DAVID WORTH DENNIS AN APPRECIATION. 71 



had torn to bits under his skilled touch became again orbed into one beautiful 

 harmonious whole. Herein, no doubt, lay much of his power as a great 

 science teacher. Not that he ever strained a point to make his presentation 

 of the subject in hand popular or entertaining, not that at all. For 

 pseudo-science he had the utmost contempt, and for the so-called nature- 

 faking, and for many of the popular contemporary nature-study books, 

 which he considered full of misrepresentations and inaccuracies, he had also 

 the liveliest criticism. Dr. Jordan had given us a fine picture of Agassiz 

 at Penikese; of the intimate and lieautiful relationship that came to exist 

 between the great teacher and the little group of devoted seekers after truth 

 that there gathered about him. I have thought that it is whollj- within 

 the bounds of truth to say that something of this same fine spirit and this 

 same enthusiasm that existed at Penikese, came to be the permanent atmos- 

 phere that enveloped the class-room in the little Eastern Indiana College 

 where for so many years Dr. Dennis carried on his life work. At any rate 

 I can conceive of no finer relationships than those Avhich there existed between 

 our great teacher and the young men and women who from year to year came 

 into his class-room. It was indeed a memorable event in my own life when 

 some kind fate decreed that I should find my Avay into his laboratories. 

 On that day, now almost a quarter of a century gone by, I humbly sat at his 

 feet and learned some of the profoundest lessons that have ever come into 

 my life. And in all the years that have since come and gone, years that 

 ripened into a friendship that was too deep and fine for words, I have always 

 felt that he was my teacher and I have never ceased to sit at his feet and learn. 

 I can do no less than bring to you this feeble tribute to his memory today. 



Thus far I have spoken primarily of David Worth Dennis as teacher 

 and in this connection I might say that a few years ago one of Indiana's best 

 known and most efficient college presidents remarked that he regarded Dr. 

 Dennis as the most versatile teacher in our state. And this leads me to say 

 a word in regard to his versatility. I have often thought that he missed 

 greatness as a mere scientist by sheer reason of this versatility. He had not 

 the temper or habit of mind that could for long content itself in one narrow 

 field of endeavor. However he had the highest regard for the scientific 

 specialist, for he realized deeply that it is only in this way that the sum total 

 of human knowledge is increased. However, his own restless spirit was 

 interested in the whole vast kingdom of nature. Xow it was micro-photog- 

 raphy or bacteriology that claimed his attention. Again it was botanj- or 

 paleontology. Not alone in the realm of science did he have a A\-ide range of 

 interests, but in the world of literature and art were his sympathies and ap- 

 preciations very broad and deep. I recall in the old coUege days, when 

 compulsory attendance at morning chapel service was the rule, how invariably 

 there was full attendance when it was learned that Dr. Dennis was going to 

 speak. I furthermore recall on what a wide range of subjects he spoke to us. 

 Perhaps just fresh from a lecture on comparative osteology or embrj'ology 



