1864.] REMINISCENCES OF AMHERST COLLEGE. 343 



these two wide fields, except that in 1843 Mr. Sheppard was 

 appointed Lecturer of Agricultural Chemistry and Mineralogy. 

 But it should be recollected that these branches, especially natural 

 history, thirty years ago were but little thought of in this country, 

 and were in fact in comparative infancy. And besides, we had 

 then next to no collections, and a leading object before me was 

 to provide them. Indeed, I may state it as a general fact, that 

 in all the subjects in which I have given instruction in Amherst 

 College, I have been obliged to provide the apparatus, models, and 

 specimens, sometimes with, but more often without, funds, except 

 my private resources. Nevertheless, my first courses of lectures 

 and recitations were nearly as extensive as they have been since. 

 They averaged nearly four exercises per week, or about one hun- 

 dred and fifty in the year. In particular branches, as new instruc- 

 tors have been appointed, more time has been given. For instance, 

 when Professor Adams took the department of zoology he was 

 allowed from thirty to forty recitations and lectures, as was also 

 Professor Clark, though, for what reason I know not, they have 

 since been reduced to ten lectures, which is equivalent to five reci- 

 tations ; for it is common now to put lectures in different depart- 

 ments side by side, so that two shall be equal to one recitation — 

 that is a half day. Even in its infant days, I never gave less than 

 twenty or thirty lectures on zoology — say ten to fifteen on mam- 

 malogy, ornithology, herpetology, and ichthyology, and ten to fifteen 

 on conchology and the other branches of invertebrate zoology ; also 

 ten to fifteen on botany. At this day, all those important discus- 

 sions respecting the distribution of species, their metamorphoses, 

 and the unity of the human species, must require several more 

 lectures, or it is impossible to teach graduates how to defend 

 religion against the assaults of sceptics. 



" The title of Professor of Chemistry and Natural History, which 

 I had for twenty years, conveys but an imperfect idea of what I 

 attempted to teach, or rather of the grand object I had in view. 

 That object was to illustrate, by the scientific facts which I taught, 

 the principles of natural theology. This I stated at the com- 

 mencement of my course, and on other proper occasions. At 

 length when I became President, I took natural theology as the 

 leading title of my professorship. And really the instruction 

 given in the natural sciences in college is scarcely more — often 

 less — than is necessary to understand their religious bearing. But 

 this is their most important use, as it is of all knowledge, and this 



