A daughter properly trained will not 
 run away with her father's coachman. Young people 
 must have access to the world in order to see its 
 various sides, and thus become enabled to discriminate 
 between its good and its evil. 
 
 As appetites develop in the sexes, the virtue of 
 chastity has to be cultivated. Says Eobert Collyer : 
 " In the far-reaching influences that go to every life, 
 and away backward as well as forward, children are 
 borii w r ith appetites fatally strong in their nature. As 
 they grow up the appetite grows with them, and 
 speedily becomes a master, the master a tyrant, and 
 by the time he arrives at manhood the man is a slave. 
 I heard a man say that for twenty-eight years the soul 
 within him had had to stand like an unsleeping se'nti- 
 nel, guarding his appetite for strong drink. To be a 
 man, under such a disadvantage, not to mention a 
 saint, is as fine a piece of grace as can well be seen. 
 
180 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 There is no doctrine that demands a larger vision than 
 this of the depravity of human nature. Old Dr. 
 Mason used to say that as much grace as would make 
 John a saint would barely keep Peter from knocking 
 a man down." 
 
 The teaching of the Rev. Dr. Collyer is that a 
 man has to struggle to hold his passions under con- 
 trol ; and that John has no besetting sin to compare 
 with that of Peter. It requires repeated effort for a 
 man to hold his temper, his passions, and his egotism 
 in subjection, yet the exercise of the will to gain the 
 restraint is to develop personal grandeur ; all persons 
 need about the same amount of saving grace. Grace 
 will not still a flaming desire, but an effort of the will 
 conquers the flesh. I have little respect for whining 
 men and whimpering women, whose complaints are 
 that their burdens are too great to be endured. Let 
 the cowards try with determined wills, and they 
 may astonish even themselves, becoming heroes and 
 heroines. 
 
 The boy who can not resist the temptation to lay 
 out money should open a bank account if he have 
 but a dime for an initial deposit. To cultivate econo- 
 my and a disposition to live within one's income, is to 
 develop a quality in human character that leads to 
 financial success, and avoids theft, forgery, and the 
 penitentiary. It is not always dishonorable to be 
 poor, but poverty often leads to crime, and it is silly 
 to pretend to despise wealth. 
 
 A Board of Trade will excuse a financial blunder, 
 but never can forgive a dishonorable act. In the mer- 
 cantile world fortunes may be made and lost a dozen 
 times, but a reputation for dishonesty is an abiding 
 and indelible badge of infamy. 
 
THE PROGRESSIVE ATTRIBUTES OF INANIMATE 
 MATTER, AND THE PURPOSIVE OPERATIONS 
 OF ORGANIC STRUCTURES. 
 
 (Read before the Cincinnati Natural History Society, Aug. 5, 1879.) 
 
 Long before algse, mosses, ferns, and other plant- 
 like forms appeared in sea or on land, floral shapes 
 had been created in frost-work and congealed water. 
 The vegetable form is one which did not originate in 
 organization, hut in forces governing crystallization. 
 Fronds were traced in crystals of ice before they ever 
 grew. From this it would seem that the forces or 
 attributes of inanimate matter are, in some of their 
 activities, prospective something higher being fore- 
 shadowed by them. It is possible that the elegant 
 shapes we behold on the window pane in winter are 
 due to electrical influences, yet electricity is an attri- 
 bute of inanimate matter. The outlines of frost-work 
 vary from time to time, and seem to be governed in 
 shape by hygrometric and magnetic conditions, yet 
 this does not smother the spontaneous inquiry in re- 
 gard to the origin of cryptogamic forms first fashioned 
 in ice. The crystallographer may assert that the out- 
 lines of lichens and ferns in frost-work are a necessity; 
 that it is a law of crystallization that the vapor of 
 water in a freezing state must congeal in just such 
 forms, and in no other. Well, to be told that quartz 
 crystallizes in hexagons, and by a law or force inher- 
 ent in the material, it can not congeal or crystallize in 
 
 (181) 
 
182 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 any other shape, is interesting yet not satisfactory to 
 a mind seeking ultimate causes. Perhaps we shall be 
 told that all minerals have attributes, such as cleavage, 
 specific gravity, and frangibility, and that each mineral 
 has a peculiar attribute that determines the form it 
 shall take when undergoing congelation or crystal- 
 lization. Then, if we ask whence came the attribute, 
 we may be told that it always existed; that it was 
 never created any more than the mineral substance 
 was elaborated from nil. Quartz without its attributes 
 is not conceivable ; quartz is only such when substance 
 and attribute are combined. The substance can not 
 exist without the attribute, nor the attribute without 
 the substance. A similar course of reasoning leads to 
 the conclusion that the vapor of water congeals at a 
 certain temperature ; and the law of its crystallization 
 is, that the frozen particles shall arrange themselves 
 in shapes which correspond to those of certain crypto- 
 gamic plants to those of club-mosses, for instance. 
 The poet, in giving rein to his fancies, might say that 
 Puck invented these beautiful forms, and displayed 
 them in crystals of ice ! 
 
 If the ordinary geological interpretation of the 
 earth's cosmogony be accepted, it would seem that 
 what was once a molten planet became at length suf- 
 ficiently cooled to exhibit sea and land ; and that the 
 internal fires warped the outside crust into mountains 
 and valleys, hills and plains, with vistas and land- 
 scapes. In a restricted sense there is nothing pur- 
 posive in all this nothing but changes brought about 
 by disturbed forces seeking equilibrium ; yet in a more 
 liberal interpretation of the matter, a scheme may be 
 seen in every feature. The introduction of life upon 
 the planet was seemingly an aim of Omnipotence, and 
 
ATTRIBUTES OF INANIMATE MATTER. 183 
 
 every change was effected with an object and end in 
 view. Such are the opinions of the religionist or the 
 optimist who believes that " every thing was made 
 for the best." Views of this kind will always pre- 
 vail, for they can not be successfully attacked and 
 overthrown. The evolutionist may declare that this 
 planet in its present state is a necessity of matter and 
 force in the universe, and that there is no evidence of 
 design in the entire cosmogony. Running counter to 
 this materialistic view is the fact that the earth is 
 enveloped in air (a combination of oxygen and nitro- 
 gen), which in its purity is essential to life ; and that 
 water (a union of hydrogen and oxygen), a necessity 
 for organic life, is every-where abundant. If these 
 compounds occurred in an accidental manner, without 
 influences that execute purposes, the occurrences were 
 more fortunate than fortuitous actions in general. 
 Furthermore, a planet with crystalline surfaces, with 
 glittering prisms, and planes and angles in mathe- 
 matical proportions, would be an inhospitable place 
 for plants and animals ; hut after the rocks had been 
 disintegrated by the action of alternate heat and cold, 
 and ground to powder by moving ice and dashing 
 water, a soil, loam, or humus would be elaborated, 
 which should prove a necessity for the sustenance of 
 vegetation ; and such operations have been going on 
 for thousands of years, as if to prepare the earth's 
 surface for the support of life. The result was not 
 brought about quickly, but was slowly elaborated 
 during cycles of time. The forces at work were 
 never exhausted ; and the ends accomplished show a 
 spirit of progress that is not seen in the ordinary 
 operations of inorganic matter. 
 
 The evolutionist, on the other hand, contends 
 
184 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 that all has not been created for "the best;" he declares 
 that the thunderbolt kills, and that the rain often falls 
 unpropitiously. He claims that if there were an 
 original scheme to introduce life upon the planet, and 
 make the most of it, the failures are so numerous, and 
 the disasters so frequent, that the good will not balance 
 the bad. The world is so full of thorns, and stings, and 
 fangs, that the dull of comprehension might readily 
 suppose that an Evil Spirit exercised a controlling in- 
 fluence in the government of cosmical affairs. . . . 
 
 The optimist says that the earth was specially 
 made for the enjoyment of life, and that every thing 
 has been managed by a wise Creator for the best. It 
 would be illogical as well as irreverent to question the 
 cosmical scheme, for Omniscience made every thing, 
 and all things for good ! . . 
 
 The geological representation of the earth's his- 
 tory is that a bad state of affairs, so far as life might 
 be concerned, gave place to better and better condi- 
 tions, until the sea and land were habitable. The 
 water and the air became gradually purer, and the 
 temperatures lower, or nearer what they now are. 
 Progress was observable from one period to another; 
 a progressive spirit seemed to pervade inanimate mat- 
 ter. If the geologist be a materialist, he speaks ot 
 the attributes of inorganic substances, and ascribes to 
 them inherent properties and powers, which are made 
 to do all that has been done in bringing about the 
 present state of affairs. A Creator, as generally un- 
 derstood, is wholly ignored, and all purposes and de- 
 signs, except such as the attributes of matter may de- 
 velop, are denied. Now, if there be no divine wisdom 
 or scheme in cosmic evolutions, a considerable degree 
 of intelligence must be assigned to the attributes of 
 
ATTRIBUTES OF INANIMATE MATTER. 185 
 
 inorganic matter. In truth, a much higher degree of 
 intelligence is demanded than can be reasonably sup- 
 posed to belong to ordinary gases, fluids, and solids. 
 Although a peculiar plant appears in yeast, and an- 
 other in vinegar, and fermentation is alleged to be the 
 origin of these products, there is no evidence of spon- 
 taneous generation in the process, nor proof that the 
 attributes of inanimate matter are capable of produc- 
 ing and supporting organic structures. 
 
 The surface of the earth is broken into mountains 
 and valleys, ridges and ravines: rain falling upon 
 these uneven areas helps to pulverize the rocks as it 
 runs down to the sea in streams large and small ; but 
 movements of glaciers grind mineral substances to 
 powder faster than running water. Now, it seems 
 that glaciers have moved over a large part of our hills 
 and plains; and in the pulverizing process have pre- 
 pared loam as food for our plants. Whether there 
 was any original design in these cosmic operations, or 
 whether the whole is the result of unavoidable cir- 
 cumstances, will be left to speculation. If the barren 
 earth was accidentally prepared for the introduction 
 and sustenance of plants and animals, the fortuitous 
 circumstance was an exceedingly lucky one. It really 
 seems as if the activities that unfolded the earth until 
 its surface was habitable, and afterward introduced 
 life and directed vital energies, were intelligent, pro- 
 gressive, and purposive ; and until the evolutionist is 
 able to show that the inherent forces of the universe 
 are more sapient than those which the forces of inani- 
 mate matter display in their usual manifestations, he 
 will be unable to convert mankind to an implicit be- 
 lief in his novel doctrines. 
 
 On the other hand, the optimist will have to con- 
 
186 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 cede something to the liberalism that is rapidly gain- 
 ing adherents through scientific discoveries. The in- 
 quiring nature of the average man's mind will never 
 he satisfied with any thing short of the reasonable 
 truth, though actual demonstration may never be at- 
 tained. There is nothing necessarily purposive in all 
 the operations of inanimate matter. An earthquake 
 may alter the phases of a mountain range, and lift 
 the bed of the ocean above the sea's level, yet accom- 
 plish no definite object; there need not be any design 
 in the disturbing movement, though the subsidence or 
 upheaval greatly deranges the flora and fauna of the 
 shaky region. Many large and important islands, as 
 the Sandwich, Society, and other groups, are of vol- 
 canic origin, and are still the abode of igneous erup- 
 tions. In contemplating the birth of these new lands, 
 is it rationally supposable that the moving cause had 
 wise intentions ? The optimist might cut the Gordian 
 knot by declaring that all cosmic changes have a good 
 purpose to fulfill, and that these transformations were 
 contemplated by Omniscience, nothing having turned 
 out differently from what was expected. 
 
 Another feature of the optimist's belief is that 
 life is the chiefest of blessings, and that Creative Wis- 
 dom has prepared the earth for the cultivation, multi- 
 plication, and conservation of the inestimable gift. As 
 soon as this doctrine is examined, it becomes apparent 
 that the most has not been made of the " blessing." 
 We find that to have the most of life on the planet, 
 animals should be all vegetable eaters. Instead of 
 such a paradise on earth, where all should be peace, 
 there is eternal war, and animals curtail life by eating 
 one another. Voracious sharks infest every sea, and 
 fish in general prey upon their kind. The smaller of 
 
ATTRIBUTES OF INANIMATE MATTER. 187 
 
 the finny tribes are in imminent danger of being 
 swallowed alive. Small fry are devoured by the 
 thousand when a big fish comes along that needs a 
 meal. How much of life is daily lost in this way ! 
 And what substantial happiness can there be among 
 those in mortal terror of being swallowed? 
 
 On land the same state of things prevails ; the fox 
 lies in wait for the timid hare, the cat crouches in 
 ambush for prey, and the high-soaring hawk stoops 
 and bears away the screaming small bird. Even our 
 own carnivorous appetites lead us to forget how many 
 lives are sacrificed for the alimentation of our bodies. 
 Life is undoubtedly sweet when its conditions are 
 favorable ; yet the well-grounded fear of being eaten 
 is horrible. The pitiful toad that, while still alive, is 
 being swallowed by a snake, has little to be thankful 
 for, unless it be that its misery will soon end. A man 
 justifies his carnivorous career by Scriptural authority. 
 He was given u dominion over the fish of the sea, and 
 over the fowls of the air, and over every living thing 
 that raoveth on the earth." Possibly dominion did not 
 mean the right to slay and eat every creature that 
 might please the palate. 
 
 The Mosaic account of how life found a way to 
 earth is graphic and plainly expressed. The appear- 
 ing of " dry land " as a preparatory step to the intro- 
 duction of " grass, the herb yielding seed," is some- 
 what in accordance with the geological record. After- 
 *ward the earth brought forth animals which might 
 feed upon the grass; and lastly, man put in an appear- 
 ance, just as geology affirms. This method of peopling 
 the earth is by a direct fiat of the Almighty, and is 
 called miraculous, because a pair of a kind is made at 
 once and with adult capacities, and never grew or 
 
188 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 passed through an embryonic state. The entire ma- 
 chinery of the organic world was set in motion in 
 such a way that there should be no hitch nor catch. 
 All had plenty to eat at once, though it is difficult 
 to understand how the lions and tigers got along 
 among the sheep and goats. As the cud-chewers 
 would require months to increase their numbers by 
 reproduction, it is not easy to see how the flesh-eaters 
 managed to live and not render extinct pairs and pairs 
 of creatures included in the original scheme! 
 
 The radical evolutionist can not start his plan of 
 peopling the earth without supposing that in some 
 fortuitous way a monad got here spontaneously. He 
 presumes that nitrogenized slime called protoplasm- 
 was in a favorable condition to be vivified, and a stroke 
 of lightning, or some other " favorable influence," kin- 
 dled the vital spark. At this primeval birth was born 
 an organism that was capable of reproduction, and^ 
 of improving gradually, so that the variation would 
 establish a higher species. In time the advancement 
 and variability evolved all the plants and animals now 
 on earth ! The scheme is an interesting and ingenious 
 one, and accounts for many peculiarities in our flora 
 and fauna that before were mysterious. But to start 
 such an enterprise is attended with a stunning diffi- 
 culty at the outset. Is it not about as strange, won- 
 derful, and miraculous for a monad to spring into ex- 
 istence without any other progenitor than " fortunate 
 circumstances," as it would be for Omnipotence to* 
 create at once an adult elephant ? 
 
 Inasmuch as the religionist and the evolutionist 
 encounter difficulties in attempting to defend their 
 peculiar views, it might be profitable for both to make 
 concessions, and live together without jealousies and 
 
ATTRIBUTES OF INANIMATE MATTER. 189 
 
 animosities. Let the evolutionist concede Omnipo- 
 tence as the author of all law, force, and energy ex- 
 hibited and excited in the universe ; and let the relig- 
 ionist admit that the Ruler of heaven and earth may 
 have rendered this planet habitable, and then peopled 
 it by first introducing the lower forms, then a higher, 
 and so on till man took his place at the head of created 
 things. There is little that is unreasonable in the 
 theory, and much to support it. The admission would 
 deprive the evolutionist of much of his stock in trade, 
 and not shock the sensibilities of the ecclesiastic. This 
 liberal interpretation of mundane operations would 
 allow of a premeditated scheme, of a rational method 
 of procedure, and of results in harmony with the en- 
 tire enterprise. 
 
 Whatever may have been the cause of organic 
 structures, there is on every hand a striking display of 
 purpose in vital operations. If a tree be upturned in 
 a ravine, it will be found that the roots extending to 
 the moisture and rich loam at the bottom of the de- 
 clivity will be large and numerous, as if to absorb 
 moisture and nutriment abundantly, and that the roots 
 reaching upward and laterally will seek a rock or sta- 
 ble substance, around which the rootlets coil and cling 
 as if to gain support or anchorage. It is difficult to 
 see where this conservative purpose came from, though 
 it is easy to declare that the different parts of a tree, as 
 the roots on either side of the stem, know what is best 
 for the general good of the structure in its entirety. 
 
 A neglected potato in a crevice of the cellar wall 
 will sprout under the influence of the warmth of ad- 
 vancing spring, and the colorless shoots will, in their 
 growth, bend toward the light of the nearest cellar 
 window, even emerging to open day if there exist a 
 
190 ANDKEW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 chink in the glass; and at length exhibit green leaves 
 as other plants exposed to sunlight. In order to reach 
 the light the white stalks develop to a much greater 
 length than the ordinary stems of potatoes planted in 
 a field. These vegetative operations seem to show 
 that every organism is endowed with an intuitive 
 sense of the necessities of its being, and with ability 
 to better its condition, especially if circumvented or 
 embarrassed. In reviewing the more common of vital 
 operations, it becomes apparent that some degree of 
 intelligence attends the development of every part and 
 portion of an individual. It seems as if vitality em- 
 braced intelligence as an attribute, and never engaged 
 in the evolution of organic structures without utilizing 
 the attribute as a guide. 
 
 In the evolution of an animal it appears as if the 
 pressing need for a helping peculiarity operated like a 
 desire and as a force to develop an excess of organ 
 and function. The terminal end of a pig's snout has 
 an osseous development in it, called the pre-nasal 
 bone. No other animal, so far as I know, has such a 
 bone, though some snouted ant-eaters possess a cartilag- 
 inous approach to it. What developed this peculiar 
 bone in the gristly end of the swine's snout? Well, 
 suppose the earlier of the race had no bone in the 
 nose, yet an excess of dense structure, such as cartilage 
 and fibrous tissue. The creature in rooting for food 
 would use the snout excessively, and thus tend to 
 elaborate a better rooter. Use improves an organ. 
 Cartilage hardened to bone, and fibrous tissue became 
 muscle, so that at length the osseous pivot was moved 
 with ease. A useful snout was thus evolved by the 
 needs of the creature ! At any rate, this is a sample 
 of the reasoning of the avowed evolutionist. 
 
ATTRIBUTES OF INANIMATE MATTER. 191 
 
 It is pretty generally conceded on the part of those 
 who hold to the Mosaic account of creation that the 
 earth was first peopled with low orders of plants and 
 animals ; and that the time since the earliest forms of 
 organic life appeared must have been incalculably 
 long from the fact that layer upon layer of sedimentary 
 rock reveals beds of fossils which show what manner 
 of organism prevailed from cycle to cycle in the earth's 
 history. Possibly millions of years elapsed from the 
 dawn of organic life, to the creation of a fish the 
 lowest backboned animal then there had to be a reign 
 of reptiles and birds before mammals came, and im- 
 provements seem to have been going on all the while. 
 Man did not come with all the endowments and ac- 
 quirements of a philosopher, but in the state of a 
 savage, and there is no evidence nothing but in- 
 ference that primitive man was sired by an ape. 
 There is much to show that he was originally much 
 like the savages of uncivilized countries. The optimist 
 affects to believe that the first pair of human beings 
 came directly from the hand of the Almighty, and 
 therefore were necessarily " perfect," but in the ana- 
 tomical manipulation of man's organism it is found 
 that his mechanism has some important defects. The 
 most of his special senses are excelled by those in 
 some of the inferior animals; and it is only in his 
 entirety that man is superior to any of the lower ani- 
 mals. . . . 
 
 In the purposive operations of organic structures 
 we sometimes see a progressive tendency in one part 
 of the organism and a retrograde action in another 
 region of the body. In the Ateles and some other 
 long-tailed monkeys, as the prehensile character of the 
 caudal extremity is developed, the thumb shrinks and 
 
192 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 loses its function. This looks as if vital activities 
 were intelligent enough to be compensating in the dis- 
 play of economics. All birds that are excellent swim- 
 mers make a wretched appearance while walking on 
 land. The bat which flies quite easily can scarcely 
 crawl when upon its fettered feet. The transforming 
 processes that give a horse length of limb, and raise 
 the creature upon the end of a single digit for each foot, 
 have not given the animal perfect legs, but have al- 
 lowed splint bones to remain alongside the shank or 
 cannon bone. This defect in fashioning the mechan- 
 ism of the horse's fore-leg often proves serious. The 
 rudimentary metacarpal bone, called by farriers a 
 " splint," is so nearly independent that it sometimes 
 becomes detached or loosened, and then the animal 
 gets lame, the creature has a splint in the leg! All 
 horses have splints or splint-bones in the fore-legs, but 
 only occasionally does lameness spring from a loosen- 
 ing of the undeveloped metacarpal. Cows and camels 
 have the merest signs of splint-bones, and are, there- 
 fore, exempt from the splint lameness peculiar to the 
 horse. 
 
 The Italian mole, which rarely if ever comes to 
 the light of day, has an eye-mark in the skin, but no 
 eye that can see. A retrograde action, caused by the 
 withdrawal of light, at length made the animal blind. 
 The creature has a rudimentary optic apparatus which 
 indicates that its progenitors were not eyeless, and 
 perhaps not blind. A similar remark may be made in 
 regard to cave fishes which are blind. Living in the 
 dark, generation after generation, allowed the eye de- 
 veloping part of the creature to retrograde. To com- 
 pensate for this loss of sight the cave dweller had the 
 rays of its fins lengthened and ivudeivd more scnsi- 
 
ATTRIBUTES OF INANIMATE MATTER. 193 
 
 tive by use, so that the creature can very readily feel 
 its food and then catch it. Of course, its prey is blind, 
 all the cavern's inhabitants being placed upon an 
 equality so far as seeing is concerned. 
 
 Certain animals that live in mud, or alternate be- 
 tween land and water, have two sets of breathing 
 organs, a bronchial and a pulmonary apparatus. The 
 frog in its transition from the tadpole state is tempo- 
 rarily thus ; the mud-fish in the swamps of Southern 
 Australia has gills and lungs, and so does a kindred 
 fish in Africa, and the South American lepidosiren is 
 similarly equipped. These singular creatures show 
 how the forces of organization can adapt themselves 
 to the infringement of circumstances. There is an 
 exhibition of intelligence in the excess and defect of 
 development ; and the most far reaching investigations, 
 fail to reveal whence came this intuitive sense. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF BARON LARREY. 
 
 Jean Dominique Larrey, according to his own 
 statement in his Campaigns and Memoirs, was born at 
 Baudean, a village of the upper Pyrenees, in the year 
 1767, and died at Lyons in 1842. He says little of his 
 boyhood, but begins his personal narrative by assert- 
 ing : "At the age of thirteen, I left the place of my 
 nativity with a view of studying medicine under the 
 direction of my uncle, Alexis Larrey, Director in the 
 Medical School at Toulouse. After passing the cur- 
 riculum of elementary and medical studies, I deter- 
 mined to visit the Universities in order to acquire that 
 knowledge which is requisite to a reputable standing 
 in the honorable profession I was ambitious to take 
 rank." 
 
 "At the age of twenty-one, I repaired to Bivst, 
 to enter a competitive examination for auxiliary sur- 
 geon in the navy, and had the good fortune to obtain 
 an appointment. In this position I had opportunities 
 to dissect, and otherwise to gain scientific knowledge. 
 Soon I was consigned to duty on the frigate Vigilante, 
 which was destined for duty on the Grand Banks of 
 Newfoundland, to protect French interests in the cod- 
 fisheries. 
 
 "At Belle Isle the ship took on board twenty 
 ship- wrecked mariners, who were starved and frozen. 
 The treatment of these wretched creatures gave me 
 an experience which served me a useful purpose in 
 Polish and Russian campaigns. In the treatment of 
 (194) 
 
BARON LARREY. 195 
 
 frost-bites, warm water poultices induce gangrene, 
 while cold and camphorated washes assist in the re- 
 turn of vital activity. 
 
 ""After nearly a year's cruise, sailing as far north 
 as Labrador, the ship returned to Brest, where I was 
 discharged. I went directly to Paris, and soon en- 
 tered upon the ' Campaign of the Rhine.' A revolu- 
 tion was developing about Paris, and many wounded 
 in emeutes had to be treated. To acquire experience, 
 I volunteered to serve under Surgeon Desault. In 
 April, 1792, I was appointed Surgeon Major, and 
 joined the army, which was then beyond the Rhine. 
 The first military exploit of the campaign was to cap- 
 ture Spire, a fortified city. The general order was 
 that the hospitals were to be located at a league's dis- 
 tance from the line of battle. This operated so dis- 
 advantageously for the wounded that I got permission 
 to improvise ambulances, each with a corps of young 
 surgeons and soldiers who would go to the front and 
 bring the disabled to a designated place near at hand, 
 where I could amputate, extract missiles, and treat frac- 
 tures while the battle was raging. This was the begin- 
 ning of an ambulance service, which grew into signifi- 
 cant proportions, and which at length embraced two and 
 four-wheeled carriages, drawn by two and four horses, 
 and driven by charioteers, who dashed between con- 
 tending armies, and, gathering loads of the hors da 
 combat, galloped off' to a located ambulance, where 
 the surgeons could work undisturbed, and immediately 
 after a wound was received. This system of ambu- 
 lancing in time became very popular in the French 
 military service. There was a corps of ambulances 
 for each division of the army, each embracing about 
 four hundred men. If a general fell, those near at 
 
196 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 hand bore him to a flying ambulance, and away he 
 went to surgical head-quarters. Not infrequently he 
 underwent an amputation in fifteen minutes after re- 
 ceiving a shattered limb. If a battle were not at- 
 tended with many wounded, they were all treated by 
 the time the conflict was over. When thousands were 
 wounded, the ambulance surgeons had to work far 
 into night, even till noon of the following day. Then 
 to get all into hospitals, churches, private houses, 
 barns, sheds, and under grain-stacks, might require 
 another day, or several days. As a rule, we treated 
 all alike the wounded of friend and foe though the 
 candor was not always returned in kind. Not in- 
 frequently we had to feed the sufferers on horse-flesh, 
 and the poor fellows were very thankful even for such 
 rations." 
 
 Peace having been declared between France and 
 Prussia, the Austrian army fell back from the vicinity 
 of the Rhine, and took part with the Italians ; and 
 General Bonaparte was sent upon what was called the 
 " Campaign of Italy." Napoleon made Larrey Sur- 
 geon-in-Chief of the army in the field, with a six 
 weeks' furlough before entering upon duty'. He im- 
 proved this respite from labor by going to Toulouse 
 and marrying the daughter of Leroux, once Minister 
 of Finance under Louis XVI. 
 
 After a brief honeymoon, Surgeon Larrey re- 
 paired to Italy, and entered upon official duties. The 
 army crossed the Alps near Mount Cenis, where Han- 
 nibal found his way into fair Italy. The tourist who 
 reaches Turin through the railway tunnel may see a 
 stone bridge built by Napoleon to cross a stream on 
 his way to the beautiful and fertile fields of Lombardy. 
 In this campaign Napoleon's progress was disputed by 
 
BARON LARREY. 197 
 
 the Austrian s at the " Bridge of Lodi." Here the 
 wounded were so numerous that Larrey had to bring 
 all his ambulance corps into use ; and he had to force 
 the innocent inhabitants to furnish supplies of milk, 
 bread and fruits to the wounded cantoned among 
 them. Although the simple hearted peasantry had 
 nothing to do with the unexpected and unexplained 
 war, they had to endure some of its burdens. Kot 
 a few of these ruralists, who had to be economical, 
 living largely on chestnuts and goat's milk, .found it a 
 hardship to feed a wounded soldier imposed upon 
 their strained hospitality. But such was the result of 
 cruel war. 
 
 The Italian campaign was not conspicuous for 
 sanguinary battles, yet the loss of life in sickness was 
 fearful. In such cities as Verona and Bologna, where 
 it is presumably healthy, the most devastating of fe- 
 vers broke out. Larr jy and his confreres investigated 
 the causes, and could make out nothing but ordinary 
 " camp fever," aggravated by bad water and unhealthy 
 cantonments. There, at the foot of the Alps, on the 
 Italian lakes, should be plenty of cool and fresh water. 
 But, besides lakes, there are stagnant fens and mias- 
 matic pools. Larrey set about draining the marshes by 
 ditching around bivouacs, which caused the health of 
 the soldiers to improve. And zeal to keep the soldiers 
 well made Larrey exceedingly popular with the army. 
 
 In May, 1798, the " Egyptian campaign " was 
 planned, and Larrey took its surgical lead, although 
 Baron Desgenettes outranked him as medical head of 
 the expedition. The latter was one of the great men 
 France developed from the lower walks of life to the 
 highest, and who deserves to be noticed for his arduous 
 duties in the Syrian campaign. After the naval bat- 
 
198 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 tie of Aboukir, which the English fleet so gallantly 
 won, communication was cut off between France and 
 her Egyptian army, yet Napoleon kept his troops in 
 activity, winning the battle of the Pyramids against 
 the combined forces of Mamelukes, Arabs, Kopts, and 
 Bedouins. Larrey describes the Mamelukes as the 
 handsomest troopers in the world, and the best capari- 
 soned on beautiful horses. They charge with heavy 
 sabers, and smite their foes with an onset that can 
 hardly be resisted by the most experienced infantry. 
 The Arabs are good fighters, but the Kopts make in- 
 different soldiers. 
 
 Perhaps to open Jaffa and Acre to blockade run- 
 ners, Napoleon marched his Egyptian army to Sue/, 
 and crossed the desert to Syria. This proved almost 
 disastrous to the troops. Heat and thirst were intol- 
 erable. At stagnant pools here and there, men and 
 horses sucked up the water, and their noses and fauces 
 became affected with leeches, which, increasing in 
 size, mechanically occluded the respiratory passages. 
 Victims of the leech were in the greatest distress. 
 Larrey, with polypus forceps, was able to withdraw 
 them. In crossing the Lybian desert, similar leeches 
 being found, straining the water was resorted to, and 
 porous earthen jars proved the best strainers. 
 
 The glare of the sun, and the fine dust of the 
 desert contributed to the development of annoying 
 ophthalmias. At first there was conjunctivitis, then 
 granular lids and pterygia appeared, which in the end 
 resulted in imperfect vision or total blindness. At 
 least one-third of the Egyptian army which returned 
 to France was invalided through ocular defects. 
 
 It required twenty days to cross the Arabian 
 desert; and then the way to Jaffa was not plentiful in 
 
BARON LARREY. 199 
 
 food or potable water. However, the troops took 
 hope and courage, and assaulted the outworks of the 
 city with alacrity, and carried them by storm. In the 
 barracks were sick and disabled Mamelukes, Bedouin 
 Arabs, and Oriental tramps, and here for the first time 
 was seen evidence of the bubonic plague. A number 
 of the French soldiers took the disease, and in a few 
 days the army was threatened with the hateful mal- 
 ady. After the siege of Acre was entered upon, and 
 prisoners from sorties were captured, it was ascer- 
 tained that the besieged were afflicted with "the 
 plague." Under the circumstances, it is no wonder 
 the siege was not conducted more vigorously. Not 
 well men enough could be found to excavate parallels 
 and to conduct hand-to-hand assaults. About twenty 
 thousand English soldiers had been thrown into the 
 city to help the Turks in the defense of the fortress. 
 The French were greatly dispirited through fear of 
 the pestilence. Following the u chill of invasion " 
 came the dreadful aching in the bones and muscles, 
 swelling of the lymphatics in the axilse and groins, 
 suppuration, delirium, and death. One day, while 
 Napoleon was walking through the hospitals, he said 
 to Drs. Desgenettes and Larrey, who were in consulta- 
 tion : " Why don't you give these poor fellows a dose 
 of opium and put an end to their sufferings?" Larrey 
 playfully replied : u It is your avocation to kill, and 
 ours to save life." 
 
 After sixty-eight days of varying fortune before 
 the fortifications of Acre, the French army, decimated 
 and discourged, abandoned the fruitless siege and hur- 
 ried back to Egypt. The desert had to be repassed, 
 and the Mamelukes and Bedouins hung on the rear 
 and flanks of the dispirited soldiers, ready to strip 
 
200 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 the body of a tottering straggler. Some of the fam- 
 ished were sustained by equine soup. Horses about 
 to die were killed to furnish food for the starving 
 men. Many of the soldiers were so nearly blind 
 that they kept in line by joining hands. No relief 
 from sufferings of one kind and another was experi- 
 enced till the fertile plains and sweet waters of the 
 Nile were reached. Again in the luxurious city of 
 Cairo, where food was plenty, and baths were 
 charming, Surgeon Larrey had time and opportunity 
 to recuperate. But the season of comparative bliss 
 was not to be lasting. A large Turkish army landed 
 on the coast, and the English fleet held Alexandria. 
 From Upper Egypt came Arabs and Kopts in 
 hordes, and the chivalrous Mamelukes threatened 
 every avenue of escape. But the French recrossed 
 the Lybian desert and reached the shores of the 
 Mediterranean. Here, after fighting a fierce battle 
 with the Turks and English, they made a treaty 
 which permitted the remnant of the once grand Egyp- 
 tian expedition to return unmolested to France. Na- 
 poleon had already escaped from the Nile country in 
 some swiftly sailing craft. Upon his arrival at Paris 
 he was proclaimed emperor, and a new army was 
 raised. Larrey was honored with a knighthood that 
 of the "Iron Cross" and made Surgeon-in-Chief of 
 the " Army of the East," the name for the military 
 organization. This campaign began on the Rhine and 
 ended at Austerlitz. Enough of the Egyptian veterans 
 were present to infuse a chivalrous spirit into the raw 
 recruits; and the French were every-where victorious. 
 The army marched with such celerity that -the enemy 
 were always taken by surprise and at disadvantages. 
 Ulm was captured by assault, and a large division of 
 
BARON LARREY. 201 
 
 the Austro-Russian army annihilated. The military 
 stores captured enabled the French to follow the 
 enemy down the Danube, and enforce the capitulation 
 of Vienna. Larrey was able to get all the wounded 
 of Ulm into hospitals and private residences, so the 
 army was not incumbered on the eve of the great bat- 
 tle of Austerlitz, or of the " Three Emperors," Alex- 
 ander of Russia, Francis of Austria, and Napoleon of 
 France. The campaign was conducted in the winter, 
 hence there was much suffering from frost; but Sur- 
 geon Larrey was enabled to protect the wounded from 
 outdoor exposure. He utilized barns, sheds, stacks of 
 straw, and e very-thing that might add comfort to the 
 invalid. The ambulance corps rendered valuable as- 
 sistance. They conveyed thousands of wounded from 
 Austerlitz to the city of Brunn, where there were hos- 
 pitals, churches, warehouses, and other shelters for 
 thirty thousand w r ounded Russians, Austrians and 
 French. But the concentration of so many mangled 
 men developed a fatal fever, which spread to the citi- 
 zens, and created a panic among the inhabitants. This 
 was a trying and anxious time for the medical and 
 surgical corps. Gangrene attacked those who crowded 
 about hot stoves, and " camp fever," typhus was 
 most fatal where the sick were in unventilated quar- 
 ters. The contagion of Brunn was more deadly than 
 the Syrian plague, though attended with less dismay. 
 An armistice put an end to the campaign, but 
 another was instituted during the winter of the fol- 
 lowing year. This was called the " Campaign of Po- 
 land." The initiatory expedition covered the battles 
 of Jena. Eylau and Warsaw, and all were fought in 
 intensely cold weather. Larrey says : "The cold was 
 so intense that instruments frequently fell from the 
 
202 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 hands of surgical assistants who held them for me 
 during the operations. Fortunately I enjoyed an un- 
 usual vigor, doubtless produced by the great interest 
 which I felt for the safety of so many brave fellows. 
 The desire which we all felt to save the lives of the 
 wounded, enabled us to persevere in the discharge of 
 our difficult duties. Night often came on, and we bad 
 not been able to appease the cravings of hunger. In 
 the midst of such heart-rending scenes, how could we 
 attend to any thing but the performance of our sad 
 but humane tasks ? While I operated on one, I heard 
 the most pressing calls for similar service on every 
 side. After the operation a surprising calm, and a 
 kind of internal satisfaction, succeeded to the cries of 
 these soldiers, which they expressed by the most 
 lively acknowledgments." 
 
 In this most arduous campaign hippohagy became 
 common and why not, if the necessity existed? Lar- 
 rey declares that a soup of horse flesh is both nutri- 
 tious and delicious. A dash of savory herbs makes it 
 a luxury. 
 
 At the battle of Friedland, the Russians left six 
 thousand dead on the field, and twenty thousand 
 wounded to be cared for. These, in addition to the 
 large list of French rendered helpless, taxed the am- 
 bulance corps to their utmost. Surgical supplies were 
 scarce, so that any textile or fabric might be utilized 
 as a dressing. The treaty of Tilsit ended the cam- 
 paign. As a reward for distinguished service, Napo- 
 leon constituted Larrey a baron of the empire, and 
 bestowed an annual pension of 5,000 francs one 
 thousand dollars. This was in 1809. 
 
 The most renowned of Napoleon's military oper- 
 ations was the " Campaign of Russia." This was in- 
 
BARON LARREY. 203 
 
 augurated rather secretly, but its objective point was 
 the capture of Moscow. On February 12th, 1812, 
 orders were issued for the several divisions of the 
 grand army to move eastward. In cavalry, infantry, 
 and the different branches of military service, there 
 were four hundred thousand men. Larrey con- 
 jectured that a descent on England was contemplated, 
 and that the eastward march was a ruse to deceive the 
 enemy. But after the troops had moved into Russian 
 Poland, it became plain that the Army of Alexander, 
 of Russia, was to receive special attention. On the 
 10th of May the city of Posen was occupied, and the 
 army was pushing for the banks of the Vistula. At 
 this time about half the entire army was mounted, 
 horses along the line of the march being appropriated 
 and utilized for that purpose, and forage being de- 
 rived from the agricultural products of the adjacent 
 country. Not one half the army was French, but 
 there were volunteers and conscripts from several 
 countries. There was even a cavalry regiment of 
 Mamelukes from Egypt soldiers of fortune, ever 
 ready to engage in any warlike expedition. There 
 were Italians, Spaniards, Bavarians, Saxons, a corps 
 from Austria, Wirtemberg and Westphalia. The pecu- 
 liar make-up of the grand army is the reason the com- 
 bination so rapidly dissolved in the disastrous retreat 
 of the expedition after the conflagration at Moscow. 
 The French naturally kept together, for they were 
 anxious to get home ; but the troops of other nation- 
 alities as naturally straggled, taking the shortest routes 
 to their own country. 
 
 The grand army reached Wilna on the 24th of 
 June, and thus far had met with little resistance. But 
 from this point onward the Russians interposed every 
 
204 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 obstacle to the advance. Mounted Cossacks drove 
 away cattle, destroyed forage, and cut down bridges. 
 The approach to Smolensk was hotly contested by 
 the forces commanded by Alexander. The wounded 
 Russians always fell into French hands, and gave the 
 ambulance corps all they could do. At the storming 
 of Smolensk the French lost heavily, but carried 
 their point. They had twelve hundred killed, and six 
 thousand wounded ; and the Russians left as many 
 more upon the battle Held. The city was given up to 
 hospital purposes, but could not accommodate all who 
 needed timely succor. Hospital supplies were nearly 
 exhausted, so that the silky cuticle of the w r hite birch 
 was utilized in dressings. One day Larrey executed 
 over one hundred capital operations, eleven of which 
 were amputation at the shoulder-joint. Rarely not 
 over five minutes were spent in amputating a leg or 
 thigh. 
 
 After the fall of Smolensk the Russians retreated 
 toward MOSCOW T , but offered battle at every advan- 
 tageous point on the way. Great rains rendered the 
 roads miry. Forage for men and horses became scanty. 
 At best the great plains about Moscow are not fertile ; 
 and the army of Alexander destroyed what it could 
 not consume. At Giad, a fortified place, the Russians 
 made their last stand, and fought bravely. This was 
 on the fifth of September, with the signs of autumn 
 palpably apparent. Two thousand wounded Russians 
 were to be cared for, yet hardly a rag could be had to 
 wrap a shattered limb. For the time it was thought 
 best to abandon them, the expectation being that a 
 relief party could be sent out from Moscow to care for 
 them. There already began to prevail a foreboding 
 that the destructive policy manifested by the Russians 
 
BARON LARRBY. 205 
 
 might be carried out in Moscow. The army of Alex- 
 ander was still large, and might make obstinate re- 
 sistance to the invaders at the walls of the great city. 
 Fate was beginning to dictate matters. It was now 
 necessary that the French army should come in pos- 
 session of Moscow's supplies. On the 14th of Septem- 
 ber the French went into bivouac under the shadows 
 of Russia's ancient capital. There was no enemy to 
 offer resistance, so on the morrow Moscow was en- 
 tered. On every hand was the evidence of oriental 
 grandeur. There was the Kremlin, and in its vicin- 
 ity were palaces, triumphal arches, and great ware- 
 houses. But all was marvelously quiet. Few human 
 beings were visible, and they were fiendish and squalid. 
 The better class of houses contained no tenants, stocks 
 of goods had been carried off, so that a disposition to 
 pillage was not to be gratified to a large extent. In 
 cellars was plenty of liquors, and drunkenness be- 
 came common. Pickled meats and dried fish were 
 plentiful, and some bread-stuffs; yet evidence of 
 abundant food supplies was wanting. To the dismay 
 of the invaders fires began to appear in all parts of the 
 city, and the incendiaries could not be discovered. At- 
 tempts were made to extinguish the flames, yet they 
 spread too rapidly to be controlled. It now became 
 evident to Napoleon that the burning city must be 
 evacuated, and an ignoble retreat entered upon ; 
 hence the order to retire was issued, and the home- 
 ward march begun. Improvident soldiers took much 
 loot along with them, but soon threw the trash aside. 
 An army of something less than three hundred thou- 
 sand men is formidable in numbers, yet without food 
 ir becomes feeble in force. On the ever memorable 
 retreat horrible sufferings were endured. Famished 
 
206 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 with hunger, the troops straggled along without order, 
 and the Cossacks cut them down in hecatombs. The 
 weather turned cold, and the roads became next to 
 impassable. Horses were killed and eaten to prevent 
 starvation. When it became necessary to halt, arid 
 re-organize for active operations ; it was marvelous 
 what a chivalrous spirit could be aroused by the pres- 
 ence and encouraging words of the Emperor. At 
 his command the enemy could be severely punished 
 for unendurable audacity. 
 
 At the river Berezina, the enemy held the bridge, 
 and had an opportunity to capture the whole army. 
 But during the night a frail bridge was extemporized 
 and enough troops thrown over at a point above, so 
 that a comparatively safe passage was guaranteed to 
 the entire force. However, the bridge broke down, 
 and thousands of men lost their lives in attempting to 
 cross on floating ice. Larrey got well across, but re- 
 turned to secure some surgical instruments. The 
 Cossacks made a dash upon the remnant, and came 
 near killing the Baron. The soldiers seeing him in 
 peril, sprang to his rescue, and safely bore him across 
 the treacherous river. The dilapidated army then 
 pressed on to Wilna, where most of the forces, not 
 French, marched by the nearest route home. When 
 the French reached Koenigsberg, on Christmas day, 
 they numbered twenty-eight thousand men who were 
 still able to do military duty. The brunettes from the 
 South of France stood the hardships of the campaign 
 better than the blondes from the northern districts of 
 the country. 
 
 Napoleon left the retreating squadrons at Wilna, 
 and hastened to Paris to raise a new army to rescue 
 the remnant of the old one. On the Elba the two 
 
BARON LARREY. 207 
 
 armies, the new and the old, united forces, and gained 
 victories over the Russians and their allies at Lutzen 
 and Bautzen. An armistice was there established, 
 and peace became prospective. 
 
 Baron Larrey became surgeon in the Hotel des 
 Invalides, and remained popular with the soldiers. 
 At the battle of Waterloo he was wounded and 
 captured ; but was treated with great consideration by 
 Alexander and his allies. Upon the Bourbon restora- 
 tion the pension of Larrey was temporarily suspended. 
 In time, however, the income was again granted. 
 After writing his Memoirs he went on official business 
 to Algiers. While on his way back to Paris he died 
 at Lyons. 
 
 Thus ends the epitomized biography of one of 
 the most remarkable military surgeons that ever lived. 
 In the " Memoirs " are essays upon peculiar diseases 
 encountered in his campaigns like the plica pelonica, 
 camp fever, the plague, tetanus, gangrene, frost-bite, am- 
 putations, etc. Many of his pathological ideas are in 
 accord with latest views. His essay on amputations 
 can hardly be excelled. Perhaps from deficiency of 
 other means, Larrey made frequent use of the moxa 
 and actual cautery. While these remedial agencies 
 have gone out of general use, I have employed both 
 with pronounced benefit on several occasions. 
 
 It is remarkable that Larrey could endure a 
 repetition of the greatest hardships, yet survive with 
 mind and body unimpaired. 
 
 In condensing this sketch I found it impossible 
 to keep clear of the military operations with which 
 his important labors were connected ; they need not 
 be disassociated. The great surgeon helped to or- 
 ganize an important branch of military service. He 
 
208 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 devised and put in operation a grand ambulance sys- 
 tem, which has never been surpassed. He demon- 
 strated the necessity of early amputations after severe 
 gun-shot wounds and attacks of gangrene. He did 
 not wait for reactions and lines of demarkation ; lie 
 amputated as soon as there was a seeming necessity 
 for such an operation. 
 
FOLK-LORE-WITCH-HAZEL. 
 
 The folk-lore of Europe has reference on mul- 
 tiple occasions to the mythical properties and virtues 
 of witch-hazel. In most instances pronounced mag- 
 ical powers are ascribed to the shrub, bush, twig, or 
 tree. A forked staff of hazel-wood is employed by 
 witches as a wand to wave over a road or path, or 
 over a stream or pond of water, to influence the pre- 
 siding deities or sprites of the locality for good or evil 
 to those passing. Sometimes a wand of ash was se- 
 lected to execute a potent purpose ; and the leaves of 
 the ash tree were presumed to antidote the venom of 
 serpents. A Swedish peasant will assure you that the 
 touch of a hazel twig will extract the virus of a 
 snake's bite ; and that after a battle between serpents, 
 the wounded reptile will repair to a hazel bush, and 
 there remain until the venom has been antidoted. 
 
 In the "Mythology of the Aryan Nations" we read 
 that amulets to cure and keep off epilepsy are made 
 of mistletoe ; and that children are relieved of hernia 
 by wearing a girdle of ash and hazel twigs or leaves. 
 Mr. Fiske, in his "Myth and Myth-Makers," says: 
 " The notion that snakes are afraid of an ash tree is 
 not extinct even in the United States. The other day 
 I was told, not by an old granny, but by a man fairly 
 educated and endowed with a very unusual amount of 
 good common sense, that a rattlesnake will sooner go 
 through fire than creep over ash leaves or into the 
 shadow of an ash tree." I can assure the writer that 
 
 (209) 
 
210 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 I heard the same or similar statements in New En- 
 gland when I was a boy. Not many years ago I was 
 visiting an uncle in Massachusetts, and while there I 
 saw three or four men slowly pacing a piece of ground 
 on a side hill a short distance away. I asked what 
 the solemn appearing individuals were about. After 
 being told that the elder of the group, who held a 
 crooked stick in his two hands and watched the Avand 
 very closely, was a " locator of wells " and " finder of 
 hidden treasure," I hastened to the scene with a view 
 of learning the secret, or what I could in regard to it. 
 I had heard of the mystery before, but had never seen 
 the practical working of it. The wand was forked 
 and of green hazel ; the diviner's hands grasped the 
 two branches of the stick, and the body of the little 
 tree the thickness of the thumb stood upward, when 
 the implement had been properly manipulated and was 
 in condition for the subtle action. The forked hazel 
 stick was called a " divining rod " or the " witch's 
 puzzle." When the bifurcate hazel stick had been 
 grasped and held for manifestations and demonstra- 
 tions, the front aspect of the hands did not face each 
 other, but the backs were turned to one another, the 
 little fingers being uppermost, Now, if anybody will 
 thus grasp the forks of a "divining rod" made of 
 apple tree, elder, or birch, and have the central stub 
 or stump a foot long, the weight of it will incline the 
 stalk to tip one way or the other; and if the wood be 
 freshly cut, and the hands clutch the forks with firm- 
 ness, the twisting force will wrench the green bark 
 from its foundations. This part of the trick ends the 
 experiment, and demonstrates the fact that a good 
 spring of water is not far under ground. And what 
 is a clincher of the feat, the sinkers of a well are 
 
FOLK-LORE WITCH-HAZEL. 211 
 
 about sure to find an abundance of pure water if they 
 go deep enough into the earth ! In the case referred 
 to, the manipulator of the divining rod received a fee 
 of three dollars. He had been summoned a distance 
 of a few miles ; and the owners of the land, who de- 
 sired a good well for watering grazing cattle, were 
 among the most intelligent and carefully educated in 
 New England. To question the propriety of thus 
 having a spring scientifically located, would be to risk 
 the reception of a severe rebuke ! In Nebraska I saw 
 a split piece of whalebone employed as a divining rod 
 to locate a spot to be bored for water. The user of 
 the implement received five dollars for his services. 
 A doubting Thomas had the hardihood to say that a 
 bore a hundred feet deep, more or less, the variation 
 depending upon the surface, whether on a ridge or in 
 a hollow, would surely strike a bed of gravel in that 
 part of the country, where water existed in the great- 
 est abundance. The bore \vas made with what are 
 called " drive-wells ;" sections of iron tubing were 
 driven into the earth till water flowed from the top 
 segment. The " diviner " was engaged mostly in lo- 
 cating the presence of valuable minerals ; and if his 
 word could be credited, he never failed to find gold, 
 silver, or lead, in soil where the rod "worked" in his 
 hands. The " rod " was made from a piece of whalebone 
 about fifteen inches in length, and split from one end 
 to within five or six inches of the other. A copper 
 ferule inclosed the wand at the point where the split, 
 terminated. I believe the ring of metal was to pre- 
 vent the whalebone from splitting in two parts. The 
 diviner remarked that he had to employ a leaden ring 
 when testing for copper! Thus it is ever with di- 
 viners; they know the worth of mystification, and how 
 
212 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 to practice deceit. They understand the gullibility of 
 human nature. It seemed to me that the Nebraska 
 diviner employed forked whalebone because green 
 witch-hazel did not flourish thereabouts. A fakir has 
 to conform to the necessity of circumstances. If a 
 witch can not find a hazel bush with which to make a 
 wand, she can impart potency to a forked stick of any 
 other tree or shrub. But the hazel sprout is the one 
 fancied by writers upon witchcraft. 
 
 In Scandinavia two dry sticks of hazel-wood will 
 develop fire when vigorously rubbed together ; and 
 the revealer of the secret of fire striking does not 
 mention that primitive people the world over have 
 always developed fire by rubbing dry sticks together 
 by friction. 
 
 The tale of William Tell, the Swiss archer, whom 
 the tyrant Gassier meant to slay, but who saved his 
 life by the extraordinary feat of shooting an apple 
 from his son's head, was enabled so to do by fashion- 
 ing an arrow from a twig of hazel, as a mediaeval 
 chronicler relates. The weapon was then like the 
 charmed gun which exercised such discrimination that 
 it would miss a calf but hit a deer. I have quite shed 
 tears over the exploits of the patriot Tell, and have 
 seen the name of the famous Swiss coupled with that 
 of Washington, therefore when I learned that there 
 never was such a man as William Tell, no tyrant Gess- 
 ler, no son to unflinchingly endure the sight of the 
 flying arrow, I felt like distrusting the story of Achilles 
 and his heel rendered vulnerable by escaping baptism 
 in the river Styx, and like questioning the very ex- 
 istence of the little hatchet which mutilated the cherry 
 tree! The earliest account of the Tell myth is the fol- 
 lowing, taken from ''-Historical Difficulties;" it is of 
 
FOLK-LORE WITCH-HAZEL. 213 
 
 Danish origin. U A certain Palnatoki, for some time 
 among King Harold's body-guard, had made his brav- 
 ery odious to very many of his fellow soldiers by the 
 zeal with which he surpassed them in the discharge of 
 his duty. This man once, while talking tipsily over 
 his cups, had boasted that he was so skilled as an 
 archer that he could hit the smallest apple placed at 
 a distance of fifty paces on a wand, and at the first 
 shot. This boastful language soon reached the ears 
 of his majesty, who had long sought an opportunity 
 to involve the braggart in difficulty. The King or- 
 dered that a test of the archer's skill should be made 
 by placing the apple on the son's head instead of the 
 suggested wand, and with the threat that, unless the 
 author of the promise could strike the mark at the 
 first flight of the arrow, he should pay the penalty of 
 his empty boasting by the loss of his own head. The 
 King's command struck the soldier with dismay, for 
 he was exceedingly fond of his darling boy a lad six 
 years of age. After the lad had been stationed at the 
 given distance and the apple placed on his head, the 
 father asked the privilege of speaking to his child be- 
 fore he discharged the perilous missile ; and while 
 whispering in the lad's ear and arranging his arms be- 
 hind him, Palnatoki slipped a hazel stick into the 
 boy's hands, and stuck an apple on the upper end of it. 
 The stick was not discovered, and the first arrow in 
 its flight split the apple and left the youth unharmed. 
 The King then asked the archer why he had taken 
 other arrows in his quiver when the terms were that 
 he should try but once ? The answer corresponded to 
 the one ascribed to Tell : ' To kill thee, tyrant, had I 
 slain my son.' " This story being centuries older than 
 the Swiss production, the inference is that the latter 
 
214 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 is borrowed; and what assurance have we that the 
 Danish tale was not taken from an Aryan fable? 
 In fact, a kindred tale is in the folk-lore of Norway, 
 Sweden, and Persia, and in each country the leading 
 features of the legend are almost identical. 
 
 The Persian archer is armed with an ashen bow 
 and a hazel arrow ; therefore, his weapon embraces a 
 double charm. In some regions, the divining staff or 
 wand is a " wish-rod," the virtues of the implement 
 depending more upon its shape than upon the nature 
 of the wood. The shepherds' crook was a favorite 
 shape for the sorcerers of Greece and Rome. In 
 Egypt a species of reed or palm was used to prog- 
 nosticate events ; arid a soothsayer could not practice 
 his arts till fifty years of age. And, like hags, the 
 older they were, and the more repulsive in looks, the 
 deeper were they endowed with mystic wisdom. 
 
 " 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, 
 And coming events cast their shadows before." 
 
 The more profound the ignorance of a people the 
 stronger is the belief in supernatural influences. In 
 the jungles of Africa and Australia, the devil is pre- 
 sumed to have more power than the Almighty, hence 
 there is more attention given to the former in worship. 
 The devil is the personification of evil, and has always 
 ascribed to him a human form, though his pictures re- 
 semble mythological Pan one foot is like that of a 
 goat, and budding horns are seen on the forehead. It 
 is a question what the cornua signify or typify. Pan 
 has them, and they are thought to be a remnant of 
 goatlike character; but horns are also symbols of 
 strength and power. Jupiter sometimes is depicted 
 with ram's coils on the sides of his head; and the 
 
FOLK-LORE WITCH-HAZEL. 215 
 
 Moses of Angelo has budding horns upon his head. 
 In " The Last Judgment," the tail of the devil is 
 barbed at the end, like that of the mythological 
 dragon. In Scandinavia, the "evil one" carries a 
 caduceus made of hazelwood, and the implement is 
 bifurcate. Witch-hazel is a product of northern or 
 cold climates, hence it is so often mentioned in the 
 folk-lore of Norsemen. 
 
THE AUTOPSY OF AN ELEPHANT. 
 
 (Bead before the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, May, 1879.) 
 
 The day before last Christmas, our well .known 
 fellow-citizen and showman, John Robinson, lost by 
 death one of the largest specimens of his fine herd of 
 elephants. 'The animal bore the name of " Conqueror," 
 and originally came from Abyssinia. He had been in 
 America fifteen years ; and for the last year or two he- 
 had been an attractive feature of our Zoological Gar- 
 den. Visitors to the exhibition will remember that 
 the bulky creature was heavily chained, and fastened 
 by one leg to a large stump. His immediate compan- 
 ions were eight or ten bisons, who lunched on the fod- 
 der given to the elephant. The great proboscidian 
 did not seem to grudge what the bisons devoured, but 
 he would make them observe his ideas of etiquette. 
 If a bison placed a foot on the hay, the impropriety 
 was rebuked by a blow of the elephant's trunk that- 
 made the "buffalo" fairly bellow with pain. 
 
 After lunch, the elephant would challenge the 
 bovines to a playful contest of strength; and would 
 get down upon his knees to show to his companions 
 that he was no higher than they ! and solicited fair 
 play, without favor offered or accepted. Conqueror 
 was so fond of fun that he would in his way challenge 
 boys to throw stones at him ; and if he succeeded in 
 cajoling them into a contest of the kind, he would 
 gather the missiles that hit his sides and fell to the 
 
 (216) 
 
THE AUTOPSY OF AN ELEPHANT. 217 
 
 ground, until he had quite a supply upon which to 
 draw when he chose to hurl the ammunition back. 
 It seemed to give the ponderous pachyderm great de- 
 light as the hoys scattered with a shout when a stone 
 fell in their midst. 
 
 At length Mr. Robinson placed Conqueror in 
 company with seven or eight other elephants, and 
 took him about the country as a feature of his travel- 
 ing menagerie ; but the playful nature of the beast so 
 often gave way to fits of anger that he proved an un- 
 welcome part of the "show." He took the conceit 
 that he would not obey any one except his old master, 
 and came near killing two or three men who under- 
 took to exercise authority over him ; and he often 
 provoked quarrels with the other elephants, and at- 
 tempted to stampede the camels, dromedaries, and 
 other animals of any significance in his estimation. 
 He seemed to covet a contest with the larger felines, 
 especially the tigers, against whom he appeared to en- 
 tertain an instinctive hate. These caprices and freaks 
 of temper caused him to be hampered with chains 
 that extended around his body, over his tusks, and to 
 bracelets locked upon his wrists. These incumbrances 
 made him so irritable while traveling on a fenced 
 platform car, on the railroad, that he made a desperate 
 attempt to break loose while the train was in motion. 
 In this struggle one fore-foot was so much bruised 
 that the animal had to be taken to a quiet retreat for 
 recuperation. Three months afterward, the foot had 
 so far recovered that Conqueror went into winter 
 quarters with his old companions, and seemed pleased 
 to return to the company of his fellow kind. How- 
 ever, he could not live in peace with any body he 
 must play or quarrel, so exuberant were his spirits. 
 
218 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 His companions could stand a certain amount of his 
 rude frolics, but at length they would unite their 
 forces and drive him to his corner of the inclosure, 
 where he would utter the well known bellow of sub- 
 mission. After patching up a truce, he might be 
 quite companionable for a few days, until his restless 
 spirit provoked a fresh onset. His inclination ran 
 chiefly to badgering the four Indian elephants in the 
 corral with him ; and they at length, after forbearance 
 ceased to be a virtue, made a fierce onslaught upon 
 the ill-mannered African, and so severely punished 
 him with thrusts of their tusks iii his neck and shoul- 
 der that a large vein was lacerated, and Conqueror 
 cried "hold, enough," for the last time. In two days 
 he was dead, and his carcass became the property of 
 the Cincinnati Society of Natural History. Our taxi- 
 dermist, Charles Bury, with a force of assistants, pro- 
 ceeded to flay the monster, and to preserve the skin 
 and skeleton. The dissection lasted several days ; 
 and during that time I endeavored to investigate the 
 organic peculiarities of this massive specimen of the 
 animal kingdom. 
 
 It was estimated that the entire elephant weighed 
 more than five thousand pounds, and that the skin, 
 with some fat and fascia attached, would weigh over 
 eight hundred pounds. The integument was compar- 
 atively thin on the inside of the legs, and under side 
 of the abdomen, but on the back and exposed parts 
 of the creature the skin was more than an inch thick. 
 Surely the animal is entitled to be called a " pachy- 
 derm." 
 
 The prominent peculiarities of the African ele- 
 phant are his untamable disposition, his prominently 
 convex forehead, his immensely large ears, and sloping 
 
THE AUTOPSY OF AN ELEPHANT. 219 
 
 or receding rump. Although the "African " elephant 
 was employed by the Carthagenians in their wars with 
 the Romans and the rest of mankind, the art of capt- 
 uring and taming the creature was lost to the inhabit- 
 ants of the Middle Ages. It is not long since the 
 first African elephants were placed in the London 
 Zoological Gardens. The ivory of the African ele- 
 phant is more valuable than that of the Asiatic 
 species, hence it is sought by every trader doing busi- 
 ness in the " dark continent." It has been estimated 
 that seventy-five thousand African elephants are annu- 
 ally slain for the tusks alone ; and when guns of large 
 caliber are distributed among the native Africans 
 from the Sahara desert to Cape Colony, the elephant 
 will become extinct, or exceedingly scarce. The 
 trunk or proboscis of the elephant is a curious ap- 
 pendage to the upper lip and nose. The attachment 
 to the forehead is through powerful muscles, liga- 
 ments, and fascias. The free end of the trunk has a 
 finger or thumb-like extension that is capable of pick- 
 ing up a straw or even a pin. Inasmuch as the ele- 
 phant obtains its food and drink through the instru- 
 mentality of the proboscis, it is not strange that the 
 animal guards the useful organ against all harm. 
 When the huge proboscidian is attacked by the tiger, 
 its inveterate foe, the trunk is raised high in air, 
 and the tusks are employed to toss the great feline. 
 On the other hand, the tiger understands the vulner- 
 able part of the elephant, and seeks an opportunity to 
 leap upon the forehead at the base of the tusks, and 
 there, with tooth and nail, inflict direful wounds upon 
 its clumsy enemy. 
 
 An elephant's proboscis is really a prolonged 
 upper lip and snout, the nasal chambers running the 
 
220 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 entire length of the organ, and directly connecting 
 with nasal apertures in the skull of the animal. A 
 dense vomerine septum divides the chambers in the 
 proboscis, and connects with the osseous vomer of the 
 facial bones. Near the junction of the trunk with 
 the skull, there is a valvular arrangement in the nasal 
 chambers which is of use in sucking fluids and fine 
 substances into the proboscis which are afterward to 
 be discharged into the mouth or outwardly by means 
 of air expressed from the lungs. The creature uses 
 the trunk thus to spurt water upon its back and sides 
 when inclined to enjoy the luxury of a shower bath. 
 
 The tusks of the elephant are a distinguishing 
 feature of the creature. They spring from the pre- 
 maxillary bones, hence are modifications of incisor 
 teeth. They correspond to the gnawing 'teeth of the 
 beaver and other rodents. The extinct mammoth 
 had two others which sprang from the lower jaw, 
 and projected forward. The dugong has two in the 
 inferior maxillary which curve downward as the 
 tusks of the elephant incline to turn upwtird. The 
 tusks of the elephant are largest in the male, and are 
 used as weapons, yet they become useful in breaking 
 down branches and in uprooting small trees while 
 food is gathered. 
 
 The grinders of the elephant are compound teeth, 
 having ridges of dentine on their bruising surfaces. 
 Representatively, there is but one grinder in each 
 side of either jaw. The tooth springs from the alveolar 
 space in the deep and posterior recesses of the maxil- 
 laries, and while growing or developing moves for- 
 ward and its anterior thin edge breaks off, so that in 
 the course of several years the entire grinder is lost; 
 but before it is half wasted, another comes along in 
 
THE AUTOPSY OF AN ELEPHANT. 221 
 
 the rear and occupies the same place arid position of 
 the one passing away. In this replacing process, it is 
 not uncommon for an entire tooth and part of another 
 to be present in one side of a jaw at the same time. 
 In several respects the dentition of the elephant is 
 peculiar. 
 
 In the extinct mastodon and mammoth, and in 
 the living elephant, there is a deep notch in the 
 front aspect of the under jaw, through which it would 
 seem a long and free tongue portruded for the pur- 
 pose of gathering herbage, but the real fact of the 
 case is that the elephant has a restricted use of the 
 tongue, the tapering and conical end being free to a 
 limited extent. It has been said that the elephant is 
 tongue-tied; also that it has no frsenum linguae, and 
 is consequently free-tongued, but neither state really 
 exists. 
 
 The pharynx of the elephant is capacious, and, 
 as in the ox, terminates in the oesophagus, with the 
 bulbous larynx projecting into it. The posterior 
 nares extend into the pharynx, but with a direction 
 and extension which make them almost communicate 
 with the larynx. At the upper.part of the pharynx 
 is a pocket in which, at a central point, terminates a 
 single canal that soon, by division and subdivision, 
 communicates with the extensive sinuses and air-cells 
 in the forehead, and other parts of the skull. 
 
 The larynx of the elephant is very large, and 
 bears the general features of the same organ in the 
 horse. The trachea is a complete tube, the rings, 
 thirty in number, coming together, though not join- 
 ing, on the oesophageal surface, where in man there 
 exists an interposing membrane. When the elephant 
 
222 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 utters its loudest voice, the sound resembles that com- 
 ing from a trumpet. The lungs have no lobes, but a 
 process of pulmonary tissue extends between the 
 heart and diaphragm. The stomach of the elephant 
 is thrown into ridges or partial compartments by mus- 
 cular bands that nearly encircle the organ. One of 
 these compartments at the extreme left of the organ 
 can be made to hold water unmixed with food an 
 arrangement somewhat like that of the camel. The 
 lining membrane of the stomach is coarsely plicated ; 
 and sometimes the folds join, making cups or circum- 
 scribed spaces. The organ will hold five or six bushels, 
 and probably much more when distended to its fullest 
 capacity. The jejunum is eight inches in diameter, and 
 receives the biliary and pancreatic secretions in recep- 
 tacles or pouches situated a short distance below the 
 stomach. The liver has two lobes, divided by the sus- 
 pensory ligament, but no gall bladder. The ccecum is 
 large, with its inner surface rugous. The colon is about 
 twenty feet in length, and a foot in diameter. The en- 
 tire alimentary track is more than sixty feet long. 
 
 The. circulatory system of the elephant is like 
 that of most mammajs. The heart is a foot or more 
 in diameter, and in its contractions exerts tons of 
 pressure. The aorta is over three inches in diameter, 
 and its walls are thick with yellow elastic tissue. 
 The current of blood propelled at each stroke of the 
 heart must equal that forced from the nozzle of a steam 
 tire engine. The veins have thick walls, and correspond 
 in caliber with companion arteries. The young of the 
 elephant are nourished in the same manner as other 
 mammalia. The period of gestation peculiar to the 
 elephant extends through a period of over five hundred 
 
THE AUTOPSY OF AN ELEPHANT. 223 
 
 days or nearly two years. These great proboscidians 
 rarely breed in captivity. Some years ago the birth 
 of an elephant took place in the Zoological Gardens in 
 London. 
 
 The eye of the elephant is comparatively small, 
 the organ being but little larger than it is in the horse. 
 The sclerotic tunic is very dense, and the fascias 
 which bind the eye in the orbit are thick and tough. 
 
 The external ear of the African elephant is ex- 
 ceedingly large and leathery. In fact, the size of the 
 ear is one of the characteristic features of the species. 
 Muscles keep the auricles in flapping motion, especially 
 when flies or other insects are to be driven away. The 
 external auditory passages as well as the fluted con- 
 chas are freely exposed outwardly, and not covered 
 by the overlapping auricle as in animals with drooping 
 ears. The hearing of the elephant is very acute, as 
 well as the sense of sight. The membrana tympani is 
 a complete oval, and seems to send fibers from its cen- 
 ter where the handle of the malleus rests, to the cir- 
 cumference with regular radiation. 
 
 The ligamentum nuchse of the elephant is the 
 thickest and strongest band of elastic tissue to be 
 found in the animal kingdom. Specimen discs of this 
 structure were saved, some of them measured from 
 eight to ten inches in circumference. The ligament 
 must be immensely strong to sustain the ponderous 
 head. The muscles which move the head and under 
 jaw are large, coarse and .terribly tough. The tendi- 
 nous intersections would turn the edge of the best 
 knives. 
 
 The brain of the elephant is larger than that of 
 man, and the medulla is four inches in diameter. The 
 cerebrum has a large amount of gray neurine in the 
 
224 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 convolutions; and the animal is known to be one of 
 the most sagacious of quadrupeds. Its memory of 
 friends and foes extends a lifetime. 
 
 The muscles of an elephant are distributed to the 
 limbs from the vertebral column, scapulae, and pelvic 
 bones, much as they are in the larger and more fa- 
 miliar quadrupeds. The most striking feature of 
 them is their massiveness. In the mechanism of the 
 elephant there is provision for the outlay of physical 
 force, and no adaptation for speed or agility. The or- 
 dinary walk of the elephant is a little faster than a 
 corresponding gait in the horse. When hastened by 
 fright the animal manages to escape with an ambling 
 stride which a horse has to gallop to match in speed. 
 The leg joints are poised perpendicularly, one over 
 the other, so that it is difficult to determine whether 
 the backward or forward swing of a joint is to be 
 called flexion. 
 
 The tendons of the muscles of the legs which ex- 
 tend to the feet are white and glistening cords an inch 
 in diameter; they are stronger than any cordage of 
 equal size, and they move in sheaths with less friction 
 than can be attained in the best machinery. 
 
 The sole of the elephant's foot is an immense 
 cushion of yellow elastic tissue, too dense to be punc- 
 tured by stubs or sharp stones. The bottom surface 
 is quite flat, yet it shows the outline of the digital 
 hoofs. Although the elephant takes quite long steps, 
 and in an ungainly manner, the creature has such 
 finely padded toes that its foot-fall can not be heard 
 but a short distance. The track of the beast in the 
 mud or sand leaves no digital marks. In walking, 
 a fore and hind limb on one side of the body move at 
 a time, and the hind-foot is placed almost in the spot 
 
THE AUTOPSY OF AX ELEPHANT. 225 
 
 indented by the fore-foot. This peculiar gate gives a 
 swinging or swaying motion to the body as each step 
 is taken, making it quite difficult for a person to keep 
 his seat while riding on the animal's back. 
 
 The skeleton of the elephant presents some in- 
 teresting peculiarities, one of which is the giant air- 
 cells of the cranium, the sinuses extending into the 
 diploic spaces, pressing the tables of the skull twelve 
 inches apart in some places. No other animal exhib- 
 its such a chambered cranium. The nasal passages, 
 high on the forehead, quite resemble the "blow- 
 holes " of the whale. 
 
 So far as cervical vertebrae are concerned the ele- 
 phant adheres to the mammalian type by having seven 
 individual pieces. The spinous process of the seventh 
 rises high, conforming in this respect to the spines of 
 the first dorsal bones. To these spines is attached the 
 huge ligamentum nuchse that sustains the head 
 weighed down with tusks. The elephant has twenty- 
 three dorsal or trunk vertebrae, and nineteen or 
 twenty of these sustain ribs. The shoulder-blades 
 exhibit a branch process from the spinous ridge on the 
 dors urn of the scapula. It extends backward two or 
 three inches at a right angle from the regular spinous 
 process. The glenoid cavity is shallow, and twice as 
 long as broad. It looks downward, therefore the 
 scapula rises vertically above the humerus. The top 
 of the blade reaches higher than the tip of the spine 
 of the seventh cervical vertebra. The humerus bears 
 the ordinary characteristic of the typical bone. The 
 great tuberosity rises higher than the articular face of 
 the bone. The deltoid ridge extends below the mid- 
 dle of the humerus, and the bicipital groove is deep. 
 The radius and ulna cross each other obliquely on 
 
226 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 their way from the condyles of the humerus to the 
 carpus, the radius keeping in front. The ulna is the 
 larger bone of the two. The carpal bones number 
 eight, and are placed in two rows, one above the 
 other. They articulate with each other and with ad- 
 jacent bones above and below, by means of flat sur- 
 faces. Of the phalanges there are two in the first, 
 and three in the other four digits. Each lingual pha- 
 lanx is incased in a hoof, and all, as before indicated, 
 terminate in a thick sole. 
 
 The pelvic girdle slopes downward so rapidly 
 from the normal axis of the vertebral column, that 
 the outspreading ilia look upward as in the human 
 pelvis. The sacrum consists of four blended vertebrae, 
 and the caudal appendage has thirty-three distinct 
 bones. When any of the bones are comparatively 
 small others in the same region seem to be expanded 
 at their expense. The obturator foramen is smaller 
 than the acetabulum. The head of the femur is globu- 
 lar, and free from a ligament urn teres. The trochanter 
 major does not rise so high as the head of the bone, 
 and the lesser trochanter is comparatively small. The 
 bone is shaped so much like the human femur that 
 sharpers have exhibited it as that of a giant. The 
 tibia and fibula compare so well with those in the 
 human leg that they might pass among the unwary 
 as relics of a giant fifteen feet high. The seven tarsal 
 bones in the elephant's foot bear a close resemblance 
 to corresponding bones in man, but the inner digit 
 which represents the hallux is a dwarfed affair, espe- 
 cially in the African species. 
 
 The elephant lies down and rises up with com- 
 parative ease, but in a very clumsy manner. The 
 creature in settling down allows the hind legs to ex- 
 
AUTOPSY OF AN ELEPHANT. 227 
 
 tend backward till one hip is near the ground, and 
 then drops unguardedly upon the protuberant abdo- 
 men and side. The huge animal in this terminal 
 movement of lying down falls so helplessly that it 
 would seem a hopeless task to rise again. But the 
 somewhat flexible or mobile joints help the prostrate 
 creature to raise the hips with ease, and to poise the 
 ponderous trunk upon the legs. 
 
 The enormous weight of a full grown elephant, 
 and the awkward use of its limbs, would seem to warn 
 the animal not to venture in miry places, but facts are 
 against the supposition. The elephantidse delight to 
 wallow in the mud and mire of swampy places, and 
 to sport in ponds and streams. I never knew a tame 
 elephant to become inextricably stranded in a quag- 
 mire of its own chosing as a wallowing place. 
 
 In reviewing the peculiarities of the elephant I 
 forgot to mention in the proper place that in the skin 
 on the side of the head, between the eye and the ear, 
 there exists a small opening which is the commence- 
 ment of a duct an inch or two in length, running 
 toward the lachrymal organs (if it do not actually 
 reach a gland in the orbital cavity), that leads to a 
 secretory apparatus. A gummy substance is produced 
 in the canal which sometimes clogs the external 
 opening. This lachrymal appendage is prominent in 
 the cervidse ; and when the duct becomes obstructed 
 in the deer the animal employs the point of one of 
 its hind hoofs to clear away an obstacle to free dis- 
 charge. The elephant, to accomplish a similar pur- 
 pose, selects a straw or dry twig with its proboscidian 
 digit and skillfully probes the canal. The keeper of 
 Mr. Robinson's herd of elephants took me among the 
 creatures in order to show one of the animals that 
 
228 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 was actually attempting to permeate the sinus with a 
 piece of dead twig selected from a bundle of hay. The 
 elephant stood still and patiently waited for the keeper 
 to use a smooth stick, kept for that purpose, in clear- 
 ing the obstructed passage. 
 
 The Asiatic or Indian elephant is more docile 
 and tractable than the African ; and in a captive state 
 is employed as a beast of burden. Having been shown 
 where to drag timber the faithful creatures will work 
 all day just as shown in the morning, two or three 
 together using their trunks, tusks, and even shoulders 
 in the process of piling up lumber, bales, boxes, and 
 barrels. Besides being found in India, the Asiatic 
 elephant is met in Burmah, Siam, Ceylon, Sumatra, 
 and Borneo. The ears of the Indian elephant are 
 small when compared with those of the African spe- 
 cies. The forehead of the Asiatic elephant is flat and 
 even indented, while that of the African is convex 
 and bulging. 
 
 An albino or white elephant, a rare creature, has 
 superstitiously ascribed to it certain protective powers 
 which extend to its owners. The primitive Indian 
 princes used to wage long and bloody wars for the 
 possession of one of these strangely marked beasts. 
 
 An interesting peculiarity of elephantidse is that 
 more species are extinct than now living. This has 
 led to the speculation that the two species, Asiatic 
 and African, now on earth, are late lingerers of a 
 race on its way to extinction. The theory is pre- 
 sented that a cold period in the earth's history 
 killed off all of the elephant family except such 
 as were accidentally protected in tropical latitudes. 
 And the theory obtains some support from the fact 
 that carcasses of mammoths have been found pre- 
 
AUTOPSY OF AN ELEPHANT. 229 
 
 served in the ices of Siberia. An ivory hunter by 
 the name of Schumachoff, while looking along the 
 shores of lake Oncoul for mammoth tusks in 1803, 
 came across the carcass of an Elephas Primigenius 
 which was being gnawed by dogs, wolves, and bears, 
 so fresh and well kept was the flesh. The remains 
 were afterward taken to St. Petersburg, and mounted. 
 The skin was thickly covered with a dense wool, 
 through which projected long black hairs or bristles. 
 This protective covering shows conclusively that the 
 animal was accustomed to a very cold climate, and 
 does away with the theory that a tropical climate 
 once extended to the neighborhood of the Polar 
 regions ; and that a change of temperature occurred 
 so suddenly that elephants then abounding in high 
 latitudes w r ere instantly overwhelmed with cold, and 
 became encased in perpetual ice. It is possible that 
 Siberia is now too cold for the mammoth, yet as far 
 North as its remains are found there are pines, wil- 
 lows, and birches upon which the creature might 
 feed ; and its thick and complex coat of wool and 
 hair would enable the animal to live in as high lati- 
 tudes as the musk ox which thrives in British America. 
 The mastodon was nearly as large as the mam- 
 moth, and they were contemporaries, though the former 
 kept pretty closely to temperate climates. Nipple shaped 
 cusps on the grinders gave the creature the name of 
 mastodon. The tusks of the animal sometimes meas- 
 ured fourteen feet from tip to base; and they curved 
 more gently than they did in the mammoth. The 
 cabinet of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History 
 contains some fine specimens of mammoth and mas- 
 todon tusks that were excavated from alluvial soil 
 near Big Bone Springs, in Kentucky. Similar relics 
 
230 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 have been discovered in all parts of the West and 
 South, and nearly complete skeletons have been ex- 
 humed in New Jersey and New York. Kindred 
 osseous remains of the larger proboscidians are found 
 in the various latitudes of Europe, showing that ani- 
 mals decidedly elephantine in character were once 
 well distributed through the northern temperate zone; 
 and observations made in latitudes south of the equa- 
 tor demonstrate a general distribution of the elephant- 
 idse over all parts of the habitable earth. 
 
 Remnants of proboscidians in a fossil or pe- 
 trous state have been discovered in Miocene depos- 
 its, yet the larger of the elephant family did not ap- 
 pear till late in the Tertiary epoch of geological his- 
 tory. What is called the Glacial or Drift period was 
 probably quite fatal to huge pachyderms, yet repre- 
 sentatives of various species reached the modern river 
 system, for their bones are found in gravel beds, and 
 the alluvium of bottom lands. In some instances 
 teeth and bones are associated with those of modern 
 deer and bison ; but there exists no positive evidence 
 that the earliest inhabitants of the American continent 
 ever beheld a living mammoth or mastodon. 
 
HARVEY AND THE CIRCULATION. 
 
 (Read by title before the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, Aug. 1878.) 
 
 The life of William Harvey, by Willis, a Syden- 
 ham publication, and a History of the Circulation of 
 the Blood, by Flourens, are two books which ought 
 not to be " out of print," as they are. If the student 
 of to-day would possess these literary treasures, he 
 must engage a dealer in second-hand books to look 
 out for them. A translation of the latter was made 
 by Dr. Reeves, of Dayton, Ohio, and ought not to be 
 difficult to obtain. But even after these publications 
 are possessed, there is much of interest to be picked 
 up in various publications, concerning " Harvey and 
 the Circulation." Many a point is to be obtained in 
 the various Harveian Orations to be found scattered 
 through English medical periodicals. Once these an- 
 nual addresses were delivered in Latin, the written 
 and spoken language of older scholars, but now in- 
 variably in the English tongue. By referring to al- 
 most any encyclopedia we can learn that William 
 Harvey was born almost exactly three centuries ago ; 
 that he was the son of well-to-do people, and obtained 
 all the advantages of the best English and Italian 
 schools; that he made the best of his opportunities, 
 and discovered the circulation of the blood. It does 
 not now seem a great feat to dissect animals, and find 
 out the circulatory channels, yet when every thing per- 
 taining to life was a profound mystery; when dissec- 
 
 (231) 
 
232 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 tion of the human body was a crime ; when the Bible 
 contained almost all there was known of science, 
 and discoverers were in imminent danger of being 
 burned at the stake, we must consider that the work 
 of Harvey is one of the greatest of human achieve- 
 ments. The circulation of the blood is not easy to 
 understand by the average medical student of to-day 
 it is a complex affair, which requires considerable 
 mental application to master. 
 
 To stumble upon a thing, as a student of astron- 
 omy may hit upon a planet or satellite while sweeping 
 his telescope through the heavens, does not imply tal- 
 ent of an order which leads to real discovery; but 
 when an astronomer observes the perturbations of a 
 planet, and can not account for them except on the 
 ground that an exterior and unknown planet is exer- 
 cising the perturbing influence, and if he enters upon a 
 calculation of the forces engaged in the perturbation, 
 and so correctly estimates the position of the object 
 that a telescopic instrument may be directed to the 
 point where the cause should be, and there it is found, 
 a course of reasoning is pursued which indicates merit 
 never denied to original discovery. 
 
 The reasoning which led to the discovery of the 
 circulation of the blood was not inferior to that ex- 
 ercised by Leverrier when he engaged in ascertaining 
 the disturbances of the orbits of certain stellar bodies, 
 and directed that the instrument be turned to a certain 
 field, as the place where the cause might be found, and 
 there was discovered the planet Neptune. 
 
 At Padua, where there existed the best anatomical 
 school in the world, Harvey studied five years, and had 
 Fabricius, who had discovered the valves of the veins, 
 as instructor. At this famous seat of anatomical and 
 
HARVEY AND THE CIRCULATION. 233 
 
 physiological learning, all that was known concerning 
 the circulation of the hlood was discussed ; and it is 
 not improbable that here a train of thought was sug- 
 gested which, in a comprehensive mind like that of 
 Harvey's, led to experimentation and final discovery. 
 It maybe mentioned that Michael Servetus, in a work 
 entitled Restitutio Christianismi, had talked about the 
 pulmotiary circulation in a way that led to the sup- 
 position that he knew more than he really did. He 
 had been a physician, and was afterward a theologian, 
 and he used his anatomical and physiological knowl- 
 edge to help along his later vocation. After he be- 
 came theologian he pursued anatomical studies, and 
 found that the devil invaded the human soul by going 
 through the nose to the ventricles of the brain ! 
 
 It has been truly said that it was fortunate for 
 Harvey that he was surrounded with an atmosphere 
 favorable to the discovery of the circulation of the 
 blood; and that it was fortunate for mankind that 
 such a man as Harvey was in such an atmosphere, for 
 a less acute and logical observer would have lost the 
 glorious opportunity. Harvey did not unravel the 
 complex vascular system all at once, but elaborated 
 one feature after another, until he clearly defined the 
 functions of the heart and blood-vessels, and earned 
 the unquestioned and imperishable honor of having 
 discovered the " circulation of the blood." Other 
 anatomists and physiologists deserve honorable men- 
 tion in connection with labor which tended to the 
 complete discovery, but to Harvey the chief credit 
 belongs. 
 
 It is a circumstance not a little singular, that Har- 
 vey, in none of his works, discloses the manner the 
 discovery was made. The event was of such irn- 
 
234 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 portance to himself and the world that even the dawn 
 of the earlier ideas must have remained in his mind as 
 something wonderful. He made no mention of his 
 budding views at Padua, nor upon his arrival at home. 
 Upon his return from the Italian sojourn he entered 
 at once on professional duties, and disclosed nothing 
 to indicate that his mind was engaged in the unfold- 
 ing of a great and novel idea. It is simply known 
 that he engaged in a series of vivisections, and began 
 to write letters to distinguished physicians in various 
 parts of Europe concerning the blood-vessels and the 
 uses of the heart. The conclusion seems to be that 
 the discovery grew upon him so slowly, and after so 
 many false scents, that he could never recall the mo- 
 ment when the scheme in its fullness burst upon his 
 mind. It is quite certain that he expounded his 
 views of the circulation for eight or ten years in the 
 College of Physicians, before he published his "De 
 Motu Cordis et Sanguinis." This work did not appear 
 till 1628, yet in 1619 the author had taught substan- 
 tially the same doctrine from manuscripts. He lec- 
 tured on anatomy, physiology, and surgery as early as 
 1615. 
 
 Harvey is known to have executed vivisections 
 before his classes, in 1619, and to have chosen the 
 lower animals for experimentation in order that he 
 might for a longer time observe the movements of 
 the heart. As he watched the rhythmic movements of 
 the heart of the turtle the animal having been 
 mutilated for the purposes of study he saw there 
 Was alternate contraction and relaxation of the mus- 
 cular tissue of the organ, which corresponded with 
 the outgoing and incoming of the blood ; and he 
 pressed the beating organ in his fingers to ascertain 
 
HARVEY AND THE CIRCULATION. 235 
 
 whether his eyes had seen aright or not. He dis- 
 tinctly felt the rigidity of the heart when in a state 
 of contraction, and its flaccidity when relaxed ; and 
 thus discovered the muscular state and action *of the 
 heart, which was announced by no other observer be- 
 fore him. The cavities of the heart had been looked 
 upon as passive receptacles for the mixture and inter- 
 change of " spirits " and blood. 
 
 The experiments of Harvey reached the ears of 
 the King, James L, and the rising physician was ap- 
 pointed keeper of the health of royalty. This at 
 once brought Harvey into intimate relations with 
 court people, among whom he had to spend so much 
 time that his anatomical and physiological studies 
 were neglected. However, a love of nature, science 
 and philosophy, such as moved the mind of Harvey, 
 will not be satisfied with the flattery of princes it 
 must go to objects which early kindled it into aflame. 
 In the reign of Charles, which followed that of his 
 father, Harvey was held in the highest esteem by the 
 king. The enthusiastic sovereign went to the labora- 
 tory of Harvey, and viewed with admiration the punctum 
 saliens (leaping or throbbing point) in the embryo 
 chick and the foetal fawn. The king had deer brought 
 from the royal parks, and placed at the disposal of 
 Harvey for experimentation. 
 
 Although doted upon by the king and courtiers, 
 the people at large looked upon Harvey as a crack- 
 brained zealot who must be an unsafe medical adviser. 
 This detraction reached such a pitch after the publi- 
 cation of "Exercises on the Heart and Blood" that the 
 brilliant discoverer and philosopher became somewhat 
 cramped in pecuniary affairs. Rival physicians joined 
 in the detracting cry, and even ridiculed the idea that 
 
236 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 a discovery had been made. But Harvey was too 
 strong a man to be laughed out of sight and hearing. 
 He held his place at court, his position in the College 
 of Pkysicians, and lectured and prescribed at St. 
 Batholomew's Hospital. These distinctions kept him 
 up, and saved him from financial distress. 
 
 Controversialists sprang up in various parts of 
 Europe, who sought to overthrow the views of the 
 English discoverer of the circulation. The onsets 
 were vigorous and bitter, but Harvey never deigned 
 to answer any body except Riolan. The only in- 
 stance in which he undertook to demonstrate his po- 
 sitions was when in his travels he reached Nurem- 
 berg, and became ambitious to convince the learned 
 and distinguished Casper Hoffman ; and after a clear 
 demonstration of points at issue, the obstinate unbe- 
 liever said he could not see the proof. Harvey threw 
 down his scalpel, and walked out of the doubter's 
 presence without saying a word. 
 
 Willis, the editor and translator of Harvey's 
 works, says : " The older intellects, in possession of 
 the seats and places of authority, regarded the views 
 of Harvey as idle dreams. The apostles of all new 
 truths are youthful. Were there not successive gen- 
 erations of men, the world w r ould stand still. Death 
 is essential to the progress of mankind. No man 
 who had attained the age of forty years accepted 
 the doctrine of the circulation as demonstrated by 
 Harvey." 
 
 Shakespeare must have formed an honorable ex- 
 ception to the cloud of veteran skeptics, for he leaves 
 unmistakable evidence that he gave credence to the 
 Harveian theory of the circulation, and he was fifty 
 years old when Harvey demonstrated his discovery 
 
HARVEY AND THE CIRCULATION. 237 
 
 indeed he may have been a companion of Harvey. He 
 makes Brutus speak thus to Portia : 
 
 " You are my true and honorable wife, 
 As dear to rne as are the ruddy drops 
 That visit rny sad heart." 
 
 However, the great dramatist may have understood 
 the circulation in a crude sense, as even the unpro- 
 fessional of his day did. All believed the blood was 
 in motion, and that the heart had something to do 
 with the pulmonary circulation. Arabian physicians 
 phlebotomized their patients three thousand years 
 ago, and Galen knew how to raise a vein in the arm. 
 But it is not a little surprising that in using a cord to 
 make a vein full, ancient bleeders did not observe 
 that the vessel swelled below the line of contraction, and 
 not above it, as it would if the blood flowed outward 
 in the veins of the extremities, as was generally sup- 
 posed. 
 
 As before intimated, Harvey- went to the lower 
 animals for a corroboration of his conceptions, and al- 
 ways found his labors in that field well paid. When 
 his written observations on the circulation of the frog, 
 the newt and the snake were stolen, he exhibited pro- 
 found grief. He warned his friends against relying 
 too much upon the human body for facts, as the sub- 
 ject of experiment is always dead, and the arteries 
 and one side of the heart are empty. In the lower 
 animals he could see the living heart move, and the 
 blood flow in the arteries and veins. A quotation 
 from the author will best give his manner of investi- 
 gation : 
 
 " In the first place, when the chest of the living animal is laid 
 open, and the capsule that immediately surrounds the heart is 
 
238 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 slit up or removed, the organ is seen now to move, now to be at 
 rest ; there is a time when it moves, and a time when it is motion- 
 less. These things are more obvious in the colder animals, such as 
 toads, frogs, serpents, Hmall fishes, crabs, shrimps, snails, and shell- 
 fish. They also become more distinct in warm blooded animals, 
 such as the dog and the hog, if they be attentively noted when the 
 heart begins to flag, to move more slowly, and, as it were, to die ; the 
 movements then become slower and rarer, the pauses longer, by 
 which it is made much more easy to perceive and unravel what 
 the motions really are, and how they are performed. In the 
 pause, as in death, the heart is soft, flaccid, exhausted, lying, as it 
 were, at rest." 
 
 To show that Harvey went to the foundation of 
 things, and left nothing to guess-work which could be 
 demonstrated, a few other quotations will be made : 
 
 <; I have also observed that almost all animals have truly a 
 heart not the larger creatures only, and those that have red 
 blood, but the smaller and seemingly bloodless ones also, such as 
 slugs, snails, scallops, shrimps, crabs, crayfish and many others ; 
 nay, even in wasps, hornets and flies, I have, with the aid of a 
 magnifying glass, and at the upper part of what is called the tail, 
 both seen the heart pulsating myself, and shown it to many 
 others. If you turn to the production of the chick in ovo, how- 
 ever, you will find at first no more than a vesicle or auricle, or 
 pulsating drop of blood ; it is only by and by, when the develop- 
 ment has made some progress, that the heart is fashioned; even 
 so in certain animals not destined to attain to the highest perfec- 
 tion in their organization, such as bees, wasps, snails, shrimps, 
 crayfish, etc., we only find a certain pulsating vesicle, like a sort 
 of red or white palpitating point, as the beginning or princi- 
 ple of their life. 
 
 " We have a small shrimp in this country, which is taken in 
 the Thames and in the sea, the whole of whose body is transpar- 
 ent ; this creature, placed in a little water, has frequently afforded 
 myself and particular friends an opportunity of observing the 
 motions of the heart with the greatest distinctness, the external 
 parts of the body presenting no obstacle to our view, but the 
 heart being perceived as though it had been seen through a 
 window. 
 
 "I have also observed the first rudiments of the chick in the 
 
HARVEY AND THE CIRCULATION. 239 
 
 course of the fourth or fifth day of the incubation, in the guise of 
 a little cloud, the shell having been removed and the egg im- 
 mersed in clear tepid water. In the midst of the cloudlet in 
 question there was a bloody point so small that it disappeared 
 during the contraction and escaped the sight, but in the relaxa- 
 tion it re-appeared again, red and like the point of a pin, so that 
 betwixt the visible and invisible, it gave by its pulses a kind of 
 representation of the commencement of life." 
 
 Harvey describes the motion, action and office of 
 the heart in as clear a manner as any physiologist can 
 do it to-day, showing that so far as the general circu- 
 lation is concerned, he thoroughly understood what he 
 claimed to understand: 
 
 " The auricle contracts, and in the course of its contraction, 
 throws the blood into the ventricle, which being filled the heart 
 raises itself straightway, makes all its fibers tense, contracts the 
 ventricle, and performs a beat, by which beat it imnlediately 
 sends the blood supplied to it by the auricle into the arteries ; the 
 right ventricle sending its charge into the lungs by the vessel 
 which is called vena arteriosa (pulmonary artery), but which, in 
 structure and function, and all things else, is an artery ; the left 
 ventricle sending its charge into the aorta, and through this by 
 the arteries to the body at large. 
 
 "These two motions, one of the auricles, another of the ven- 
 tricles, take place consecutively, but in such a manner that there 
 is a kind of harmony or rhythm preserved between themj the two- 
 concurring in such wise that but one motion is apparent, espe- 
 cially in the warm blooded animals in which the movements in 
 question are rapid. Nor is this for any other reason than it is in 
 a piece of machinery in which, though one wheel gives motion to 
 another, yet all the wheels seem to move simultaneously ; or in 
 that mechanical contrivance which is adapted to firearms, where 
 the trigger being touched, down comes the flint and elicts a spark, 
 which falling among the powder, it is ignited, upon which the 
 flame extends, enters the barrel, causes the explosion, propels the 
 ball, and the mark is attained all of which incidents, by reason 
 of the celerity with which they happen, seem to take place in the 
 twinkling of an eye." 
 
 Harvey says that in the heart there are four mo- 
 
240 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 tions, distinct in point of place, but not of time ; " for 
 the two auricles move together, and so also do the 
 two ventricles, in such wise that though the places be 
 four, the times are only two." The expiring beats of 
 the heart were observed by Harvey in many ways, he 
 thoroughly understanding that the living heart of 
 fishes and reptiles will beat for hours after being re- 
 moved from the body, and that different parts of the 
 organ will throb after being cut in pieces that is, he 
 had observed the fact, though he might not have un- 
 derstood the origin of the nerve force which im- 
 pressed the muscular structure of the organ. 
 
 Harvey's knowledge of the fetal circulation was 
 correct. He says : 
 
 "In embryos, whilst the lungs are yet in a state of inaction, 
 performing no function, subject to no motion, any more than if 
 they had not been present, nature uses the two ventricles of the 
 heart as if they formed but one, for the transmission of the blood. 
 The condition of the embryos of those animals which have lungs, 
 whilst those organs are yet in abeyance and not employed, is the 
 same as that of those animals which have no lungs." 
 
 A curious remark of Harvey in regard to the 
 pulmonary circulation, is accidentally true. He says : 
 " The blood is sent through the lungs that it may be 
 tempered by the air that is inspired, and prevented 
 from boiling up, or something else of the sort." Now 
 it happens to be a fact demonstrated of late years, 
 that the blood is actually cooled by coming into the 
 lungs. Aeration of the blood is a heating process, 
 yet inspired air exercises a cooling effect in the lungs. 
 This is about the only instance in which Harvey 
 stumbled upon a correct conclusion. 
 
 It has been asserted over and over again that 
 Harvey never knew any thing about the capillaries, 
 
HARVEY AND THE CIRCULATION. 241 
 
 or how the blood after it ceased to flow in arteries, 
 reached the venous radicles; and that Malpighi, by 
 the aid of the microscope, discovered the hair-like 
 channels of communication between the arteries and 
 veins. But in this some injustice is done the genius 
 and industry of the great discoverer. Is it probable 
 that an investigator like Harvey would leave the cir- 
 cuit unsolved when he understood all other parts of 
 the circulation ? In fact he speaks of the blood pass- 
 ing through the parenchyma of the lungs, kidneys, 
 spleen and liver. It is possible that he considered the 
 passage as through pores, yet his idea of pores may 
 have been that of capillary vessels. He speaks of 
 having used a magnifying glass to observe the mo- 
 tions of the heart in the transparent sea-slug, there- 
 fore, may he not have made observations upon the 
 capillaries with this magnifying instrument? It is 
 not reasonable to suppose the blood from arteries 
 percolated through the flesh as water finds it way 
 through bog, or any porous medium, though, of course, 
 it is possible. The discoverer's own language on the 
 subject is not satisfactory. 
 
 Leeuwenhock, an advanced histologist, at about 
 the time of Harvey's death, was quite plain in his de- 
 scription of the passage of blood from arterioles to- 
 venous radicles. He says : 
 
 " I used every means I could devise to see the complete cir- 
 culation of the blood namely, that one of the smallest of those 
 vessels which we call veins, arose from another which is called 
 an artery, and afterward conveyed its contents to a large vein ^ 
 but I found this to be impossible, for when I followed the course 
 of the artery until it became so small as only to admit one or two 
 globules to pass through it at a time, I then lost sight of it. How- 
 ever, I was at length more fortunate leaving the wing of a bat, 
 and observing the tail of a tadpole. Here a sight presented itself 
 
242 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 more delightful than any that my eyes had ever beheld ; for here 
 I discovered more than fifty circulations of the blood in different 
 places. I saw not only the blood in many places was conveyed 
 through exceedingly minute vessels, from the middle of the tail 
 toward the edges, but that each of these vessels had a curve or 
 turning, and carried the blood back toward the middle of the 
 tail, in order to be conveyed to the heart. Hereby it appeared 
 plainly to me that the blood-vessels I now saw in this animal, and 
 which bear the names of arteries and veins, are, in fact, one and 
 the same that is to say, they are properly termed arteries as long 
 as they convey the blood to the farthest extremities of the ves- 
 sels, and veins when they bring it back toward the heart." 
 
 While the observations of Leeuwenhock are to 
 be trusted in the main, the modern histologist does 
 not entirely agree with him. A capillary is not an 
 arterial nor venous radicle, but an intermediate vessel 
 peculiarly constructed in its parieties for the endos- 
 motic transmission of nutriment ; it is the seat of 
 assimilation. A capillary tube in a vascular sense, is 
 not impervious like a pellicle of caoutchouc, nor is it 
 a mere strainer, but the meshes of its walls are cel- 
 lular and possess the power to convert nutriment 
 into structure, the new material becoming like the 
 original. For instance, muscle would have imparted 
 to it by its capillaries such material as may prove 
 nourishment for muscle ; a gland would get such a 
 substance as might increase gland structure ; and 
 brain obtains food for brain, and the draft is made 
 from one and the same kind of supplies, yet trans- 
 muted by the cellular capillary walls into just such 
 structure as may be in need of nutritious supplies. 
 Furthermore, the capillaries in the different animals 
 impart to the flesh of each creature its peculiar odor, 
 flavor, texture, etc. If a pig, or a dog, or a cat, eat 
 for dinner just what a man does, the food is digested 
 in much the same way in all, and carried into the 
 
HARVEY AND THE CIRCULATION. 243 
 
 general circulation through similar channels, yet in 
 being distributed the capillaries will make of this 
 nutriment man, pig, dog, and cat, whether it go to 
 brain, gland, or muscle. Of course the digestive and 
 elaborative processes would exert an influence, yet the 
 capillaries impart the most potent influence. 
 
 There are several lapses in the Harveian discovery 
 of the circulation of the blood, as far as at present 
 understood. The capillary circulation as one, the uses 
 of the pulmonary circulation as two, the causes of the 
 venous circulation as three, and the connection of the 
 lacteal and lymphatic vessels with the venous as four. 
 
 The lapse in the capillary system has just been 
 described. That of the pulmonary circulation con- 
 sists in the fact that Harvey did not understand the 
 function of aeration. As has been said, he thought 
 the blood went to the luugs to be cooled, when in fact 
 that was only an accidental circumstance. The third 
 lapse is difficult to fully and satisfactorily explain. It 
 is known that the portal circulation is independent of 
 the heart's action or of any other visible propelling 
 cause. The capillaries of the portal vein gather the 
 blood from the chyle-making viscera, and after unit- 
 ing into one great venous trunk, pour it into the liver 
 through branches where it is again distributed as by a 
 heart and arteries, no display of force being percep- 
 tible in the collection or distribution. It may be easy 
 to say that the work is done by " capillary attraction," 
 yet that is not satisfactory to a logical mind. The 
 circulation in a tree from rootlets to leaves, may be by 
 kindred forces, yet it is not easy to state what they 
 are. Dr. Draper's idea that the sap is thickened in 
 the leaves, and then pushed along by the thinner fluid 
 which is constantly advancing is not satisfactory. 
 
244 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 The movement is not chemical nor mechanical, but it 
 arises from vital peculiarities not well understood. 
 Vitality is an attribute of organic matter, and too 
 complex and subtle to be analyzed by the chemist. 
 It is not satisfactory to say that the more limpid and 
 oxygenated arterial blood chases denser venous blood 
 through the capillaries into the veins, as the thin sap 
 pushes along the thicker. 
 
 The heart throws the blood through the arteries 
 to the capillaries, and there the cardiac impulse is lost. 
 A new agency is now needed to take the blood 
 through the capillaries into the venous radicles. 
 Possibly the capillary walls possess a force which has 
 never been demonstrated. Probably it is of a com- 
 pound nature, like most vital operations. Many in- 
 genious experiments have been performed, and plaus- 
 ible theories invented to explain the movement of the 
 blood in the capillaries, yet here is still room for an 
 important discovery. It is a promising field in which 
 to prospect for scientific nuggets. 
 
 Nervous ganglia or isolated centers of nerve force, 
 in the walls of the heart will maintain a throbbing 
 motion even when no blood is present, and the pulsat- 
 ing organ is removed from the body. Even the hearts 
 of birds after they have been removed, if preserved 
 warm and moist, may be kept throbbing for many 
 minutes. This force is essential to the vital continu- 
 ance of inferior animals. It tides some creatures over 
 the winter sleep, saving them from asphyxia and 
 death. These separate and independent centers ot 
 nervous energy may move the capillary walls or the 
 fluids within them. These ganglia are, as it were, the 
 cells of a vital battery, which at length will cease to 
 act after their source of supplies for generating ac- 
 
HARVEY AND THE CIRCULATION. 245 
 
 tivity are cut off or exhausted. The moving forces of 
 a living organism are largely dependent upon one 
 another. In the lower animals a tentacle may he 
 lopped off without disturbing the creature much, and 
 a new part may he reproduced. A hydra may be 
 divided in the middle from rays to foot-stalk, and the 
 halves will soon become converted into two individuals^ 
 each having a set of independent nerve centers which 
 can not be discommoded by decapitation or dismem- 
 berment. In the lowest vertebrates, such as salaman- 
 ders, the body may be cut into a dozen pieces, and for 
 hours each segment will respond to irritation as if the 
 entire living body were present. The circulation in 
 such creatures is kept up to a certain extent in the 
 various sections. No heart is needed, but the walls of 
 the vessels, under the stimulation of isolated and inde- 
 pendent nerve ganglia, will keep the blood moving, 
 rather sluggishly, through the capillaries. 
 
 In the forming embryo chicks pulsating tube or 
 sac is observed before a globule or red blood can be 
 seen. A few nerve cells in the walls of the rudiment- 
 ary heart are the stimulus of the pulsatory motion. 
 Furthermore, oxygen is essential to activity in the 
 nerve battery, for as soon as an incubated egg is var- 
 nished to exclude air from the yelk within, the cardiac 
 pulsation ceases, and the embryo dies. This shows 
 that aeration is an essential feature of life, or vital 
 activity. 
 
 In regard to the lacteals and lymphatics, it may 
 be said that they belong to the circulatory system, and 
 pour their contents into the veins near the heart. 
 The lacteals take up nutriment from the mucous sur- 
 faces of the intestinal track, and the lymphatics ab- 
 sorb such material in various parts of the body as is 
 
246 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 not wholly waste, and elaborate it into something 
 which may be serviceable in another part of the or- 
 ganism. The lymphatics constitute an important part 
 of the function of nutrition; and they work independ- 
 ently of the sanguineous system of vessels, of which 
 they are collateral. Fluids move in them by the same 
 forces that propel the blood in the capillaries. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MICHAEL ANGELO. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born in Florence 
 in 1474 ; and by his labors in art and architecture, be- 
 came one of the most distinguished individuals of 
 mediaeval times. He sprang from honored stock, yet 
 rose to eminence by personal effort. When he re- 
 solved to become an artist, he was thought to have 
 lowered the dignity of his family ; however, his am- 
 bition was to be worthy the companionship of princes, 
 and during a long and eventful life he never fell below 
 a lofty standard. His father designed that he should 
 be fitted for the priestly office, but instead of studying 
 theology the lad spent his time in making pencil 
 sketches, in which he manifested more than ordinary 
 talent and originality. 
 
 An incident in the student days of Michael An- 
 gelo may have done much to shape his destinies. 
 Lorenzo de Medici, the then ruling representative of 
 Tuscany, and an ardent lover of sculpture, established 
 a "garden" in Florence and supplied it with antique 
 statues, basso-relievos, and busts, to encourage ama- 
 teurs to embrace a rare opportunity for sketching and 
 modeling. To the Medici Garden young Angelo was 
 admitted, and he made such progress that his patron 
 paid him many compliments. He was invited to be- 
 come a member of the princely household, and to use 
 the magnificent libraries and extensive cabinets of 
 gems, medals, and other art treasures; and the zeal 
 manifested by the favored pupil delighted the heart 
 
 (247) 
 
248 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 of Lorenzo. While a student in the palace, he exe- 
 cuted a basso-relievo in marble, representing the bat- 
 tle of Hercules with, the Centaurs. The figures in this 
 group are admirable, and even then the genius of a 
 sculptor was recognized in them. 
 
 The rising artist's next work was a crucifix in 
 wood. It was executed for the monastery of San 
 Spirito, and with such skill that the Prior assigned 
 him a dissecting room, and bodies for anatomical 
 demonstrations. 
 
 Michael Angelo also studied anatomy with Realdo 
 Colombo, an eminent physician and surgeon of the 
 time, whose fame has been honorably associated with 
 anatomical discoveries. While receiving instruction 
 he made sketches which he intended to utilize in a 
 book designed for sculptors and painters in the ex- 
 hibition of the human form. T*o forward and enhance 
 the work, a friend furnished him the body of a fine 
 young Moor, from which he was expected to obtain 
 some points in surface displays, and develop rules for 
 outlining the human figure. Condi vi says of Michael 
 Angelo, that " his knowledge of human anatomy and 
 of other animals was so correct that those who had 
 studied it as a profession hardly understand the sub- 
 ject so well. I speak only of that department neces- 
 sary to the arts of design, but not as to the minutiae 
 valuable to the surgeon." He studied the horse with 
 the same care as the anatomy of man, and availed 
 himself of the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. Gon- 
 faloniere Soderini was ambitious to engage the talent 
 of the two anatomists to ornament the hall of the 
 ducal palace at Florence, and commissioned them to 
 make two grand paintings, each artist to choose his 
 own subject. Leonardo da Vinci, whose knowledge of 
 
MICHAEL ANGELO. 249 
 
 
 
 equine anatomy was of a high order, chose a cavalry 
 battle, and Michael Angelo selected an historical event 
 in the war between the Florentines and the Pisans. 
 Vosari's account of the occasion and its treatment 
 reads as follows : " The Florentine soldiers, bathing 
 in the river Arno during the heat of the weather, be- 
 came alarmed at an unexpected assault of the enemy. 
 The hurry and confusion in getting out of the water, 
 dressing themselves, and preparing for action, was the 
 point of time chosen ; and the principal group in the 
 cartoon was descriptive of that scene. Some of the 
 figures were employed in putting on their armor, 
 buckling on the cuirass, and getting ready with pre- 
 cipitation to give assistance to their companions, whilst 
 an infinite body of cavalry commenced the action with 
 a terrific charge. Among other prominent figures was 
 an old man seated on the ground, whose head was 
 bound with a garland of ivy to shade his brows. In 
 the tumult and confusion that surrounded him, he 
 was represented drawing on a hose with difficulty, 
 from the leg being wet ; and with great muscular ex- 
 ertion and expression of countenance showed both 
 energy and impatience. The actions and attitudes of 
 figures were as contrasted as the circumstances might 
 be supposed to create, and difficult foreshortenings 
 characterized the deep knowledge of the artist, and 
 his powers of execution. The figures are variously 
 sketched : some in charcoal, others in lines drawn 
 with a pen, and some stamped with black chalk ; and 
 the lights displayed with white, exhibited at once 
 great versatility and professional skill. Such was the 
 excellence of this work that some thought it absolute 
 perfection, not to be rivaled and even hopeless to 
 approach. And certain credit is due to the opinion, 
 
250 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 
 
 as it was at once placed in the ducal hall to the honor of 
 Michael Angelo and the glory of art, and was for 
 many years constantly visited by both natives and 
 foreigners who came to study the great work and to 
 make copies of it in parts." 
 
 About this time (1503) Julius II. was elected to 
 the papal throne, and being an admirer of art, and 
 ambitious to glorify his reign, invited artists of re- 
 pute to visit Rome. The first honored was Michael 
 Angelo ; and the invitation to come to the Vatican 
 was accompanied with flattering compliments and a 
 draft for a hundred ducats to pay traveling expenses. 
 The Pontiff had determined to beautify Rome, and 
 to make the city the center of art and the home of 
 artists. A favorite observation of his was that " learn- 
 ing elevated the lowest orders of society, stamped the 
 highest order on nobility, and to princes was the most 
 splendid gem in the diadem of sovereignty." 
 
 Although Michael Angelo was gratified by this 
 invitation from the Bishop of Rome, he was not in- 
 clined to relinquish his hold on citizenship in Florence, 
 the city once torn by Guelph arid Ghibeline, and by 
 factions led by unwise rulers. After Lorenzo " the 
 magnificent " died, his ill-starred son engaged in 
 questionable enterprises, making war on adjacent gov- 
 ernments and squandering revenues which were needed 
 in the cultivation of peace and prosperity at home. 
 This state of things led outside enemies to federate 
 against the prince, and to plot the spoliation of " the 
 gem of Italy." While a hostile foe was gathering up 
 its cohorts, and menacing the Florentines with fire and 
 sword, an effort was made on the part of the best 
 citizens of Florence to preserve the country from in- 
 vasion and the loss of liberty. While Michael Angelo 
 
MICHAEL ANGELO. 251 
 
 was chiseling into shapely proportions the colossal 
 statue of David, he was obliged to omit finishing 
 touches by an order for every citizen to arm, and enter 
 actively upon military dut}^. At that time all was 
 not harmony in the ranks. The presence of several 
 partisans was a weakness where a competent leader 
 might have organized strength. The gates and walls 
 of the city had been erected as a safe-guard against 
 spearmen ; and the invention of gunpowder and the 
 use of cannon rendered them useless. In the pinch 
 Michael Angelo was appointed military architect and 
 master of ordnance. Hostile forces were pouring into 
 Tuscany day by day with the avowed purpose of be- 
 sieging its capital. While the advance of the enemy 
 was threatening, Michael Angelo had fortifications 
 erected on Monte San Miniato, a height commanding 
 not only Florence but much of the surrounding coun- 
 try ; and as subsequent events proved, the wisdom of 
 the policy was apparent to all. In the first assault on 
 the citidel the besiegers were easily repulsed. After 
 months of delay on the part of the enemy they threw 
 up a rampart to storm the bastion of San Miniato ; 
 but the plan was frustrated by the measures Michael 
 Angelo had taken for its defense. Cannons were 
 planted in the garden of the convent and two large 
 guns were mounted on the bell tower commanding 
 the intrenchments ; and these so completely annoyed 
 the enemy that the intention to storm the bastion 
 was given up, and the artillery directed to demolish 
 the tower. This scheme failed through means adopted 
 to preserve the Citidel. Michael Angelo hung mat- 
 tresses of wool on the sides exposed to attack ; and 
 by means of a projecting cornice a considerable space 
 was left between the cushions and the wall. This 
 
252 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 simple expedient saved the tower from the damaging 
 effects of cannon shots ; and compelled the enemy to 
 engage in a slow siege while treaties and treacheries 
 were plied by those who can accomplish more to over- 
 throw a city by diplomacy than through breaching 
 assaults on fortifications. Emissaries from the Pope 
 and traitors within the ranks of the besieged led to 
 the city's capitulation. Michael Angelo escaped to 
 Venice, and there engaged in artistic pursuits, for the 
 time abandoning hope for the liberty and tranquillity 
 of his country. 
 
 As has been stated, Michael Angelo was called to 
 the Vatican by Julius II. in 1503 ; and he was taken 
 into consultation with other artists as to the grandest 
 thing to be done for the glory of the pontificate as 
 well as the reputation of the ruling papal See. Julius II. 
 was in favor of constructing a Mausoleum ; and Michael 
 Angelo set about a plan in comport with his master's 
 conception he designed a parallelogram to embrace 
 the tombs, and a superstructure ornamented with forty 
 colossal statues with an abundance of smaller figures, 
 and all united in one stupenduous whole. The design 
 met with the approbation of the Pope, but where was 
 the structure to be erected? After many devices had 
 been discussed, and their feasibility questioned, it was 
 determined in council to rebuild St. Peter's on an en- 
 larged scale, and the work was entered upon with zeal, 
 though no one living ever expected to see the plan 
 executed. The estimated cost of the structure was so 
 astounding that at first even the ardor of Julius II. 
 could not compass the methods which should raise the 
 money. At length it was determined by him to sell 
 " indulgences " to replenish a depleted treasury ; and 
 the abuse of the scheme incited a monk of Saxony to 
 
MICHAEL ANGELO. 253 
 
 oppose the authority of the Church, hence the inau- 
 guration of the Reformation. Although the basilica 
 of St. Peter's is the grandest display of architectural 
 splendor in the Christian world, its magnificence can 
 not atone for the schism its expenditures created in 
 the Catholic fraternity. The builder of St. Peter's 
 called a Luther into being. 
 
 As soon as the design of Michael Angelo was ap- 
 proved the great painter, sculptor and architect went 
 to Carrara to procure the marble necessary for the un- 
 dertaking, the Pope giving him an order upon a banker 
 in Florence to pay for the material. That suitable 
 blocks might be quarried successfully, Michael Angelo 
 took up his residence for eight months in the im- 
 mediate vicinity of the famous mountain of marble. 
 He sent most of the blocks to Rome, yet enough to 
 Florence to occupy his chisel during the heated season 
 when the Vatican was considered unwholesome on ac- 
 count of the malaria of the Campagna. While 
 Michael Angelo was at Carara he conceived the idea 
 of erecting a pillar on the marble mount which should 
 rival the leaning tower of Pisa, but no opportunity 
 occurred for carrying the design into executon. His 
 conception was to quarry a monolith of the finest 
 marble, erect it on the mountain top, and then chisel 
 the monumental shaft into human shape, so that its 
 outline, and perhaps its features, might be seen from 
 the sea as a mark for mariners. 
 
 After Michael Angelo returned to Rome the Pope 
 held daily conversations with him, even making a 
 covered bridge from the Vatican Palace to the sculp- 
 tor's studio, that he might pass to and fro without 
 being observed. " This honorable partiality," says a 
 chronicler, " was too apparent not to excite jealousy 
 
254 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 in those who were dependents on the court ; and as 
 jealousy seeks not to partake, hut to monopolize fa- 
 vors, he that has distinguished friends can seldom be 
 without secret enemies." Not long after this intimacy, 
 Julius II. began to spend time among other artists 
 whose merits he had appreciated and thought de- 
 serving of attention. Michael Angelo being apprised 
 of what he considered a growing neglect, seized an 
 opportunity to abandon the Pope's enterprise and to 
 return to his beloved Florence, leaving word on his 
 departure which is reported as follows : " From this 
 time forward, if his holiness wants me, he shall have 
 to seek me in another place." 
 
 The Pope was no sooner informed of this hasty 
 measure than he dispatched five couriers to arrest the 
 fugitive and reconduct him to Rome; but they did 
 not overtake him till he had reached a village of Tus- 
 cany, which was beyond the jurisdiction of the Pontiff. 
 Although the Pope commanded Michael Angelo to 
 " immediately return to Rome on peril of disgrace," 
 the stubborn Florentine refused to go, and his obsti- 
 nacy led to diplomacy. The Pope addressed the fol- 
 lowing letter to the government of Florence: "Health 
 and Apostolic benediction to our dearly beloved. Mi- 
 chael Angelo, who has left us capriciously, and with- 
 out any reason we have been able to learn, is now in 
 Florence, and remains there in fear of our displeasure, 
 but against whom we have nothing to allege, as we 
 know the humor of men of his stamp. However, 
 that we may lay aside all suspicion, we invite him 
 with the same affection that you bear toward us ; and, 
 if he will return, promise on our part he shall be 
 neither touched nor offended, and be reinstated in the 
 same apostolic grace he enjoyed before he left us. 
 
MICHAEL ANGELO. 255 
 
 Rome, the 8th of July, 1506, III year of our pon- 
 tificate." 
 
 This letter was followed by a second and a third, 
 the latter threatening Florence ; yet Michael Angelo 
 entertained a purpose to enter the service of the Sul- 
 tan, the proposition being to build a bridge from Con- 
 stantinople to Pera. To conciliate matters the Floren- 
 tine Government named Angelo as ambassador to 
 Rome, the commission being, by the law of nations, 
 inviolate. At this time the Pope, in a warlike expedi- 
 tion, entered Bologna, and there sought an interview 
 with his esteemed artist; and, through the mediation of 
 friends, a renewal of mutual admiration was restored, 
 the Pope giving Michael Angelo his benediction, and 
 an order to make a colossal statue of himself in bronze. 
 The renowned sculptor completed the monument in 
 sixteen months, and placed it in the facade of the 
 church of St. Petronio ; he then returned to Rome. 
 Within three years Bologna was retaken, and the im- 
 posing statue of Julius II. was thrown down, dragged 
 about the streets, and broken in pieces, the fragments 
 going to a foundry to be recast into a canon sic tran- 
 sit gloria mundi. 
 
 Upon his arrival at the Vatican, Michael Angelo 
 was requested to ornament the Sistine Chapel on a 
 grand scale, and to do the painting with his own 
 hands. To this he objected on the ground that he 
 was not a fresco painter, but a sculptor and architect. 
 The Pope called attention to the high order of his 
 earlier labors with the brush, and commanded that he 
 engage in the work at once. 
 
 Raphael was then at work on his cartoons, which 
 have since made famous the stanzas of the Vatican, 
 and Bramante was the acknowledged architect of the 
 
256 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 contemplated St. Peter's; and a burning jealousy ex- 
 isted between these two rival artists. The Sistine 
 Chapel had been built by Sixtus IV., uncle of Julius 
 II., and ornamented with historical paintings of some 
 merit. Those pictures were to be effaced, and the 
 walls decorated with new designs. The scaffoldings 
 were erected by Bramante, but were so objectionable 
 in many respects that Michael Angelo ordered them 
 removed, and in their place he built his own. The 
 invention proved so satisfactory that it was afterward 
 utilized in the construction of St. Peter's, and other 
 monumental structures. 
 
 It took some time for Michael Angelo to prepare 
 the walls to be ornamented, and to try his paints and 
 colors, an occasional figure not drying out well. At 
 length all obstacles of a physical nature were over- 
 come, except a mistiness of vision in the artist pro- 
 duced by the dust of plaster, and through looking 
 upward so much while prosecuting his work. The 
 ceiling, w T hich is coved, he painted in divisions, the 
 flat space at the top having nine compartments, the 
 spaces alternating with a subject from the Old Testa- 
 ment, and then one from a delphic, cumsean, siby- 
 line, or other oracle. The mosaic account of creation 
 is portrayed in inimitable grandeur; the breath of 
 life entering Adam, the configuration of Eve, the 
 presence of Cain and Abel, the Deluge, and other 
 Biblical scenes contribute to the wonderful artistic 
 display which to our time annually influences thou- 
 sands to visit the Vatican. The visitor in Rome is 
 nowhere more highly entertained than while viewing 
 the works of Michael Angelo as displayed in the Sis- 
 tine Chapel, or in trying to compass the dome of St. 
 Peter's. While the famous Basilica was from year to 
 
MICHAEL ANGELO. 257 
 
 year gradually exhibiting its magnificent proportions 
 under the architectural designs of Michael Angelo, 
 the brush of the great artist was giving form and 
 color to the figures, human and divine, in the Last 
 Judgment. And while these marvelous productions 
 in juxtaposition continue to enchant the lover of art, 
 it can not be forgotten that Rome embraces other at- 
 tractions due to his skill and genius. His seated 
 Moses in the Church of San Pietro in Vinculo will 
 forever hold a high place. The novice in art may 
 not admire the prophet's horns, but he can not avert 
 the following of those piercing eyes, fitfully flashing 
 the lightnings of Sinai. The statue has been pro- 
 nounced alive by the timid, so lifelike is the expres- 
 sion of the face. 
 
 A criticism of the Last Judgment is, that the 
 figures are not sufficiently ghostly. Biagio, master 
 of ceremonies of the Pope, was asked what he thought 
 of the figures, and replied that such a display of the 
 nude was better suited to a bath establishment than 
 to a chapel. Michael Angelo was wroth at this criti- 
 cism on the part of a man who had no reason to be 
 prudish ; and out of sheer revenge painted a recog- 
 nizable caricature of Biagio as Minos among the 
 damned, the head bearing the ears of an ass. The trav- 
 esty offended the feelings of the attendant to an 
 extent that the Pontiff was asked to have the portrait 
 effaced. " Where has the painter placed you ?" asked 
 the Pope. " In hell," was the answer. " If you were 
 in purgatory, my prayers might have effect, but I 
 have no power over the damned ;" and his Holiness 
 eeems to have expressed a verity, for to this day 
 Biagio remains as Minos, and the ears of an ass grace 
 the sides of his head. 
 
258 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 When Michael Angelo was 72 years of age, he 
 was appointed chief architect of St. Peter's ; and he 
 accepted the dignified position on condition that he 
 receive no salary, and that he be empowered to dis- 
 charge many persons who were so much lumber about 
 the great edifice. Besides, he was to have the privi- 
 lege of making such alterations in the stupendous 
 fabric, w T ith the Pope's approbation, as his own model 
 might suggest. 
 
 From this time forward the grand Basilica made 
 active progress, notwithstanding its architect had un- 
 der construction the Farnese Palace, and was engaged 
 in building a senatorial mansion on the Capitoline 
 hill. But such was the industry and capacity of 
 Michael Angelo that he could accomplish more in a 
 day than most worthy men would in a week. The 
 great architect did not have all things his own way, 
 for he would hardly get his plans in the course of ex- 
 ecution before the Pope would die, and another of dif- 
 ferent tastes and peculiar whims would be elected to 
 the papal throne. A change of rulers would always 
 be attended with the fault findings of those who were 
 ambitious to displace the architect in chief. At one 
 of these grievance presentations the Pope asked 
 Michael Angelo to exhibit his plans to those who 
 were criticizing his work. The chief knew that the 
 submission of his designs would be to expose them 
 to attack, so he replied with warmth to the cardinal : 
 " I am not, neither will I be ever obliged to tell your 
 eminence, or any one else, what I ought or am dis- 
 posed to do ; it is your office to see that money be pro- 
 vided to take care of the thieves, and that you leave 
 the building of St. Peters to me." 
 
 Michael Angelo was at this time invited by 
 
MICHAEL ANGELO. 259 
 
 Cosmo I., Grand Duke of Tuscany, to visit Florence 
 and spend his days there in such vocations as he 
 might elect. The old Florentine replied feelingly, re- 
 counting the love he hore for the city and its charming 
 suburbs. He would once more enjoy bathing in the 
 beautiful Arno, and again would he climb Miniato r 
 and gaze on the many lovely landscapes the elevated 
 view commands. 
 
 It was, however, impossible for him to leave St. 
 Peters in the hands of incompetent architects, and re- 
 tain the hope that his plans would be carried out ; so 
 he adhered to his purpose of standing by his cherished 
 work. While engaged in forwarding the great labor 
 of his life, though without the expectation of seeing 
 it completed, Michael Angelo, at the advanced age of 
 89, after a short illness, succumbed to the inevitable. 
 In the presence of his physician and a few friends he 
 made the following nuncupative will : "My soul I re- 
 sign to God ; my body to the earth ; and my worldly 
 possessions to my nearest of kin." He died on the 
 17th of February, 1563. His remains were tempo- 
 rarily entombed in Home, but afterward were buried 
 in Florence, in a crypt of the church of St. Croce the 
 hallowed resting place being suitably inscribed and 
 ornamented. There his remains are with those of 
 Dante, Galileo, and other renowned Florentines. 
 
 Michael Angelo was rather delicate in his youth r 
 but fairly athletic in early manhood, engaging eagerly 
 in gymnastic sports. In a display of physical prowess 
 he received an unlucky blow on the nose, which 
 disfigured the organ for life. This nasal defect 
 was ever a source of regret to him, and is al- 
 leged to have made him morose at times. His head 
 was large, his shoulders broad, and his general phys- 
 
260 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 ique erect, stately, and commanding ; and his counte- 
 nance was animated and expressive. 
 
 From youth Michael Angelo cultivated his mind 
 in solitude, studying every branch of knowledge that 
 might contribute to the advancement of his ambitious 
 schemes. 
 
 He wrote creditable poetry, and in his sonnets 
 religion and love are the prevailing subjects. In the ac- 
 complished Vittoria Colonna, Marchioness of Pascbara, 
 Michael Angelo recognized a genius and spirit in har- 
 mony with his own. When they first met she was a 
 widow. Though past her youth, she was yet young 
 in comparison with his age. She resided in a convent, 
 and was occupied in doing good to the sick and 
 needy. She died at the age of 56. 
 
 He did not amass immense wealth, but left to his 
 relatives enough to make them comfortable. His old 
 home in Florence is still in possession of the Buonar- 
 roti line, and many relics of the family are still ex- 
 hibited at the family residence. Among these is a 
 well worn copy of Dante. The author of La Divina 
 Comedia, was born in Florence two hundred or more 
 years before Michael Angelo saw the light ; and the 
 latter became a warm admirer of the great poet, and 
 a thorough student of his dramatic creations. The 
 " Demons " in Angelo's " Last Judgment " are not 
 Scriptural, but the inventions of the ingenious Dante. 
 
 Although the compositions of Michael Angelo 
 carry the freshness of originality along with them, not 
 a few are suggestive of preceding thought. His po- 
 ems bore a resemblance to the emanations of Petrarch ; 
 his sculpture, if not in style antique, is often classically 
 Greek ; and the conceptions in his pictures are pre- 
 dominantly Biblical or pagan. 
 
MICHAEL ANGELO. 261 
 
 When the talents of Michael Angelo are consid- 
 ered, the question arises whether he was greatest as 
 painter, sculptor, or architect. Bat why measure the 
 man in this way ? Or why not take other eminent 
 qualities into the estimate of personal characteristics ? 
 Michael Angelo was a patriot and a moralist ; and his 
 religious nature was deep and abiding. He so utterly 
 detested shams and peculations in public affairs, that he 
 labored an ordinary lifetime in molding St. Peter's into 
 magnificent proportions, and would not accept pecuni- 
 ary recompense. He always claimed that he \vorked 
 for the glory of God and the elevation of mankind. 
 His charities were bountiful, yet dispensed with dis- 
 cretion. He loved liberty and despised tyranny, as he 
 honored truth and hated hypocrisy. His moral char- 
 acter was never assailed, yet it would have been, con- 
 sidering the wiles and jealousies of his time, if he had 
 not lived an upright life. The precepts of Savonarola 
 seemed indelibly stamped upon his heart. Taking 
 Michael Angelo all in all, few distinguished in what 
 constitutes individual greatness preceded him, and as 
 few of equal greatness have succeeded him. A study 
 of his character and talents ought to exert a beneficial 
 influence upon the impressible. 
 
A SKETCH OF SIR CHARLES BELL. 
 
 Art is so long, and time so short, that a man can 
 accomplish only a moiety of what he may have con- 
 templated in his more ambitious moments. Michael 
 Angelo achieved more than the average of diligent 
 men because he lived so long to old age and was 
 able to work to the end. Raphael accomplished less 
 because he died young. Win. Hewson thoroughly in- 
 vestigated the lymphatic system, and wrote a work on 
 the constituents and qualities of the blood, yet died at 
 the age of thirty-five. 
 
 It is generally remarked that a man can not dip 
 deep into any branch of science without progress being 
 at the expense of other intellectual pursuits. In a 
 measure this is true, but if kindred studies be pursued 
 at the same time, points gained in one line of thought 
 will assist in making progress in other departments of 
 knowledge. 
 
 A prevailing notion among the ignorant is that 
 an accidental endowment, called genius, enables the 
 fortunate possessor to outstrip his fellow men at a 
 bound, and without effort of a laborious nature. It is 
 needless to state to intelligent readers that such a eon- 
 -ception is wholly or principally erroneous. Those 
 who have acquired much in this world have labored 
 for what they possess. An individual may inherit a 
 bent or inclination for a given pursuit, and make 
 notable headway in that direction, yet not much 
 worthy of comment will be achieved, unless a fair 
 (262) 
 
SIR CHARLES BELL. 263 
 
 degree of energy be devoted to the acquisition. If a 
 person indulge in the vision that he is a prodigy in 
 his way, and may safely rest upon his oars, his bark 
 will either dash, upon rocks or drift to a strand. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was riot an erratic in- 
 dividual thrown into view by chance or accident, or 
 one fortuitously brought into notice by revolution, but 
 he inherited respectability, and enjoyed comfortable 
 surroundings ; and by the display of fair talents, con- 
 siderable energy, and much industry, he attained 
 distinction. 
 
 Charles Bell was born in Edinburgh, in 1778, and 
 was the youngest son of Rev. William Bell, a clergy- 
 man of the Episcopal Church of Scotland. The eldest 
 of the sons, Robert, was an attorney, and the second 
 son was the well known John Bell, anatomist and 
 surgeon. Under the tutorship of the latter, Charles, 
 after graduating with honor at the high school ol 
 Edinburgh, was educated in medicine. The young ap- 
 prentice took to his studies with zeal, and was soon 
 enabled to assist his fraternal instructor, who was 
 lecturer on anatomy and surgery in the famous Uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh. He prepared the anatomical 
 demonstrations w T ith such care and scope that the 
 Bells became distinguished as philosophical teachers. 
 The younger of the two was skilled in the use of the 
 pencil and brush before leaving the high school ; and 
 now he found a place to utilize these talents. He 
 sketched a variety of anatomical preparations, and 
 displayed them in water colors. These attracted at- 
 tention and called forth such flattering comments that 
 he was encouraged to have them published as Plates 
 of Dissections. 
 
 He had at -that time become a licentiate, and this 
 
264 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 exhibition of brilliant talents favored his election to 
 the College of Surgeons, and afterward to the staff of 
 the Royal Infirmary, the only hospital then in Edin- 
 burgh. . . . The older brother holding the high- 
 est position in Edinburgh as anatomist and surgeon, 
 Charles could not rise in that city without coming in 
 direct rivalry with him ; hence he left home in 1808, 
 and sought a wider field of labor in London. In the 
 great metropolis he knew that he would have to come 
 in competition with Cline, Cooper, and Abernethy, 
 yet he took the step without the thought of igno- 
 minious failure. He entertained lofty aspirations, and 
 courted the opportunity to cross lances with brilliant 
 knights in the lecture field. Pie did not engage in a 
 rash experiment, for his fame had already reached the 
 learned circles of London. His modest demeanor, 
 gentlemanly bearing, and many accomplishments, 
 proved a ready introduction to scientific clubs. He 
 was early invited to join the Anatomical Society, 
 where he became acquainted with many of the popular 
 and eminent teachers in medical science ; and he soon 
 entered a partnership with Mr. James Wilson in the 
 Windmill street School of Anatomy and Surgery, 
 where Hunter gained a share of his reputation in the 
 scientific world. 
 
 Here young Bell's style of lecturing at once cap- 
 tivated listeners and drew crowds of students to his 
 auditorium and laboratory. He was so courteous to 
 his elders in teaching that he provoked no jealousy, but 
 forced the concession on the part of competitors that 
 they were more than rivaled that they were ex- 
 celled. 
 
 From this time there was no question as to the 
 grade of talents possessed by Charles Bell, nor as to 
 
SIR CHARLES BELL. 265 
 
 the position he was to occupy in scientific pursuits. 
 His accomplishments were apparent in several depart- 
 ments of learning. His publication of a series of 
 plates displaying the brain, with notes, showed that 
 he was in advance of the old masters in neurological 
 studies ; and the compilation of his " Anatomical 
 Demonstrations," placed him in the front rank of de- 
 lineators. As a surgeon, he had few if any superiors; 
 and as an author he stood among the best. Although 
 he carried on his studies, experiments and instructions, 
 concurrently, the leading labors of the scientist may 
 be considered separately. Charles Bell first distin- 
 guished himself in anatomy, physiology and surgery ; 
 he then became eminent as a neurologist, making 
 brilliant discoveries in regard to the nervous system; 
 and thirdly, he attained a conspicuous place in art 
 anatomy, becoming a master in- the delineation of ex- 
 pression. His work on The Anatomy and Philosophy 
 of Expression, as connected with the Fine Arts, is now 
 the best know T n and the most valuable of his produc- 
 tions. A fourth edition of the work was published in 
 1851, by Henry G. Bonn, Covent Garden, London, 
 and sells for about fifteen dollars. The illustrations 
 are from the pencil of the author, and mostly from 
 life or nature. They graphically represent the play of 
 the passions, every grade being represented, from the 
 winning smile, to the startling horror of the mad- 
 house. 
 
 Upon the accession of William IV. to the throne 
 of England, his illustrious ministry, in accordance 
 with the suggestion and sanction of the sovereign, 
 proposed to confer the distinction of knighthood a 
 Guelphic order upon the meritorious of a limited 
 number of the most eminent men of science then liv- 
 
266 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 ing, and than whom few greater have since obtained 
 the honorable title. The persons selected to be the 
 recipients of the dignity were Charles Bell, John Her- 
 shel, David Brewster, John Leslie, James Ivory and 
 Mr. Baggage, the latter declining the honor for as- 
 signed reasons. 
 
 The publications of Sir Charles Bell show in brief 
 the nature and extent of his literaiy, professional and 
 scientific labors. His first publication was, A System 
 of Dissections, explaining the Anatomy of the Human 
 Body, the Manner of Displaying the Parts and their Va- 
 rieties in Disease. The first volume a folio appeared 
 in 1799, and the second in 1801. The plates are all 
 from drawings made by the author, and give faithful 
 representations of the different parts of the human 
 body as the} 7 appear on dissection. The folio size was 
 found to be inconvenient for student's use, therefore 
 the letter-press form, with illustrations reduced, was 
 issued in 1809. 
 
 The next book was dual in authorship. It is 
 titled, A System of Anatomy, by John and Charles Bell. 
 This, being out of print, is getting rare, and to be 
 found only on the shelves of dealers in second-hand 
 books. I advise the lover of old books to be on the 
 look out for this production. "For happiness of ex- 
 pression, elegance of style, knowledge of the views of 
 former anatomists and physiologists, and accuracy of 
 description, I know of no work with which it can be 
 compared." (Pettigrew.) 
 
 In 1807, Charles Bell published A System, of Op- 
 erative Surgery, founded on the basis of Anatomy, in 
 two volumes. This surgical publication is a faithful 
 representation of the surgery of the time, and is very 
 happily illustrated by the author, who exhibited a 
 
SIR CHARLES BELL. 267 
 
 wonderful facility for making himself known through 
 the manipulations of the pencil -point. 
 
 In 1816, Mr. Bell commenced the publication of 
 Surgical Operations ; being a Quarterly Report of Cases 
 in Surgery treated in the Middlesex Hospital, in the Can- 
 cer Establishment and in Private Practice. This series 
 of annotations was never finished, but is valuable as 
 far as it goes. The clinical details are illustrative and 
 practical, being the product of a mind trained and ac- 
 customed to impart information most needed by the 
 surgical student. 
 
 In 1819, Bell published an interesting Essay on 
 the Forces which Circulate the Blood; being an Examina- 
 tion of the Difference of the Motions of Fluids in Living 
 and Dead Vessels. The argument, carried on at some 
 length, is that the heart alone does not propel the 
 blood, but much is left to arterial tension, tortuosity, 
 elasticity, capillary attraction, etc. There is some 
 plausibility in the statements made, and additional 
 force in the illustrations, yet I fail to see all points 
 just as the author does. In 1810, Bell issued a small 
 work depicting some cases of an instructive character 
 for the operative surgeon. While we do many things 
 much as they were done a century ago, it is not as- 
 suming to say that we have occasion to smile at a few 
 of the methods once in vogue. 
 
 In 1824, Sir Charles Bell published Observations 
 on Injuries of the Spine and of the Thigh Bone. This 
 brochure is also controversial, being an attempt to sup- 
 port principles enunciated long ago, and to overthrow 
 certain other doctrines set up by Sir Astley Cooper in 
 regard to trephining in the event of fracture of the 
 vertebrae; and in regard to the pose the leg and thigh 
 should take after fracture of the femur. 
 
268 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 A feature of Sir Charles Bell's surgical produc- 
 tions, is the careful demonstration of the anatomy of 
 the parts involved in an operation. Both of the Bells 
 were ever noted for the interest they threw into their 
 demonstrations. If a muscle were described, not only 
 its origin, insertion and function were called vividly 
 to mind ; but the importance of certain surgical points 
 a given muscle bore upon, was cited and emphasized. 
 The same practice of showing the relation of vessels 
 and nerves to surgical operations was always followed. 
 
 Sir Charles Bell never omitted an opportunity to 
 learn something of comparative anatomy, dissecting 
 every variety of creature that could be obtained from 
 any part of the earth. He always was at great ex- 
 pense in securing rare specimens. Whoever has read 
 The Hand, its Mechanism and Vital Endowment, will at 
 once see why the author of the production was se- 
 lected to execute a work which should in part fulfill 
 the bequest of the Earl of Bridgewater, who left 
 8,000 in trust to the President of the Eoyal Society 
 of London, for the purpose of rewarding the writer 
 of a dissertation " to exemplify the power, wisdom, 
 and goodness of God, as manifested in the works of 
 his Creation." The history of the execution of the 
 celebrated bequest is somewhat interesting. The then 
 President, Mr. Davies Gilbert, shrank from the re- 
 sponsibility of selecting the person best qualified to 
 carry the object of the will into effect; and having 
 associated with himself, in the discharge of this duty, 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Lon- 
 don, they determined to subdivide the sum left to their 
 disposal amongst the writers of eight several essays, 
 illustrative of the subject proposed. In his will, Lord 
 Bridgewater had expressed a desire that the power 
 
SIR CHARLES BELL. 269 
 
 and construction of the human hand should be em- 
 braced in the dissertation ; and when Sir Charles Bell 
 was made aware that he had been selected as one of 
 the essayists, he, to the surprise of his colleagues in 
 the enterprise, chose that as the subject of his essay. 
 
 The reader of Bell's Hand will say that he has ran- 
 sacked the animal world to find arguments in comport 
 with the desires of the reverend committee. The 
 scales and fins of fishes, the feathers and wings of birds, 
 and the belongings of quadrupeds, are arraigned as if 
 the peculiarities of each were specialized by the Cre- 
 ator for the definite purposes manifested in the habits 
 of the creature. By birth and education, Charles Bell 
 was loyal to the prevailing theology of his day; hence 
 he did not do injustice to his sentiments when he saw 
 the wisdom and goodness of the Creator in every 
 thorn that grew in every poisonous tooth and claw 
 in even the deadly cobra's fang ! 
 
 While Charles Bell lived in London, Napoleonic 
 wars were disturbing the country, and making it neces- 
 sary for him to study military surgery. After the san- 
 guinary battle of Corunna, thousands of wounded were 
 landed on the southern coast of England. To these 
 at once Mr. Bell repaired, and devoted his time and 
 ability in making the sufferers comfortable, gaining 
 experience in the management of gun-shot wounds. 
 After a few months of active service in camp, he pre- 
 pared for publication an Essay on Gun-shot Wounds, 
 and made it an Appendix to his System of Operative 
 Surgery. The " Essay " was also published by itself, 
 and became "authority" among army surgeons. 
 
 As soon as the battle of Waterloo was known in 
 London, Mr. Bell started for Brussels, with the pur- 
 pose of tendering assistance to the wounded, and th:it 
 
270 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 he might make sketches for his portfolio. The de- 
 mand for surgical service was so pressing that he gave 
 his entire time for weeks in caring for the disabled. 
 As soon as leisure could be obtained, he used his pen- 
 cil in making sketches. Some of these were after- 
 ward enlarged and colored, and now are regarded as 
 valuable contributions to both surgery and art. 
 
 Before the time of John and Charles Bell, the func- 
 tions of the nervous system were not well understood, 
 though the anatomy of the brain and spinal cord had 
 been demonstrated at Bologna and Padua those me- 
 diaeval seats of anatomical and physiological learning. 
 Somniering and Meckel did good work in the way of 
 giving rational views of the brain and nerves ; and after 
 them came Monro, of Edinburgh, and Gall, of Vienna. 
 And about the time that considerable impulse had been 
 given to studies of the brain by Spurzheim, and the 
 labors of Reil had added to discoveries thus far made, 
 Mesmer appeared as a magneto-neurologist, yet con- 
 tributed little to what was already known in regard to 
 the brain and nerves. By the combined labors of all 
 investigators of the cerebro-spinal system, the brain 
 had been thoroughly dissected and mapped, and the 
 nerves were known to spring from the spinal cord in 
 pairs. The ganglion on the posterior nerve had been 
 observed and commented upon, and the functions of 
 sensation and motion had also been considered, and 
 even assured ; yet, before Charles Bell entered the 
 field as an original experimenter, it had not been 
 demonstrated that sensory and motor nerves, in the 
 same bundle, could be traced to separate parts of the 
 spinal cord. 
 
 In a small essay, entitled Idea of a New Anatomy 
 of the Brain, published in 1811, Sir Charles Bell con- 
 
SIR CHARLES BELL. 271 
 
 tends " that the cerebrum and the cerebellum are 
 different in function as in form ; that the parts of 
 the cerebrum have different functions ; and that the 
 nerves which we trace in the body are not single 
 nerves, possessing various powers, but bundles of dif- 
 ferent nerves, whose filaments are united for the con- 
 venience of distribution, yet are distinct in office, as 
 they are in origin from the brain." 
 
 In speaking of the nerves springing from the 
 spinal cord, Mr. Bell says that the anterior column 
 presides over the motor functions, and the posterior 
 column sends out sensory nerves having ganglia upon 
 them ; and that often the two sets from one side of 
 the cord have united in one bundle ; both motor and 
 sensory filaments can be traced to the periphery of the 
 body, where they may be said to be distributed. 
 
 Before Bell's discoveries it was supposed that the 
 nerves of special sense, as the optic, for instance, could 
 bestow sensation or pain, or even motion, as well as 
 vision. A careful dissection of the nerves of the face 
 aiad head revealed the origin and distribution of sen- 
 sory and motor filaments ; and experiments upon ani- 
 mals clearly proved what was the function of any 
 given nerve. Bell demonstrated that the sixth and 
 ninth pairs of cranial nerves were exclusively motor 
 the one going to the external rectus of the eyeball^ 
 and the other to the deep parts of the tongue to the 
 muscles of the organ, and having nothing to do with 
 the sense of taste. In studying the fifth pair the 
 trifacial he found on each side of the median line 
 two nerves, one, the larger, having a ganglion upon it, 
 and the other, the smaller, without a knot, and like a 
 motor nerve coming from the anterior columns of the 
 cord. The large trunk, having a ganglion upon it, he 
 
272 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 found to be sensory, and to consist of three quite dis- 
 tinct branches. The upper branch endowed the fore- 
 head and region of the eye with sensibility ; the mid- 
 dle branch gave sensation to the nose, upper lip, 
 and middle parts of the face; and the lower branch 
 expanded itself in the inferior maxilla, the lower lip, 
 and upon the surface of the anterior half or two- 
 thirds of the tongue. The filaments going to the 
 papillae of the tongue w r ere called gustatory taste be- 
 ing a modified sense of feeling hence the sensory 
 character of the nerve was demonstrated throughout. 
 The part of the fifth nerve having no ganglion upon 
 it, proved to be mostly motor in function, and en- 
 dowed the muscles of mastication the masseters, buc- 
 cinator, temporal, and pterygoid. 
 
 Attempts have been made by Magendie, Longet, 
 and other physiologists since Bell's time, to show that 
 sensory nerves have motor power in some degree, and 
 that motor nerves have manifested sensibility ; but the 
 general character of the nerve functions, as announced 
 and demonstrated by Bell, have not been overthrown. 
 The most that has been done goes to show that inos- 
 culation may give a bundle of motor nerves some 
 sensibility, and vice versa. The portio dura of the 
 seventh pair was once supposed to be both motor and 
 sensory, but Bell demonstrated that the nerve is 
 wholly given to movements of the muscles of the face ; 
 and that division of it resulted in paralysis of motion 
 on that side, though sensation remained almost unim- 
 paired. 
 
 The pneumogastric and glosso-pharyngeal nerves 
 were ascertained to embrace both sensory and motor 
 filaments, with fibrils of both so intertwined that it 
 was with difficulty that the origin of each could be 
 
SIR CHARLES BELL. 27$ 
 
 distinctly traced. Both nerves arise in the medulla 
 oblongata, at a point which has been denominated the 
 "vital knot," and the filaments of both preside over 
 respiration. A division of either of these nerves re- 
 sults in partial or complete asphyxia. Bell called 
 these mixed functions " excito-motory," to denote 
 the distinctive character and reciprocal relations of 
 the respiratory functions. 
 
 To the discoveries of Bell should be accredited 
 the origin of sensory nerves in the gray matter of the 
 cerebrum, of the medulla oblongata, and of the spinal 
 cord ; and the origin of motor nerves in white neurine. 
 Bell ascertained that the " spinal accessory " nerve wa^ 
 motor in function, but did not announce that the pneu- 
 mogastric derived all of its moving energy from that 
 source. It required the experiments of Bischoff and 
 Bernard to complete the discovery. 
 
 The sympathetic system of nerves was first made 
 understandable by the investigations of Sir Charles 
 Bell. Many years previously, John Hunter had delved 
 in this field, and gained creditable headway, but had 
 not made those nice distinctions in regard to the spe- 
 cial functions of a nerve that were the forte of his 
 successor. Hunter studied the ganglionic and visceral 
 nerves in worms and the articulata generally, and saw 
 motion and sensation manifested by the same bundles 
 of nerves. Bell conjectured that the leading office of 
 these parallel chains of knotted cords embraced func- 
 tions in addition to those of locomotion and sensation, 
 for he found them displayed along the viscera of the 
 body, as if to exercise an influence over digestion, as- 
 similation, and secretion. And he found, too, that 
 sympathetic filaments inosculated with motor and 
 sensory filaments coming from the cerebro-spinal sys- 
 
274 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 tern. This intimate relationship of the various systems 
 of nerves led to the conjecture that the office of the 
 ganglionic nerves was to harmonize the various work- 
 ings of the animal body. Bell was the first to remark 
 that the gray matter in the ganglia made the system 
 of nerves reflex in its activities, and left it independent 
 of the will, or voluntary effort. He found that fila- 
 ments from the superior ganglia at the base of the 
 brain exchanged fibrils Avith the pneumogastric and 
 glosso-pharyngeal, and thus put respiration and de- 
 glutition beyond the dictation of mental operations. 
 He mentions that a bolus of food, after it passes the 
 isthmus of the fauces, is no longer under control of the 
 wall, but that it is involuntarily swallowed, whether 
 pleasant or disagreeable. Through the influence of 
 the sympathetic system the intestines are peristaltic, 
 the glands secrete, and the blood-vessels and capillaries 
 execute their functions. By the agency of the repro- 
 ductive ganglia wonderful migrations in the animal 
 world are executed. When the ovaries of the salmon 
 become charged with spawn, a migration is made 
 from the sea to the head waters of the rivers that 
 the ova may be deposited in places favorable for 
 the hatching and thriving of the fry ; and as much 
 may be said of a thousand other kinds of fishes. In 
 the spring millions of wild fowl wing their way to the 
 north, that their young may be reared in regions fa- 
 vorable for their safety and development. The fern a 1 es 
 take the lead in these northern flights, and the males 
 head the returning flocks. 
 
 Sir Charles Bell was gifted with many talents, and 
 he buried none in the rubbish of life. He pursued his 
 studies con anwre, and became distinguished in all he 
 undertook. His discoveries in the functions of the 
 
SIR .CHARLES BELL. 275 
 
 nervous system place him at the head of neurologists. 
 His delineations in the Anatomy and Philosophy of Ex- 
 pression show that his investigations of the functions 
 of the cerebro-spinal nerves had enabled him to de- 
 pict emotions more strikingly than any artist before 
 or since his time. 
 
 Sir Charles Bell cherished such an admiration for 
 the fine arts, that he visited Italy and other art centers, 
 to expand his conceptions of what an artist should be. 
 He was always an advocate of what we call " life 
 schools," and ridiculed studies in plaster casts. 
 
 In closing this succinct sketch of one of the ablest 
 men that ever graced the medical profession, it is 
 proper to say that he left London in 1836 to accept 
 the chair of surgery in the old and famous University 
 of Edinburgh. When his name was presented to the 
 board of electors, he was unanimously chosen. Noth- 
 ing could have been more flattering to him than this 
 recognition of the esteem in which his reputation was 
 held in the city of his birth after long years of ab- 
 sence. His many warm friends in London spoke with 
 regret of his contemplated departure from the city of 
 his adoption and many triumphs, but they could not 
 swerve his ambition to return with honor to the 
 place of his nativity. He lived several years to lend 
 credit to the institution which owes not a little of its 
 renown to the great surgeons, John and Charles Bell. 
 
WHENCE THE ART OF ANCIENT, MEDIEVAL, AND 
 MODERN ROME? 
 
 The " Eternal City," as Rome is sometimes called, 
 has many art attractions, but the visitor does not stop 
 to pay more than a passing glance to handsome palaces 
 of recent construction, he hastens to gaze upon the 
 magnificent " ruins " he has read about in school- 
 books, and seen pictured in travelers' guides. He 
 soon stumbles upon the Pantheon, and is amazed at 
 the grand and classic appearance of the well-preserved 
 pagan temple. He is astonished that a building over 
 two thousand years old can be in such a fine state of 
 preservation. After strolling a short distance, the 
 tourist is confronted by a view of Trajan's Column, 
 and scrutinizes the spiral relievos that extend from 
 v bottom to top. He can not make out all the mean- 
 ing the artist has displayed, but he sees a thousand 
 and more different figures wrought in the winding 
 frieze of the shaft-like monument. With the pedestal 
 and crowning statue, the pillar is one hundred and 
 forty-seven feet in altitude. 
 
 Following the course of dilapidated structures, 
 the visitor comes to the Capitol, and would stop to 
 view its art treasures, but he sees the magnificent 
 Arch of Septimius Severus, and must devote a pass- 
 ing inspection to the time-worn figures and inscrip- 
 tions on the key-stones of the triple passage-ways. 
 Hard by is the Colonnade of the Twelve Deities. 
 
 (276) 
 
WHENCE THE ART OF ROME? 277 
 
 He can not stop to scrutinize the features and study 
 the characters of the several gods, but bestows an 
 inquiring look upon the Column of Phocas, then 
 admires the ' k Ruin of the Three Columns," or rem- 
 nant of the Temple of Vespasian. Now he beholds 
 for the first time the grandeur of the Forum, Romanum. 
 A few years ago the complex ruin was buried in "cos- 
 mic dust" and the accumulated debris of centuries. 
 Once it was the richest in architectural beauty of any 
 place of the same size in the world. But after the 
 Gauls had sacked the city, and overturned what they 
 could not utterly destroy, the proud Forum became a 
 herding ground for cattle, and a breeding place for 
 bats and lizards. Sand drifted into the crevices and 
 open spaces, until a mass of rubbish alone could be 
 seen. The population of ancient Rome shrank from 
 two millions to a few thousands ; and each succeeding 
 year added to the obscurity of the city's pristine 
 splendor. Buried in forgetfulness was the Cloaca 
 Maxima, lost to view was the beautiful Temple of 
 Vesta, filled with river sediment was the Career Mam- 
 ertinus, undiscoverable were the Temples of Saturn, 
 of Castor and Pollux, and of Concord. The Arch of 
 Titus was not to be seen, the Temple of Caesar had 
 disappeared, also that of Faustina, The Colosseum 
 alone showed the top rows of the stupendous audi- 
 torium. Before the Christian Era, this amphitheater 
 was capable of seating and sheltering a hundred thou- 
 sand spectators. In the arena of this great play- 
 house were gladiatorial exhibitions, and fierce fights 
 between wild beasts. In a famous exhibition which 
 lasted a hundred days, it is said that five thousand 
 wild animals were killed or disabled, and hundreds of 
 gladiators bit the dust in contests with short swords. 
 
278 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 Afterward this magnificent structure was used as a 
 fortress, and later it was abandoned to birds of ill- 
 omen. At length its walls were drawn upon for mate- 
 rial to erect mediaeval churches, and treated as a quarry 
 from which building stone could be obtained easier 
 than from distant ledges. Pilgrims of the eighth 
 century looked upon the unequaled pile as a symbol 
 of the lasting greatness of Rome, and repeatedly 
 quoted the following lines : 
 
 " While stands the Colosseum, Rome shall stand, 
 When falls the Colosseum, Rome shall fall, 
 And when Rome falls, with it shall fall the world." 
 
 At the north boundary of the Forum Romanum 
 rises the Capitoline Hill, so called from its being the 
 site of the Capitol. The approaches to the citadel are 
 from the side opposite the Forum, the gateway being 
 guarded by sculptured lions and grand statues of the 
 C&esars. In the center of the Piazza stands an eques- 
 trian statue of Marcus Aurelius. On the right and left 
 are ponderous river gods, representing the Tiber and 
 the IsTile. From the windows of the Senate Chamber 
 can be seen the multiple and magnificent ruins of the 
 Forum, the Tarpeian Rock, and Mamertine prison 
 where captive kings were incarcerated, and St. Peter 
 caused a miraculous spring to now that he might bap- 
 tize his jailers. In this dungeon Jugurtha perished 
 through lack of food, and Yercingetorix was kept for 
 show-days. When taken from this underground jail, 
 to be dragged at the chariot wheels of Csesar, the 
 unfortunate prisoner was reviled and jeered by a 
 blood-thirsty and debased populace. These painful 
 incidents show at what a low ebb were the public 
 morals of the times. 
 
WHENCE THE ART OF ROME? 279 
 
 Palaces, like wings to the Capitol, have been made 
 receptacles of art treasures, exhumed within the walls 
 of Rome or brought from villas outside the city. 
 Among the thousands of priceless pieces of sculpture 
 are a few famous specimens. Among the gods and 
 demi-gods are heroic figures of Vulcan and three Cy- 
 clopes forging the Shield of Achilles. On the left of 
 this group stands stately Minerva with the olive tree, 
 aegis, and owl ; arid to her left is placed proud Juno 
 with an oak tree, on which is perched a peacock, 
 sacred to the goddess. Close by is the Infant Hercules 
 with the lion's skin, club, and quiver, his left hand 
 holding the apples of Hesperides. In a corridor are 
 fragments of a colossal figure of Jupiter Tonans; 
 the face "the front of Jove" exhibits figures that 
 plainly suggest the wisdom and royal qualities of the 
 ancient Thunderer. 
 
 In the Bronze room is a pleasing statue of a boy 
 in the act of removing a thorn from his foot, and by 
 a window is the Capitoline Wolf with the sucklings, 
 Romulus and Remus. 
 
 In the Picture Gallery are some modern and me- 
 diaeval paintings of great merit. The subjects are 
 mostly Biblical ; and among the artists are the names 
 Raphael, Rubens, Tintoretto, Paul Veronese, Guido, 
 and Bellini. 
 
 In one of the first rooms of the Capitoline 
 Museum, is "the Dying Gladiator," a well known 
 work of plastic art. It was unearthed three centuries 
 ago, and long preserved in the Villa Ludovisi. It is 
 Roman in conception, yet presumed to have been 
 executed by a Greek sculptor. A broken defect in 
 the arm and base was mended by Michael Angelo. 
 In another room is an exquisite statue by Praxiteles, 
 
280 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 " the Marble Faun," of Hawthorne. The production is 
 quite a copy of a Satyr chiseled at Athens. The 
 sculptures of the Capitoline collection are largely of 
 Grecian origin, some having heen made in Rome by 
 Greek sculptors, or secured from Athenian sources to 
 adorn the gardens and villas of wealthy Romans living 
 in the vicinity of Rome, for instance, in Tivoli. 
 The choicest statues have been found in the Villa of 
 Hadrian, and the accomplished hand of Praxiteles is 
 recognized in several of the products once the prop- 
 erty of the luxurious ruler. One of the most charm- 
 ing pieces of sculpture found in Hadrian's Garden, is 
 a row of doves on the rim of a basin beneath a 
 fountain. As a work of art it is above criticism. 
 
 In an adjoining room to that of The, Doves, is the 
 celebrated Capitoline Venus, a work of Praxiteles 
 possibly a copy of the Aphrodite of Cnidus. It is gen- 
 erally regarded as the best outline of womanly charms 
 the chisel has ever produced. 
 
 To appreciate the pagan and primitive art of 
 Rome, the student must call to mind the fact that the 
 early settlers of " classic Italy" were Trojans, who 
 were closely allied to the Greeks ; that the greater and 
 lesser gods introduced into Roman every-day life were 
 creations of poetic Homer or the more prosaic Hesiod. 
 The Zeus of the Greeks became the Jove of the 
 Latins. 
 
 An aesthetic race could not endure crude images 
 to represent celestial rulers, hence they gave the 
 deities the most attractive outlines, taking the best of 
 human shapes for models. It is customary to think 
 the gods created man after their own image, but the 
 Greeks reversed the order of things, constructing 
 deities in the likeness of human forms. Apollo was 
 
WHENCE THE ART OF ROME? 281 
 
 made as the representative of the best masculine shape, 
 and Venus was the embodiment of grace in the female 
 figure. Out of this kind of god-making has come the 
 most attractive of art representations. Nearly all 
 there is of pagan art has been developed in the 
 creation of divinities, while the most of Christian art 
 consists in the development of Biblical objects. 
 
 The Greeks were disposed to shelter their ods, 
 hence the rage for architectural display in construct- 
 ing deistical temples. With sesthetical people it was 
 not becoming to house the ideal divinities in a 
 cave or rock-shelter. The Parthenon of Athens was 
 an abode of the gods, and so was the Pantheon of 
 Rome. Every temple had an altar where incense was 
 burned or sacrifices were made, hence the occasion for 
 a priesthood to becomingly administer the sacred 
 offices. In all religious things the Romans were 
 servile imitators of the Greeks ; and both peoples were 
 pantheists. An outward form was the abode of a 
 spirit which in its activities imparted feature to the 
 physical envelope ; and certain symbols w r ere invented 
 to emphasize inner qualities. Themis who imper- 
 sonated justice, is represented as a noble and majestic 
 woman, with blind-folded eyes, and as holding a 
 balance in one hand and a sword in the other. The 
 god of physical love is represented as a sturdy boy 
 with plump cheeks and curling auburn locks, he is 
 winged, and armed with a bow and arrow. 
 
 ^Esculapius, the god of medicine, was a celestial, 
 being a son of Apollo. His ability to heal the sick and 
 the wounded, rendered him popular among gods and 
 men. In art he is represented with a staff which lias 
 a serpent entwined about it. The eldest daughter of 
 ^Esculapius was Hygeia. In the Capitoline Collection 
 
282 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 is a fine statue of the medicine god. It is accompanied 
 by the goddess of Health and Prosperity. 
 
 One of the more stately of the superior deities is 
 Neptune. With mystic trident " he makes the sleep- 
 ing billows roll, and the rolling billows sleep." The 
 handsomest fountain in Rome the Trevi is sur- 
 mounted by a colossal figure of the sea-god, standing 
 in a shell chariot drawn by winged horses whose tails 
 and hind-parts are like those of dolphins. The splash- 
 ing waters from three sources in the overhanging 
 cliffs, in bounteous quantities fall upon the marble 
 group, then clash into a broad basin below, making 
 delightful cascades. The workmanship of this grand 
 exhibit is Roman, but the attributes of the presiding 
 deity are wholly Grecian. And so it seems to be 
 every-where in Rome. The Greeks converted concep- 
 tions of mythological characters into beautiful statues, 
 they seem to have been the inventors of the best 
 plastic art. The average Roman was warlike, and 
 thirsted for conquest and plunder. It was easy to 
 quarrel with a less martial people, and with the ques- 
 tionable right "to the victors belong the spoils," carry 
 off what they had not the genius nor the disposition to 
 make. The finest sculptures of Greece went to 
 beautify Rome. Home talent was turned to the 
 formation of invincible legions, with the view ul- 
 timately of extending the borders of empire. As soon 
 as a few legions could be spared from protecting the 
 home government, they were sent to conquer a neigh- 
 boring province, and to despoil it. Every thing hand- 
 some and valuable w r as brought to Rome, hence the 
 city became a vast store-house of art treasures. Then, 
 again, the wealth and prosperity of the country 
 attracted to it the best artists of foreign lands. Cap- 
 
WHENCE THE ART OF ROME? 283 
 
 tive Jews and Greeks had to construct the aqueducts 
 whose ruins, in segments of arches, stretch over the 
 Campagna, even to the Alban hills. The Thermae or 
 baths of Rome were so extensive that they could 
 accommodate 1500 bathers at once. The buildings 
 were architecturally grand; and the halls and passage 
 ways were filled with elegant statues and Trescoes. 
 The Farnese Bull, now at Naples, once ornamented 
 the baths of Caracalla. The imposing ruins of the 
 luxurious bathing establishment are still to be seen, 
 they are on the Appian Way, about a half mile from 
 the Arch of Constantine. 
 
 Outside of what are denominated the Grand 
 Galleries of Art in Rome, are many collections which 
 embrace meritorious productions. In the Palazzo 
 Rospigliosi of the Quirinal hill is an art hall that has 
 its ceiling ornamented by Guido Reni. The mural 
 painting in brilliant tints represents Aurora strewing 
 flowers before the chariot of the sun-god Apollo. 
 Hie deityship has his head adorned with an abundance 
 of golden hair ; and he is attended with a group of 
 dancing nymphs clad in flowing robes of rainbow 
 hues. The spirited horses are colored in accord with 
 the tints of thin clouds in the background. The 
 picture is one of surpassing beauty, and eminently fit 
 to adorn a palatial ceiling. 
 
 In the center of the Piazza del Quirinal is a foun- 
 tain, beside which stand two colossal horses in rearing 
 attitudes; and giant statues of Castor and Pollux as 
 tamers of the unbridled steeds. 
 
 The Piazza del Popolo, in the north part of the 
 city, has an obelisk with Egyptian inscriptions to 
 ornament a fountain. The monolith is placed between 
 four spouting lionesses. This specimen of massive art 
 
284 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 was brought by Augustus from Heliopolis, in Egypt, 
 and was originally dedicated to the Sun. The obelisk 
 is now surmounted by a crucifix, placed there by 
 Pontifical edict. Several structures of Rome have 
 been bedecked with emblems of Christian worship. 
 The column of Marcus Aurelius is crowned with the 
 robed statue of a Pontiff. 
 
 In the Palazza adjoining the Basilica of San 
 Giovanni in Laterano is quite an extensive museum ot 
 ancient and mediaeval art. This is about the only 
 church in Rome which permits the presence of profane 
 with Christian objects of art. The mosaics in the 
 floors of one or two halls are marvelously ingenious 
 and beautiful, gold and brilliants constituting the 
 leading ingredients of the composition. The dis- 
 plays of mosaic in animal forms are exquisite. The 
 picture gallery of the Christian Museum embraces 
 illumined scenes from the Old and NCAV Testaments 
 by a high grade of mediaeval painters. Before the 
 erection of St. Peter's, San Giovanni in Laterario was 
 the most important church in Rome. The octagonal 
 Baptistry may have suggested a larger and handsomer 
 structure of the kind at Pisa. 
 
 The Castle of St. Angelo on the north of the 
 Tiber, and connected to the city by a bridge, with 
 spans adorned with colossal angels, was designed to 
 be the tomb of Hadrian, but the charming ruin is now 
 a castle guarding an easy approach to the Vatican by 
 this route. In the interior of the fort are several 
 gloomy dungeons, in which were incarcerated Beatrice 
 Cenci, Cellini, Cagliostro, and other distinguished 
 prisoners not in favor with the " powers " then ruling. 
 
 A few minutes' walk by way of the Borgo Nuovo, 
 takes the tourist from the bridge and castle of St. 
 
WHENCE THE ART OF ROME? 285 
 
 Angel o to the Piazza di S. Pietro, or square directly 
 in front of St. Peter's. A plain obelisk stands at the 
 foot of the steps leading up to the portico of the 
 church. Semicircular colonades extend to the right 
 and left of the magnificent edifice, and add somewhat 
 to the imposing grandeur of the front aspect of the 
 historic structure. The ground occupied by the huge 
 pile of buildings was once the circus of Nero, where 
 St. Peter is said to have suffered martyrdom. The 
 foundation of the present St. Peter's was laid in about 
 the year 1500, by Bramante, but several architects 
 were instrumental in raising the superstructure, 
 Michael Angelo planning the grandest feature of the 
 edifice, the dome. The interior of St. Peter's is strik- 
 ingly impressive, is awe-inspiring. The pillars, niches, 
 statues, paintings, and the symmetry of all the pro- 
 portions contribute to the whelming spectacle. Reach- 
 ing from the substructure of the nave, are four pillars 
 with Corinthian pilasters, and above these is a rich en- 
 tablature which supports the arches extending from 
 one pillar to another to the gorgeous vault above. 
 By the fourth pillar is a sitting statue of St. Peter in 
 bronze, a work of the. fifth- century, and brought from 
 the monastery of Santo Martino. The feet of the 
 saint are bare, and the great toe of the left foot pro- 
 jects a little beyond the pedestal. This is kissed by 
 devotees, and the oft-repeated osculation has worn 
 away a considerable portion of the digit, Probably 
 the custom has given rise to the expression, "kissing 
 the Pope's toe." The dome of the church rests on 
 four huge buttresses which are so arranged that they 
 do not seem to be specially designed to support the 
 immense weight bearing upon them. In the vaulting 
 of the dome are sixteen ribs so gilded and decorated 
 
286 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 that they do not appear to be supporting media. Be- 
 tween the ribs are mosaic displays of great brilliance. 
 In the lowest intercostal space are tinted pictures of 
 the Savior, the Virgin, and the Apostles ; and in the 
 upper space, on a level with the lantern, is God the 
 Father. What is called the Canopy, over the High 
 Altar, is an immense display of bronze. The metal in 
 this weighs ninety tons, and was taken from the 
 Pantheon borrowed, and never to be returned. 
 What was Pagan is now sanctified and Christianized. 
 
 To the left of St. Peter's is what is called the 
 Vatican. This was once a palace and the dwelling 
 place of the Popes. The home of the Pontiff is now 
 in the handsome grounds in the rear of the Vatican 
 Galleries. Here the Pope lives in voluntary seclusion, 
 but walks and drives in the extensive inclosures 
 which surround the Papal mansion. 
 
 On certain days in the week the galleries of art 
 in the Vatican can be visited at a trifling expense. 
 The collection of antiquities is thought to be the 
 finest in the world. It was begun in Pope Julius the 
 Second's time, and has been going on ever since. In 
 the Greek Cross Hall is a 'Venus, with merit enough 
 to have come from the hand of Praxiteles. In the 
 Rotunda is a bust of Zeus, and the finest representation 
 of " the front of Jove" extant. It is from the chisel 
 of Phidias or Lysippus. The Hall of the Muses is 
 filled with very attractive figures in Carrara marble. 
 The Muses were found at Tivoli. In the Gallery of 
 Statuary is Sleeping Ariadne, a voluptuous beauty once 
 thought to represent Cleopatra. Near to the statue is 
 a beautiful Candelabrum found in Hadrian's villa. It 
 is adorned with the heads of Grecian gods, each being 
 a masterpiece. In the Cortile del Belvedere are a 
 
WHENCE THE ART OF ROME? 287 
 
 few specimens of plastic art that will forever re- 
 main unsurpassed. The first of these to be men- 
 tioned is the Laocoon group. Offended Apollo com- 
 manded that the father and two sons he strangled by 
 serpents ; and this composite piece of Pentelic marble 
 represents the execution of the relentless order. The 
 group was unearthed in 1506, and pronounced "a 
 marvel of art " by Michael Angelo. Not far from 
 the location of Laocoon is Apollo Belvedere, a piece 
 of sculpture highly esteemed by every art critic. In 
 another corner of the corridor are the two pugilists, 
 by Canova. There exists some diversity of opinion in 
 regard to the " make-up " and pose of these athletes. 
 The display of muscularity is good, but a lack of 
 spirit is manifest in them. In a hall of the Quadrato 
 Atrio stands the Torso of Hercules. The statue was ex- 
 ecuted at Athens B. c., and was found near the theater 
 of Pompey in the 16th century. It is one of the 
 boasted treasures of the Vatican. Plaster casts of 
 the original are in every art gallery of Europe and 
 America. 
 
 The paintings of the Vatican are numerous and 
 wonderfully fine. They are largely scriptural, and 
 mostly mediaeval. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel 
 was embellished by Michael Angelo, several years 
 being spent in the laborious work. In another part 
 of the multiple gallery are the Stanze of Raphael ; and 
 it is difficult to tell in what respect the merits of 
 one artist exceed those of the other. Michael Angelo 
 loved sculpture and architecture, and painted as a 
 pastime, or under compulsion. The ceiling work of 
 the Sistine Chapel was forced upon the great artist 
 against his will, though he took considerable satisfac- 
 tion in the results of his unremitting labor with the 
 
288 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 brush. Raphael could create a lovelier Madonna than 
 Angelo, but the latter could excel the former where 
 physical and intellectual power is to be portrayed. 
 The Jehovah of Michael Angelo would be too grand 
 a theme for Raphael to display on a large scale. The 
 angels constituted a fitter subject for the younger 
 artist. It is not easy to give an outline of the Omni- 
 present Deity. Michael Angelo found it an unsatis- 
 factory undertaking; and his efforts in that way are 
 not above criticism. " The Spirit of God moving 
 upon the Waters," is too ethereal and unsubstantial 
 for even a fresco. 
 
 On the inclined part of the vaulting, Michael An- 
 gelo has given Prophets and Sibyls in alternate groups. 
 Mingling mythological individuals with Biblical char- 
 acters is fairly interesting, but hardly appropriate for 
 a Pontifical chapel. However, the Sibyls are imper- 
 sonated as devotees to study and philosophy, and 
 perhaps to religion. The Last Judgment, painted on 
 the altar-wall, and executed thirty years after the orna- 
 mentation of the ceiling, is a great and grand work, 
 but in some respects an incongruous composition. The 
 scene is crowded with figures, with Christ as Judge in 
 conspicuous size and coloring. Devils, angels, and 
 sinners, with here and there a saint, are present in 
 profusion. Charon, who is a pagan god, is introduced 
 with an over-crowded boat busily engaged in ferrying 
 souls over the Styx. 
 
 The Stanze of Raphael embrace many mural paint- 
 ings of frescoes which, so far as charm of form and 
 delicacy of coloring may be concerned in pictures, 
 challenge successful competition ; they awaken won- 
 der and admiration in the appreciative beholder. 
 Grand personages in the world's history up to Ra- 
 
WHENCE THE ART OF ROME? 289 
 
 phael's time entered some one of the many composi- 
 tions represented, theology, poetry, philosophy, and 
 justice constituting the leading topics in the illustra- 
 tions. The chief characters are mythological or bib- 
 lical, the latter taking the lead. A predominant feat- 
 ure of the paintings is to show the triumph of Christ- 
 ianity over paganism. The work's of Raphael exhibit 
 a fertility of invention, and a grace and delicacy of 
 treatment, which characterize the genius and talents 
 of the almost youthful artist. 
 
 In what passes as the Picture Gallery of the Vat- 
 ican are displayed hundreds of fine paintings the 
 productions of such artists of mediaeval and modern 
 times as Bellini, Fra Angelico, Garofalo, Murillo, 
 Titian, Perugino, Sacchi, Guido, Gorreggio, Poussin, 
 and other painters of greater or less renown. 
 
 The Basilicas in and about Rome are ornamented 
 with paintings of great merit, the subjects mostly 
 representing Bible scenes. Not infrequently the im- 
 portance of a church depends largely upon the cost 
 and character of its pictorial adornment. Almost 
 every high altar is surmounted with " the Virgin," 
 surrounded by angels and saints, and these paintings 
 usually exhibit considerable artistic merit. The repe- 
 tition of the subject is so frequent that the visitor be- 
 comes weary of it. The " Annunciation" constitutes 
 a theme often seized upon by the painter of basilican 
 pieces. The Madonna as Mater is usually presented 
 with the infant Jesus in her arms; and the picture is 
 quite pleasing to every body, to say nothing of the 
 adoration bestowed upon it by the faithful. 
 
 The Catacombs of Rome are, by a law repeatedly 
 re-enacted, outside of the walls of the city. Crema- 
 tion became common among the Romans at an early 
 
290 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 date, but Egyptians and Christians were opposed to 
 this manner of disposing of the dead, on the ground 
 that it was contrary to their ideas of a resurrection of 
 the body. The Catacombs of Callistus, now visited by 
 tourists, are dismal underground excavations, which 
 have been pillaged of jewels and objects of art. At 
 one period it was common to rifle burial places. Many 
 bones were carried away and sold as those of saints. 
 Paintings of merit exposed in chapels adjacent to cata- 
 combs usually represent biblical traditions, most of 
 them having reference to a future state. 
 
ANATOMY-COMPARATIVE AND HUMAN. 
 
 The study of anatomy begins in the lower organ- 
 isms and ends in the higher. I say the lower, for the 
 lowest may not have been studied or contemplated. 
 The microscope continues to reveal smaller and still 
 smaller phytes and zymes, until the end seems to reach 
 into infinity. The pathologist of to-day has a new 
 microbe to "mount" before he be "done" with its 
 novel predecessor. Numbers of these microscopic 
 bodies have been differentiated as vegetable, and as 
 many manifest the characteristics of animals. Not a 
 few of both kinds do us mortal harm, and a certain 
 other few have been utilized for the benefit of man- 
 kind. The ferments, so called, are mostly microscopic 
 plants. Such organisms are too small to be dissected,, 
 and rarely admit of classification. They have been 
 studied mostly as the producers of disease, as the 
 sources of morbid action, as the living cause of dis- 
 ease, as pathological entities. At present it is a ques- 
 tion whether microbes be the cause or sequence of mor- 
 bid activity, the arguments pro and con being pretty 
 equally divided. It is obvious from experimental tests 
 that the majority of infusoria, as minute germs and 
 spores have been denominated, are deleterious to man- 
 kind, yet a certain minority prove of more or less 
 utility as peptics. 
 
 Plants and trees in a fossil state were the basis of 
 our coal, petroleum, and " natural gas," hence a luxu- 
 riant flora overspread considerable portions of the 
 
 (291) 
 
292 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 earth before the higher animals were created. In the 
 coal beds we find casts of huge lycopods, ferns, and 
 conifers, and mammoth growths of the palm family. 
 The ferns of the carboniferous age in geological no- 
 menclature, which now grow to a height of four to 
 five feet, then attained an altitude of sixty or eighty 
 feet. The anatomy of these plants has to be studied 
 in the barks, twigs, and leaves of carbonized speci- 
 mens which have not suffered mutilation. Occasion- 
 ally the trunk of a standing tree is offered for dissec- 
 tion and examination. 
 
 But before the carboniferous age were both plants 
 and animals not coal-making trees, nor creatures 
 above mollusks and fishes, yet forming chapters in the 
 earth's history which, through preserved fossils, can 
 be read with distinctness of expression not to be sur- 
 passed by the electrotyped pages of a modern book. 
 And away back of the carboniferous period far back 
 in the Devonian era were stately trees, mosses, and 
 marine plants, with a multitude of monstrous sharks, 
 and fish enough for them to feed upon. And even 
 anterior to the Devonian, was the Silurian age, noted 
 for the absence of fishes, and famous for its infinitude 
 of mollusks for the predominance of alga 1 and in- 
 vertebrate animals. Then there were no land animals 
 all life was in the sea. It corresponded with the 
 Divine fiat at the commencement of the fifth day, ac- 
 cording to the Mosaic account of creation: "Let the 
 waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatmv 
 that hath life." 
 
 Before the Silurian, in Archaean time, when, so 
 far as the " records of the rocks go," there was no liv- 
 ing thing on the earth, nor in the waters thereof; it 
 was void of organic life. Dismal indeed must have 
 
ANATOMY. . 293 
 
 been that period in the planet's history and not so 
 dreary either to contemplate in comparison with that 
 of the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, when the 
 smaller fishes were the legitimate prey of the larger 
 when the largest sharks consumed a school of fishes a 
 day. Those were horrible feasts, and so are those 
 held by smaller fishes to-day. The ten -pound pike 
 has had a two-pound trout taken from its maw. 
 "Game fish,' ? so called, must have living food, and 
 the appetite of such is almost insatiable. Survey their 
 mouths, and be amazed at the dental display. Long 
 and slender teeth are set so that no victim can escape 
 the way in is in one direction, and that is through 
 barbed fauces, " nulla vestigia retrorsum" 
 
 The shape of a handsome fish is admirable for 
 swimming; the fins are perfect poisers and propellers; 
 its tail is un equaled as an instrument of propulsion ; 
 its iridescent scales, laid on in artistic rows, constitute 
 beautiful shields against injury, and an envelope to 
 lessen friction in gliding through the water. The 
 gills, with mobile covers, are charmingly adapted to 
 aeration effected in a watery environment. The mus- 
 cular force of fishes is immense; the ribs are exceed- 
 ingly tough, and there is a layer of elastic cartilage 
 between the vertebrae. 
 
 In a cursory consideration of comparative anat- 
 omy, the shell fishes mollusca must not be left un- 
 mentioned. The calcareous cover of the humble snail 
 in the garden walk is highly ornamental in form ami 
 tints; and being a part of the creature, it is borne 
 about with ease. The mollusk may be considered "at 
 home" wheresoever it goes, but its latch string is not 
 always out. Two shelled niollusks oysters and clams 
 are famous for foods the world over. The muscular 
 
294 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 part of bivalves holds the shells so snugly in contact, 
 that it requires the force of a lever oyster knife to 
 pry them apart. 
 
 Among articulate animals is the lobster; its skele- 
 ton, like an armor, is on the outside ; and in this re- 
 spect it is quite the antithesis of vertebrates. This 
 skeletal peculiarity renders the creature rather clumsy. 
 The fossil trilobite was the lobster's tribal ancestor, 
 but perished in Silurian seas. 
 
 The student of zoology is of necessity a lover of 
 living things. The ugly toad has a jewel in its head, 
 that is, it has something in its being which we may 
 stud} 7 with interest and profit. When the toad licks 
 up a fly its tongue moves with the rapidity of light- 
 ning. In fact the act is accomplished in our presence 
 and we do not observe the motion. The insect does 
 not fly away, yet disappears ; soon a motion of the 
 toad's throat indicates that food is swallowed. A frog 
 is fairly quick in its attempts to catch prey, but the 
 tongue has little to do with the capture. If we could 
 understand the activities of the lingual plexus of the 
 toad, a step would be taken in the science of neurology. 
 It is easy to comprehend how speed is derived in a ser- 
 pent's head when the reptile inflicts a poisonous bite, 
 for the recoiled head and neck, through a series of 
 toggle-joints, can plunge forward a foot as quickly as 
 an inch could be compassed. The anatomy and func- 
 tions of a serpent's organization are marvels of adap- 
 tation of means to ends. That a limbless creature can 
 attain the speed of a horse is quite astounding. If a 
 snake be placed upon a polished floor, it may wriggle 
 in serpentine curves, but no headway is made; but 
 lay a brick here and there, and the worried reptile will 
 
ANATOMY. 295 
 
 take advantage of them as fulcra to display propulsive 
 force. 
 
 In the contemplation of reptiles and birds, we 
 perceive that they possess wide jaws. The peculiarity 
 is to give these creatures faucial capacity; and if we 
 give attention to skeletal parts, an extra bone will be 
 found near the ear; this is the os quadratum quad- 
 rate bone placed at the base of the skull to receive 
 the articulation of the under jaw. ~No mammal pos- 
 sesses such an arrangement to give width to the throat. 
 Birds have the two clavicles joined in the median line 
 near the keel of the breast-bone, and the two branches 
 thus united constitute the furculum, or "wish-bone." 
 Extending from the breast-bone upward and outward 
 to the head of the scapula, in birds, is a strong bone 
 not found in the mammal skeleton. This at -first was 
 a puzzle for comparative anatomists, but it is now as 
 well understood and as rationally explained as any 
 part of the skeleton. It is the eoracoid bone the 
 coracoid process of the scapula specialized, or de- 
 veloped enormously for a particular purpose that of 
 forming a buttress for the support of the wing. 
 
 In making even a slight examination of the ani- 
 mal kingdom, it is easy to see that one species or order 
 of animals grades or gradually shades into another; 
 that there is a blending of features at more or less 
 points in their organization. If it were not for the 
 disposition to vary, the world would present a same- 
 ness that would be wearisome. However, in extreme 
 variances it is not always easy to account for so much 
 swerving from typical forms, unless something besides 
 utility be gained in the extraordinary development of 
 parts. The huge ears of an ass do not render the 
 animal's sense of hearing more acute, and the auricu- 
 
296 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 lar appendages are too long to be handsome. Pos- 
 sibly the display may be in mimicry of horns, to make 
 the creature appear more formidable to carnivorous 
 enemies. The widely branching horns of the elk and 
 moose are quite an annoyance in thickly wooded 
 countries, sometimes seriously impeding the animal's 
 flight. 
 
 The tendency in the general evolution of plants 
 and animals seems for the best. In some instances 
 there is a wonderful provision made in the vegetable 
 kingdom for the diffusion of seeds. The maple, for 
 instance, has a winged seed, which in a high wind is 
 made to sail off to the distance of miles. Each seed 
 of the thistle has a feathery attachment which secures 
 the widest dissemination. Insects with highly de- 
 veloped wings may cross a vast expanse of territory 
 in a single day. The carrion fly goes with the velocity 
 of a bullet; the humming-bird is a swift flyer; and 
 the carrier-pigeon spans from sixty to eighty miles an 
 hour. The shape of the pigeon's body is admirably 
 adapted to cleave the air, and the long and slender 
 wings, moved by powerful pectoral muscles, com- 
 bine flying qualities which are unequaled. Gulls and 
 other well known sea-birds can remain longer on the 
 wing, but can not make headway at so high a rate of 
 speed. The albatross has been reported as following 
 a vessel in the Indian Ocean for two thousand miles, 
 or for fifteen days, and not rest a wing during that 
 time. Flocks of wild pigeons have been observed to 
 fly for twelve hours at the rate of thirty miles an 
 hour, covering a distance of three or four hundred 
 miles without partaking of food or drink. The out- 
 line of the bird has been copied by the makers of 
 ships; arid advantages have been gained by a study of 
 
ANATOMY. 297 
 
 good models. A duck swims swiftly and with a mod- 
 erate displacement of water. The propulsive power 
 in the legs and feet is economically displayed. The 
 penguin swims with the combined aid of flippers and 
 feet, and overtakes a fleeing fish. 
 
 While the " lower animals," so called, possess me- 
 chanical principles in their make-up, and the most pro- 
 nounced distinctive qualities, the higher types of life, 
 including man, exhibit in a single individual, the most 
 to admire. One of the strangest creatures amongst 
 the mammalian group is the bat. It wings its way, 
 while catching gnats at twilight, with the ease of a 
 bird, though not with the steadiness of a feathered 
 flyer. The vampire of the tropics is large and fierce, 
 and feeds upon the blood of horses and oxen, unless 
 such stock be corraled and covered with wire netting. 
 In the caves of the West India Islands, there maybe 
 seen by day, suspended from the roofs of grottoes, 
 thousands of bats as large as squabs. 
 
 In early geological times, there were flying 
 dragons of reptilian characteristics ; and smaller speci- 
 mens may be found at present in islands of the Indian 
 Ocean. The wing is a skinny parachute, stretched 
 from one prominent point in the skeleton to another, 
 and is used chiefly as a sail to enable the possessor to 
 glide to quite a distance from higher to lower planes. 
 Flying lemurs have not well developed pectoral 
 wings, like those of bats, but an expanse of integu- 
 ment along the flanks, extending from the fore to the 
 hind limbs. The loose skin is folded or contracted as 
 soon as the aerial animal alights ; then the " wings " 
 disappear, till wanted again in a repeated flight. 
 The extinct pterodactyle of the carboniferous age 
 was not a bat, but a reptilian bird, yet it possessed a 
 
298 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 skinny parachute expanded upon a wonderfully pro- 
 longed digit. The need of an organ tends to its 
 development, and the uselessness of an organ leads to 
 atrophy and extinction. This would not have been 
 well known were it not for archaeological researches. 
 
 By fossil tooth and petrous track, 
 Is traced the creature story back. 
 
 It is interesting to know that animals kindred to 
 those now living, yet larger and now extinct, preceded 
 present races. In plain terms, the earth gave birth to 
 gigantic creatures of certain types ; then after an ex- 
 tended range of existence they we're cut off to give 
 place to smaller animals of the same kind. . . . 
 
 I have stated that gigantic animals of certain 
 orders came first, and small ones afterward. But 
 such is not the case with the equine family. The 
 earliest possible horse was not larger than a sheep, 
 and several larger and still larger introductions came 
 along in the chain of evolution or development before 
 the large and handsome animal of to-day stepped 
 forth. In Myocene times, as companions of elephants 
 and several varieties of the proboscidian family, the 
 horse ranged over considerable portions of J^orth and 
 South America ; but when this continent was discov- 
 ered by Columbus not a horse was anywhere to be 
 seen. Then, when re-introduced from Europe, the 
 animal found a region suited to its purposes, and it 
 has multiplied till, on the pampas of the LaPlata, vast 
 herds run wild, while there are too few of the human 
 race to break them to the bit. Some great catas- 
 trophe must have overtaken the early horses and ele- 
 phants of this continent. Was it an overspreading of 
 glacial ice from the north? Did the glacial avalanche 
 
ANATOMY. 299 
 
 overspread what is now Mexico, the Isthmus and 
 tropical lands ? Might not the elephant and the 
 horse retreat before the encroaching cold? In Siberia 
 the mammoth was so suddenly chilled that the 
 stomach exhibits partly digested food ; and its flesh, 
 preserved in ice, is gnawed by wolves. There must 
 have been a sudden overturning of mundane things ! 
 In places the blizzard may not have been so severe or 
 fatal. 
 
 In a philosophical consideration of the largest ani- 
 mals now living, is it not probable that elephants, 
 rhinoceroses, camels and whales, are the direct 
 descendants of the earliest of their kind? Larger 
 sharks existed in Eocene seas than now can be seen ; 
 yet as large crocodiles and gavials are met in Africa 
 and South America as fossil remains of similar 
 creatures indicate. The African ostrich is much 
 smaller than the extinct moa and dinornis, yet there 
 is reason to believe it is the prolongation of an original 
 type. And there is testimony to prove that the gigan- 
 tic forms cited are on their way out of existence ; that 
 the remainder of their career is comparatively short. 
 The elephant will be slaughtered by ivory hunters, 
 the ostrich for its plumes, and the whale for its oil. 
 If it had not been for the discovery of petrok-unu 
 there would have been a hundred whale ships wlinv 
 one is now sent to the cetacean fishing grounds. No 
 longer is the great beast harpooned, but a shell fired 
 from a rifled cannon as surely hits and kills as a marks- 
 man scores a round at target practice. 
 
 Speaking of whales brings to mind the fact that 
 the largest cetaceans are the biggest animals that ever 
 lived in recent or past times. A whale one hundred 
 feet lon^ and such are occasionally caught in Arctic 
 
300 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 and Antarctic seas will weigh about one hundred 
 tons. This Leviathan this monster of the deep is 
 edentate ; it has no well developed teeth. Its food is 
 jelly-fishes and minute mollusks caught by a balleen 
 strainer. The gigantic mammalian travels with the 
 speed of the swiftest express train, and even faster. 
 If a whale eighty feet long should engage in a race 
 with the Etruria, to cross the Atlantic, leaving New 
 York at the same time, the cetacean would swim to 
 Queenstown, back to New York, and then reach the 
 vessel in the fogs of the Grand Banks. The whale 
 moving at a moderate rate of speed, and hunting for 
 jelly-fish, breathes once in three or four minutes, or 
 once while making three or four miles. The pectoral 
 fins or flippers are not used to effect headway, but to 
 poise the body in the water; the tail as a propeller 
 not moving in lateral strokes as does the tail of a fish, 
 but striking the moving blows downward and upward. 
 In Puget Sound I saw a whale scoop in a jelly-fish 
 that would seemingly fill a hogshead. A square rod 
 or more of the surface looked smooth as if oil had 
 been poured upon the water. This the passing whale 
 saw when its head was shoved above the surface to 
 blow, and it then turned to swallow the food. In two 
 minutes the cetacean rose to blow again at a distance 
 of at least three miles away, and in the direction of 
 Alaskan w r aters. 
 
 A strange group of undeveloped pelvic bones are 
 found in the after part of the body. These are utterly 
 useless, so far as can be estimated, and convey the 
 idea that the creature was not an original creative 
 conception, but a modification from something higher 
 or lower. In organization the whale is nearest allied 
 to the seal. Perhaps the sea-lion is the indirect de- 
 
ANATOMY. 301 
 
 scendant of a smaller species of whale. The seal's 
 caudal feet move up and down as does the whale's 
 tail. Seals give birth to their young and suckle them 
 on land or on ice floes, but whales always stick to their 
 native element. A fossil may yet be found to throw 
 some light on the source of the whale's origin. The 
 manatee, or sea-cow, is first cousin to the whale, and 
 there may have been a nearer relationship between 
 them. The stroke of the tail is the same in both 
 creatures. The uncut teeth in the whale's under-jaw 
 indicate that it may have been a saltus from the sea- 
 cow, or from a great seal now extinct. 
 
 How the nostrils of the whale were placed away 
 back on the head is not easy to explain, unless a need 
 in the organic world is followed by a modification in 
 its favor. While it rests or sleeps at the surface, the 
 nasal apertures are above water, and the animal 
 breathes like an ox, and does not spout. However, if 
 the waves slop over the openings, the water is blown 
 upward with considerable force. The holes are closed 
 with sensitive valves which open to air, but close 
 when touched by water. When the animal dives to 
 the depth of a thousand feet, the pressure on the 
 valves must be great, unless support counter-pressure 
 come from elastic air in the lungs. In fin-backed 
 whales we have a fishy feature in a mammal. We 
 can not see how the slightly useful fin could corne 
 through inheritance. Several varieties of cetaceans 
 get along without the dorsal fin. At best the append- 
 age can do no more than help poise the trunk in a 
 comfortable attitude. It does not seem that necessity 
 was at the foundation of the dorsal fin. 
 Biology looks to heredity, adaptability, and utility, 
 for alterations in structure and modifications of 
 
302 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 function. In seeking the cause of the variations ob- 
 servable in the organic world, we have to take into 
 account food, climatic influences, local and general 
 vicissitudes and necessities ; and in the recognition of 
 causes, we must admit that a certain degree of in- 
 telligence pervades the Universe. ~No one will attempt 
 to deny that lack of use results in atrophy and absolute 
 loss of structure ; and is not the evidence just as strong 
 that vigorous action tends to development ? The or- 
 ganic change may be slow in its manifestations, yet in 
 the infinity of time what is the necessity for haste ? 
 The ox while chewing the cud would suffer a dental 
 clash, if the creature possessed upper incisors ; the 
 horse by a tilt of the jaws can cut a mouthful of grass 
 with its upper and lower incisors, then use the grinders 
 without having the incisors touch each other in mas- 
 tication. The beaver can use its gnawing teeth all 
 day without having its grinders clash ; and then it 
 may masticate its food without the incisors meeting 
 each other. By an arrangement in the socket for the 
 condyles of the lower jaw, one set of teeth can be used 
 at a time, and the other be unemployed. Now, it is 
 not difficult to conceive how these articular changes 
 might be brought about in the course of time, if effort 
 be put forth to accomplish the object. 
 
 In the contemplation of human anatomy, there is 
 much to be considered which is made philosophical by 
 comparing and contrasting features in the lower ani- 
 mals, and by keeping in mind that man is a mammal, 
 and embraces in his development many of the charac- 
 teristics of the inferior animals. The lower animals 
 are governed only by instincts, and are therefore re- 
 sponsible only to them. When a hawk swoops upon 
 a chicken or small bird, it does a cruel act, yet the 
 
ANATOMY. 303 
 
 bird of prey obeys its instincts as unswervingly as the 
 woodpecker does when it sends its attenuated and 
 barbed tongue into a worm-hole and drags forth a 
 grub to be swallowed as a delicious morsel. When we 
 shoot birds for mere sport we are more to be blamed 
 than the hawk or owl for taking life to satisfy the 
 pangs of hunger. ... 
 
 The comely athlete has developed his stalwart 
 form and figure by manly sports or toughening acts. 
 Those artistic arms and legs were not brought out in 
 groveling pursuits those fine muscles were trained 
 into shape by methodical exercise. The gymnasts of 
 our best schools for physical training were developed 
 day by day in systematic efforts. The overworked 
 rustic is neither an athlete nor a gymnast ; he exer- 
 cises his muscles, but not methodically he is a slow 
 molded drudge. A Grecian face and " a mold of 
 form" are combinations almost never seen among 
 common laborers, for such are not fed with care, and 
 groomed by skilled hands. Even the prize-fighter is 
 fed and handled with artistic skill for weeks before he 
 enters the prize ring. The huge tragedian, as he 
 stalks on the stage, displaying the arms of Vulcan 
 and the calves of Milo, had to attain the gigantic de- 
 velopment by several semesters in the best gymnastic 
 schools. 
 
 There is a branch of anatomy studied and culti- 
 vated by painters and sculptors. It marks the out- 
 lines of men and animals, and embraces their features. 
 The antique group, combining Amazon, horse, and an 
 attacking feline, is an artistic display which commands 
 the attention of the skilled and the untutored in aes- 
 thetics. . . .... Leonardo da Vinci engaged in mak- 
 ing human dissections when anathema was pronounced 
 
304 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 against those who were regarded as impious for 
 desecrating the dead; and the great sketcher studied 
 the skeletal and muscular parts of dogs, deer, horses, 
 and wild boars, that he might represent these crea- 
 tures faithfully in art. Poets are granted the license 
 to overstate an incident; and artists enjoy the indul- 
 gence of the same liberal spirit. A piece of art 
 may be a shade overdrawn, and the custom will not 
 be criticised, but Leonardo da Vinci quite overstepped 
 the margin of favor granted to those of his profes- 
 sion. His otherwise fine figures exhibit too much 
 muscularity appear crowded with anatomy. The 
 partakers of the "Last Supper" are athletes, rather 
 than the "meek in spirit." It was pardonable if not 
 commendable in Rubens to give sturdy trunks and 
 limbs to the stalwart men who lowered the body of 
 Christ in " The Descent from the Cross." 
 
 The reason Grecian gods were so attractive, and 
 goddesses so beautiful, is that they were copied in art 
 from the shapeliest of human forms. Antique forms 
 represented evil influences, hence their physiques were 
 in keeping with their moral natures were anatomical 
 distortions. 
 
 The study of human anatomy is said to be dry, 
 and so it may be in its restricted details ; but when a 
 free rein is given to the lover of the beautiful in nature, 
 where can he find more to interest and instruct than 
 in the contemplation of anatomical principles? The 
 range of mobility in the human arm is permitted by 
 sets of muscles which act on the short arms of skele- 
 tal levers, that the limb may be small, quick-moving, 
 and graceful. The muscles of the leg are arranged 
 with a view to support the body on one limb, and to 
 walk on two feet. The upright attitude in man is a 
 
ANATOMY. 
 
 physiological necessity, inasmuch as the skeleton and 
 motor powers are so arranged and displayed that 
 the erect position is the easiest to maintain. But 
 it is the educated brain of man which lends to him 
 his conceded importance. The physique of a six- 
 foot savage may challenge our admiration, but we 
 more admire the intellectual powers of a Bismarck or 
 a Gladstone. The rude men of primitive races were 
 stalwart, yet through a lack of efficient weapons their 
 numbers were kept down by the prowess and ferocity 
 of wild beasts. Cultivated man, skilled in the arts, is 
 more than a match for savages and ferocious animals. 
 An ounce bullet is sent through the head or heart of 
 the ponderous and powerful beasts, and the victims fall 
 as impotent as a pheasant or a hare. And strangest 
 of all is that we know very little about the brain 
 which gives man his pronounced superiority over the 
 creatures which perish by the touch of his hand. To 
 know ourselves better and better, we must compare 
 our cerebral development with the brains of those ani- 
 mals which preceded us. . . ; . 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF BARON CUVIER. 
 
 (Read before the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, Sept., 1877.) 
 
 The study of zoology as a department of human 
 knowledge was well begun by Aristotle ; and if it had 
 not been weighed down with ludicrous fables, it might 
 have attained a substantial foundation in the Grecian 
 schools. There is no evidence that Rome, during her 
 rise, culmination, and decline, embraced an individual, 
 except Pliny, who could claim to possess a smattering 
 of zoological knowledge. The Greek and Roman 
 churches forbade investigations of a scientific nature, 
 and prohibited all dissections. For nearly fifteen 
 centuries after the overthrow of the Roman empire, 
 the best of Europe was in a state of semi-barbarism. 
 Geometricians, mathematicians, and astronomers made 
 some progress, yet under threats, difficulties, and dan- 
 gers. . Without civil liberty and religious tolerance 
 how can progress be made in scientific pursuits ? 
 Egypt and India entertained transcendental notions 
 regarding metempsychosis, yet such absurdities were 
 scientific hindrances. 
 
 During the latter part of the last century John 
 Hunter, by his indefatigable industry, collected a mass 
 of facts to be used in establishing a system of zoology, 
 but the great collector died before his scientific plans 
 had taken shape. Oken, Lamarck, and Linnaeus had 
 done considerable toward the same grand object ; and 
 Goethe, Geifroy St. Hilaire, Blumenbach, and others 
 (306) 
 
BARON CUVIER. 307 
 
 worthy of mention, were working in a similar direc- 
 tion. Humboldt also furnished valuable facts and 
 suggestions, and the brilliant talents of Buffon turned 
 the popular mind to the cultivation of a taste for 
 natural history. 
 
 While zoological studies were thus pursued in the 
 great capitals of Europe, and by men of the highest 
 order of intellect, he that was to be the greatest of natu- 
 ralists was ushered into existence. George Cuvier was 
 born in 1769, at Montbeliard, a town belonging then 
 to Switzerland, but afterward to France. His parents 
 were French protestants, who had been driven from 
 their native land through religious persecution. The 
 father of Cuvier was an officer in the French service ; 
 and his mother, an accomplished woman, became the 
 instructress of her son. At the age of eight the lad 
 came into possession of Gesrier's History o'f Quadru- 
 peds, and a beautifully illustrated copy of Buffon. 
 These books kindled a desire in the youth to become 
 a naturalist, and he pursued the object of his ambition 
 at every leisure moment. His first efforts in the pur- 
 suit of art and science were in copying the pictures he 
 had studied ; and so faithful were the delineations that 
 he attracted the attention of critics. He also made 
 unparalleled progress in Greek, Latin, and mathe- 
 matics, yet found time each day to make a new pict- 
 ure. The Duke of Wurtemburg heard of his wonder- 
 ful talents, and sent him to Stuttgard to be educated 
 free of expense. 
 
 Although at a military school, the young scientist 
 pushed his studies in natural history with zeal, and at 
 the end of two years the Duke conferred upon him 
 the distinguished honor of chevalierie. 
 
 At the close of his academical career the young 
 
308 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 student became tutor to the son of Comte d'Hericy, 
 and while thus engaged, utilized his leisure time in 
 pursuing ichthyological studies. A neighbor who had 
 a taste for the study of natural history, possessed an 
 extensive collection of the fishes of the Mediterra- 
 nean, and Cuvier soon had every interesting specimen 
 carefully depicted. After studying two years, of fishes 
 in general, he went to Paris, where he was very soon 
 appointed a member of the Commission of Arts, and 
 professor of the Central School of the Pantheon. 
 While holding this situation he prepared for his pu- 
 pils the "Tableaux Elementaire de I'Histoire Naturelle 
 des Animaux" This was his first literary and scientific 
 production, yet it contained a grand division of the 
 animal kingdom into vertebrata, articulata, mollusca, 
 mid radiata. He proposed that objects in natural his- 
 tory should bear double names representing genus 
 and species, as felis leo, the lion ; felis tigris, the tiger ; 
 canis lupus, the wolf; canis vulpes, the fox; and when 
 families were grouped together, a single term was em- 
 ployed, as felidce, to represent all of the cat-kind ; 
 canidcz for all of the dog family, and so on, the termi- 
 nal part of the word signifying that all species re- 
 sembled, in some leading feature, the representative 
 or typical form of the group. 
 
 The department of vertebrates was subdivided 
 into four classes, as mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes, 
 before Cuvier's time, yet he so embodied it in his clas- 
 sification that it now appears as the part of a general 
 whole. These classes were further subdivided into 
 orders, as carnivora, herbivora, and cetacca, of the mam- 
 mal class ; perch ers, climbers, waders, and swimmers, 
 of the bird-class ; lizards, snakes, turtles, and frogs, of 
 the reptile class ; and ganoids, placoids, ctenoids, and 
 
BARON CUVIER. 309 
 
 cycloids, among fishes. In the same manner Cuvier 
 subdivided the articulates, the mollusks, and the radi- 
 ates ; and his tables, with some modifications, are 
 now to be found in every school-room in Europe and 
 America. 
 
 Microscopic animalcules and vegetable germs 
 which abound in fluids, and are too minute for classi- 
 fication, were called zoophytes. Cuvier intended to 
 have these investigated and brought within the rules 
 applicable in the arrangement of the higher animals, 
 but he made little progress with the work. 
 
 During the first year of his Parisian life, he was 
 appointed assistant to the curator of comparative an- 
 atomy in the Jardin des Plantes; and upon the basis 
 of five old skeletons he commenced the collection and 
 scientific arrangement of one of the most extensive 
 cabinets of zoological specimens in the world. The 
 opportunities here enjoyed led him to commence a 
 work on Anatomic Compares., and also one on Regne 
 Animal, which were only finished in the course of 
 years. Napoleon, appreciating the brilliant talents of 
 Cuvier, took pleasure in appointing him one of the 
 Inspector Generals for establishing lyceums in thirty 
 towns of France. Cuvier was instrumental in found- 
 ing three of the most famous, which are now the uni- 
 versities of Marseilles, Nice and Bordeaux. 
 
 Cuvier afterward held other appointments under 
 the government, some of which he filled during stir- 
 ring periods of the French Revolution. His views 
 were so moderate and conciliatory that the successful 
 or succeeding ruler did not disturb the popular scien- 
 tist. Although a man of pronounced opinions, and 
 sometimes an active partisan in political movements, 
 and a staunch Protestant, when parties in power were 
 
310 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 mostly Catholic or infidel, he was discreet enough to 
 escape the wrath of extremists. His devotion to sci- 
 ence made his presence pleasing to all parties. Then, 
 again, Cuvier was uncommonly attractive in manners 
 and address. He lifted his hat to princes and peas- 
 ants with the same ease and grace. He bowed to 
 every child that passed ; and shook hands with those 
 who seemed to need recognition and encouragement. 
 
 Cuvier married Madame Duvaucel, an4 became 
 the father of four children, all of whom he survived. 
 The last, an only daughter, a lovely character, and the 
 idol of her father, died of consumption a few days be- 
 fore she was to be married. The sad event made such 
 a deep impression upon the illustrious scientist that he 
 never fully recovered from the shock. 
 
 As Secretary of the Institute, Cuvier became the 
 biographer of the celebrated scientists of his day; and 
 he performed the service with such generous sentiment 
 and richness of language, that in this department of 
 literature he undoubtedly achieved one of his most 
 notable triumphs. He manifested a lively interest in 
 the welfare of his pupils, and rarely administered a 
 rebuke even when the provocation to do so was great. 
 One day a student of medicine came to him, and ven- 
 tured to say that he thought he had discovered some- 
 thing new in the nervous system while dissecting the 
 viscera of a human subject. "Are you an entomolo- 
 gist?" asked Cuvier. "No," replied the student. 
 " Well, then," returned the master, "go and dissect an 
 insect, I care not which, then reconsider your observa- 
 tion, and if it appear to be correct, I will believe you 
 on your word." The student followed the teacher's 
 advice, and after dissecting specimens of several spe- 
 cies, came back with the confession that he had begun 
 
BARON CUVIER. 311 
 
 too high with his studies that the lower organic 
 forms furnished stepping stones to a knowledge of the 
 higher. Cuvier replied, "You are now on the right 
 road, go on." 
 
 When Cuvier observed a student laboring hard 
 yet unsuccessfully over a knotty point in zoology, and 
 he was sure nothing but waste of time and discour- 
 agement could be the upshot of it, he would patiently 
 contribute moments precious to him, in order to un- 
 ravel the student's tangle. 
 
 His purse was ever open to the needy and unfor- 
 tunate of all who came to Paris to gain an understand- 
 ing of natural science. Young men quartered in gar- 
 rets to save expense, or to eke out a scanty income, 
 were frequently aroused from their studies and medi- 
 tations by a gentle tap at the door and the entrance 
 of their revered master. He would come as if enter- 
 ing the chamber of a peer, and with a respectful salu- 
 tation offer the assistance he saw was so much needed. 
 If sickness assailed them, no rest was known till he 
 had procured medical advice and relief. Himself 
 keenly alive to the slighest rudeness or neglect, and 
 grateful for the smallest proof of affection, he knew 
 how to give, not only with a liberal hand, but with 
 a delicacy which never wounded the most sensitive 
 temper. 
 
 Cuvier in his scientific labors did not take up a 
 subject and pursue it until the topic was exhausted, 
 but he kept one branch of study quite in advance of 
 another, making the foremost contribute to the prog- 
 ress of the rest. He did not always follow the plans 
 he laid down for others to pursue, but occasionally 
 took a point in the midst of things and worked his 
 way out as best he could ; and in so doing he fre- 
 
312 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 quently arrived at the solution of a question which 
 might have required more time if approached in a 
 systematic manner. While he was generally success- 
 ful in taking a leap he never advised others to depart 
 from established methods of study. 
 
 The libraries of Cuvier were arranged with a view 
 to facilitate business. He had a desk in each, and 
 manuscript in course of preparation in every depart- 
 ment. By systematizing his time and labor he was 
 enabled to accomplish an astonishing amount of work. 
 When he read a book he indexed the topics, marked 
 passages, and made note of observations and reflec- 
 tions, so that afterward it required little time and 
 trouble to utilize what might be needed; and his 
 memory was so excellent that he generally was spared 
 the labor of referring to notes previously taken. 
 
 As a legislator Cuvier exhibited such an under- 
 standing of law that he astounded the most experi- 
 enced statesmen. As president of the Council he was 
 obliged always to wait till a bill had been discussed 
 by each member; then he summed up what had been 
 said with a rapidity that surprised every listener; and 
 his eloquence was so inspiring, and his generalizations 
 so striking, that the measures he advocated rarely met 
 with successful opposition. His determined resistance 
 to the schemes of the Jesuits was a marked feature in 
 his legislative services. He denied entertaining hos- 
 tile feelings toward that body, but he believed their 
 principles were inimical to the w r elfare of the country. 
 
 As a geologist, Cuvier ranked as high as the best 
 educated men of his time. In his discourse upon the 
 surface of the globe, he shows that he was familiar 
 with leading geological facts. He stated that plants 
 were the earliest organic forms to appear on the earth, 
 
BARON CUVIER. 313 
 
 and that animals made their appearance subsequently. 
 He also remarked that the layers of the planetary 
 crust bore evidence that low and simple forms thrived 
 and became fossils before the higher orders were cre- 
 ated. He was the first to demonstrate that extinct 
 animals were organized on the same unity of plan or 
 type that exists in living specimens. He did not 
 think that there is a continuous or unbroken chain 
 running back from recent to extinct species, but that 
 there had always existed a co-relation of form in the 
 animal kingdom, which could be shown in the creat- 
 ure's entirety or in any of its parts. He held that 
 each bone of the skeleton must bear the characters of 
 its class, order, genus, and even species. In this I be- 
 lieve that he went even further than facts would war- 
 rant. Who could take the femur of a zebra and be 
 able to determine to what species of the equine family 
 it belonged? Who would take any number of bones 
 belonging to a large trout and a small salmon, and 
 undertake to demonstrate to what species of the sal- 
 monidcB the osseous specimens belonged ? 
 
 In the quarries of Montmatre were discovered the 
 fossil bones of the elephant, the rhinosceros, the tiger, 
 the hyena, and of other large animals which Cuvier's 
 genius and industry helped to restore and to name. 
 By labors in this new field of scientific inquiry, Cuvier 
 established the department of palaeontology. The dis- 
 coveries were so new and startling that for a time 
 more interest was centered in extinct than in living 
 animals. 
 
 Cuvier was a careful yet firm supporter of the 
 Mosaic account of creation, and was indisposed to 
 admit doctrines that ran counter to the teachings in 
 Genesis. He believed there had been several sn 
 
314 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 sive organic creations, and that all except the last had 
 "been destroyed hy telluric convulsions. The last em- 
 braced man ; and the early record of this was to be 
 found in Genesis. He gathered evidence to prove that 
 this later creation did not reach back more than six 
 thousand years, and that the animals of this period 
 had not perceptibly changed since the creation. In 
 conversation, when biblical topics were under consid- 
 eration, he supported the Bible's account of creation, 
 and believed that Adam and Eve were the parents of 
 the human race; and that variations of color and pecu- 
 liarities generally have arisen from climatic and other 
 influences. 
 
 He repeatedly states that species never change ; 
 and arraigned the monumental records of Egypt to 
 show that the giraffe, the leopard, the antelope, the 
 ibis, and the crocodile, faithfully depicted on stone 
 5600 years ago, were identical with those now inhabit- 
 ing that country. Why could he not see on the gates 
 of Thebes the pictures of negroes chained in gangs as 
 slaves, negroes as distinct in their features as they 
 are to-day, yet they were not five hundred years from 
 the creation ? If the Coptic artists can be trusted for 
 fidelity to nature, and the creation took place less than 
 five hundred years before their time, the lower ani- 
 mals had not changed to an appreciable extent, yet 
 striking varieties had occurred in the human race, 
 let the primitive pair be white, black, or copper 
 colored. 
 
 When assailed by those who disbelieved in special 
 creations by materialists, Cuvier would quote thus 
 from Genesis : " Let the waters bring forth abun- 
 dantly the moving creature that hath life. Let the 
 earth bring forth the living creature," adding, " God 
 
BARON CUVIBR. 315 
 
 has endowed the surface of the planet with power to 
 bring forth." 
 
 In the classification of animals it was a rule of 
 Cuvier that the skeleton alone need be consulted to 
 ascertain the peculiarities of an animal. He declared 
 that he could as easily point out the difference be- 
 tween the teeth and vertebrae of the dog and the w T olf, 
 as he could that which exists between the fox and 
 the jackal, but w r hen put to test by a contemporary of 
 his, the distinction could not be made. At present, 
 in the determination of species, more importance is 
 placed upon features or external appearances than 
 upon anatomical variations. In many instances, 
 though not in enough to constitute a rule, the skele- 
 ton bears marks of external characters. The superior 
 maxillary of the wart-hog, for instance, has an osseous 
 protuberance just within each tusk, on which the 
 warty excrescence rests. The ordinary pig has a pre- 
 nasal bone on which the snout is placed. No other 
 animal possesses such a bone, though the ant-eaters 
 have something akin to it. 
 
 There has been so much dispute in regard to 
 what constitutes " species " that the critic of Cuvier's 
 classification should be charitable toward what may 
 appear to be errors in his system. When differences 
 amount to permanent variations, species exist, and 
 not otherwise. Of course Cuvier was wrong when he 
 placed the dugong among whales, but that error may 
 be looked upon as accidental. 
 
 The enthusiastic admirers of Cuvier may be par- 
 doned for some extravagant notions they entertained 
 in regard to his skill in restoring the entire animal it' 
 he only possessed a scale, a bone, or a tooth. It is 
 easy in some cases to give the outline of a tish by one 
 
316 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 of its scales. All the ganoids are covered with dia- 
 mond shaped scutes, therefore if a fossil scale of that 
 form be brought from a quarry of gypsum or other 
 Miocene rock, the fish can readily be sketched on a 
 blackboard, and the peculiarities of the creature be 
 given. All of the salmon family have the teeth 
 peculiarly set in the palate, therefore if a fossil jaw 
 bearing that peculiar arrangement of teeth should be 
 discovered in a Pliocene bed, the fact would be estab- 
 lished that the salmonidse existed in that geological 
 period ; and that the waters were cold enough for the 
 fish to flourish in. Nor would it be difficult for the 
 artist to depict the shape of the fish, with its fins and 
 markings. But in other instances, where the animal 
 has no prominent characteristic, the restoration is not 
 so easy and reliable. Cuvier restored the anoplo- 
 therium, the paleeotherium, and Other large creatures 
 from very scanty means, but it is now thought that 
 improvement might be made upon some of them. A 
 study of the various species of the tapir family has 
 thrown some light upon the form and habits of the 
 extinct palseotherium. If Cuvier, in coming across 
 the teeth and pelvis of the orohippus, had attempted 
 to construct a small horse in accordance with his ana- 
 tomical formula, he would undoubtedly have made it 
 a solidungulate, and not a beast with four toes. 
 
 The following words addressed to the Emperor in 
 commendation of Napoleon's desire to make France 
 great in science as well as military achievements, ex- 
 press Cuvier's appreciation of the arts of peace : " To 
 lead the mind of man to its noble destination, a, 
 knowledge of the truth, to spread sound and whole- 
 some ideas among the lowest classes of the people, to 
 draw human beings from the empire of prejudices and 
 
BARON CUVIER. 317 
 
 passions, to make reason the arbitrator and supreme 
 guide of public opinion; these are the essential objects 
 of science. This is how she contributes to the ad- 
 vancement of civilization; this is why she merits the 
 protection of those governments, who, desirous of 
 erecting their power on the surest foundation, form 
 their basis on the common good." In this address 
 Cuvier briefly alludes to what makes a country truly 
 great, yet studiously avoids any allusion to his own 
 labors. 
 
 In the year 1819, Louis XVIII., as a mark of 
 personal esteem, as well as to bestow an honor well 
 deserved, created Cuvier a Baron of France. Paris 
 embraced many scientific societies, and numbers of 
 men engaged in the advancement of science. Cuvier 
 was at the head of these, and by his efforts the 
 interests of all were harmonized. While thus actively 
 engaged in the promotion of peaceful pursuits he ex- 
 ercised a greater influence for the good of France than 
 any other man in the Empire. 
 
 Wellington, Kapoleon, and Cuvier were born dur- 
 ing the same year, and all three became remarkable 
 characters. The fate of two of these was decided on 
 a battle-field, the issue exalting one, and dethroning 
 the other ; Cuvier made himself master of the scientific 
 field, and there won a more glorious fame than could 
 be gained by the victor of Waterloo. 
 
 Cuvier 'died in May, 1832, aged 62 years, and was 
 buried as he had requested in the Cemetery of Pere la 
 Chaise. His funeral was attended by men of all classes 
 and shades of opinion, and in every part of France his 
 death was bewailed as a national calamity. Pasquier 
 delivered an eulogium upon Cuvier in the Chamber of 
 Peers; and this has been translated into Knglish. 
 
318 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 
 
 Besides, tradition could be trusted to herald his dis- 
 tinguished ability. A contemporary thus descants 
 upon the qualities of the great savant : " His fine 
 commanding features, and the grand expression of his 
 whole head, united to one of the clearest and most 
 melodious voices that ever issued from the mouth of an 
 orator, riveted the attention of all within sight or 
 hearing ; he was extremely fluent, and so rapid and 
 unembarrassed, that while speaking he would often 
 turn to the large blackboard which hung behind him, 
 and with a chalk crayon, illustrate his statement by 
 the most forcible sketch, and without the slightest 
 pause or interruption. In entering and departing 
 from his lecture rooms, the audience pressed so closely 
 upon him, and exhibited such demonstrations of 
 pleasure, that he could scarcely make his way through 
 the throng." Educated men in all parts of the world 
 felt a pang of sorrow when they heard of his death. 
 A master intellect had been stilled at a comparatively 
 early age. 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 THE HOWE PLACE. 
 
 A few years ago Dr. Howe bought the old home- 
 stead in Paxton with the intention of eventually 
 giving it to the town. This bequest was practically 
 accomplished on the Fourth of July succeeding his 
 death. In making the presentation to the citizens 
 assembled for the purpose, there was read the follow- 
 ing paper, notes evidently intended for the occasion, 
 found in a fragmentary condition in Dr. Howe's desk : 
 
 MR. CHAIRMAN, AND FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE TOWN OF 
 PAXTON : 
 
 By and through the purposes of Divine Provi- 
 dence, and the fortuitous circumstances of human 
 affairs, we have met on this, our country's natal day, 
 to exchange greetings ; and if you be half as glad to 
 see me as I am to confront you, there is for the pre- 
 sent an amplitude of joy on the lawn of this rural 
 mansion. 
 
 The occasion of this convocation of Paxtonians 
 centers in the fact that a great great grandfather of 
 mine, on the Howe side, bought this landed estnto 
 from a subject of King George the Third, and took a 
 deed from an agent of the Crown of Great Britain, 
 
 (319) 
 
320 THE HOWE PLACE. 
 
 and long lived here under English rule. This land, 
 according to the deed which I hold in my hand, was 
 purchased of Stephen IsTewton for the sum of four 
 hundred and twenty-five pounds sterling an amount 
 in ready money quite as large for the place without the 
 buildings as the homestead is now worth. However, 
 there were about two hundred acres in the original 
 purchase the Brewer place, so called, having been 
 sold from it, there remain about one hundred and two 
 at the present time. 
 
 John Howe, my great great grandfather, trans- 
 ferred his right and title in the piece of realty to his 
 only son, Paul, and he in turn deeded it to his oldest 
 son, John, who sold it to Uncle Paul and my father, 
 Samuel H. Howe. Soon after the joint ownership, 
 but not till after I was born, the property was sold 
 and for a season passed out of the Howe family. I 
 was about four years old when I left this ancestral es- 
 tate ; but I distinctly remember the departure of our 
 family, and that my mother shed tears when we left 
 the premises 
 
 I have always held the place in sentimental es- 
 teem, and long entertained the resolve to become at 
 length its owner. All through adolescence and early 
 manhood instinctive impulses directed my feet to this 
 beloved environment, where the brooks contained 
 trout and the copses embraced wookcock and grouse. 
 In winter, after a fleecy snow had freshly fallen, I 
 visited these hills and glens to track the fox and hare, 
 and often returned home at night with an empty game- 
 bag and an emptier stomach. However, bad luck at 
 fishing and shooting was not attended with regret. I 
 had enjoyed feasting my eyes on scenes that had kin- 
 
APPENDIX. 321 
 
 died pleasures in the hearts of my ancestors ; I had 
 endeavored to bag fish and birds descended from stock 
 my forefathers had as eagerly hunted, yet failed to 
 catch. 
 
 By the contemplation of ownership through he- 
 reditary descent, I felt as if all the fish and game in 
 this vicinity belonged to me, and I now consign the 
 slender heritage to your keeping. I trust you will 
 pardon me for placing a fanciful valuation upon what 
 assessors have not appraised very high. They do not 
 regard emotional estimates 
 
 Two years ago, while making these familiar scenes 
 a rambling visit, I told Mr. Keep, the owner for the 
 time, that whenever he wanted to dispose of the 
 property he might consider me a bidder. To my 
 pleasant surprise, in a few weeks I received a letter 
 from him announcing his readiness to sell. I inquired 
 the price, and, as it seemed reasonable, I took it at 
 his offer. 
 
 Now, as I have no children to inherit the prop- 
 erty, I hereby give and deed the same to the inhabit- 
 ants of the town of Paxton, to keep, to hold, and to 
 enjoy its incomes forever; the conditions being that 
 the farm lands and buildings shall be known in rec- 
 ords and in common parlance as the "Howe Place," 
 and that the estate, buildings, and lands shall never be 
 used as a pauper establishment. 
 
 This transaction is in accord with the views of my 
 wife, who has relinquished her contingent " thirds," 
 and has authorized the act by placing her signature to 
 the deed I now place in the hands of the Chairman of 
 your Selectmen. 
 
 As long as I may live I know I shall take pleasuiv 
 
322 THE HOWE PLACE. 
 
 in feeling that I have done what I was so long de- 
 sirous to be able to do. 
 
 A familiar couplet expresses my feeling on this 
 occasion : 
 
 " O, after many, many years, how pleasant 'tis to come 
 To the old farm-house where I was born, my first, my childhood 
 home."