Britton : Thomas Conrad Porter 373 



which he was interested. Reference has already been made to his 

 theological training, and his interest in the subject was continued 

 throughout his life, he frequently being called on to preach after 

 his early pastoral duties had been exchanged for those of his pro- 

 fessorship. Geology and zoology each claimed a share in his at- 

 tention, and in these sciences as in botany he contributed many 

 new facts to students and to investigators of his acquaintance, be 

 sides carrying on the pedagogic work in them at Lafayette College 

 during a series of years. Literature was not neglected; it indeed 

 was one of his favorite pursuits, and its enjoyment was shared by 

 his wife, who died only a few weeks before him. His greatest 

 prominence in literary fields came from his contention in 1858, im- 

 mediately after the first publication of Professor Longfellow's poem 

 "Hiawatha," that its inspiration was derived from the ancient 

 Finnish epic, the Calevala. Dr. Porter publicly maintained that 

 the New England poet had " transferred the entire form, spirit 

 and many of the striking incidents of the old Finnic epic to the 

 North American Indians. The resemblance is so close that it 

 cannot be accidental, and that without the slightest acknowledg- 

 ment of the source of his inspiration." This statement provoked 

 much controversy, but Dr. John M. Crawford maintains that it is 

 true. 



