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  ANNUAL 
  EEPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1929 
  

  

  herited 
  his 
  intellectual 
  capacity. 
  He 
  himself 
  said: 
  "I 
  was 
  brought 
  up 
  

   in 
  theological 
  philosophy, 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  Calvinistic 
  predestination. 
  

   Individuality, 
  personality, 
  responsibility 
  are 
  so 
  strongly 
  ingrained 
  in 
  

   me 
  that 
  I 
  can 
  not 
  get 
  rid 
  of 
  them." 
  Evidently 
  the 
  father, 
  like 
  the 
  son, 
  

   was, 
  within 
  his 
  own 
  sphere, 
  an 
  independent, 
  earnest, 
  forceful 
  thinker. 
  

   That 
  he 
  outgrew 
  that 
  restricted 
  sphere 
  of 
  religious 
  tradition, 
  Cham- 
  

   berlin 
  attributed 
  largely 
  to 
  his 
  environment 
  as 
  a 
  boy. 
  In 
  a 
  note 
  on 
  

   "little 
  things" 
  in 
  his 
  life 
  he 
  comments 
  humorously 
  on 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  

   his 
  birthplace 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  Shelbyville 
  moraine, 
  an 
  intimation 
  of 
  his 
  

   future 
  interest 
  in 
  glaciation. 
  More 
  seriously 
  he 
  describes 
  the 
  influence 
  

   of 
  all 
  outdoors 
  upon 
  the 
  growing 
  farmer's 
  boy. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  fascinating 
  things 
  of 
  those 
  days 
  — 
  to 
  a 
  boy 
  of 
  naturalistic 
  bent 
  — 
  

   were 
  the 
  migrations 
  of 
  the 
  birds, 
  the 
  spring 
  migration 
  in 
  particular. 
  The 
  prairies 
  

   were 
  usually 
  burnt 
  over 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  and 
  so 
  were 
  often 
  black 
  and 
  bleak 
  during 
  winter 
  

   when 
  not 
  covered 
  with 
  snow, 
  but 
  as 
  the 
  spring 
  advanced 
  the 
  grass 
  began 
  to 
  make 
  

   them 
  grey 
  and 
  green, 
  the 
  buttercups 
  and 
  violets 
  began 
  to 
  give 
  them 
  color, 
  and 
  

   then 
  birds 
  in 
  uncounted 
  flocks 
  came 
  from 
  the 
  south, 
  fed 
  upon 
  them, 
  and 
  passed 
  

   on. 
  Blackness 
  and 
  bleakness 
  gave 
  place 
  to 
  color 
  and 
  life. 
  No 
  poor 
  soul 
  born 
  in 
  

   these 
  days 
  of 
  plowed 
  fields 
  and 
  wire 
  fences 
  ever 
  sees 
  sights 
  like 
  those. 
  

  

  A 
  limestone 
  quarry, 
  which 
  he 
  worked 
  with 
  his 
  brothers 
  for 
  stone 
  

   for 
  the 
  house 
  that 
  replaced 
  an 
  older 
  log 
  cabin, 
  introduced 
  the 
  boy 
  to 
  

   rocks 
  and 
  also 
  to 
  "snails" 
  and 
  "snakes" 
  ("Trenton" 
  fossils). 
  Having 
  

   been 
  taught 
  Genesis 
  in 
  its 
  most 
  literal 
  terms, 
  he 
  found 
  in 
  these 
  vestiges 
  

   of 
  creation 
  no 
  questions 
  except 
  as 
  to 
  how 
  the 
  great 
  snakes 
  (orthocera- 
  

   tites) 
  got 
  down 
  between 
  the 
  layers. 
  

  

  To 
  the 
  prairie 
  "the 
  skies 
  came 
  down 
  equally 
  on 
  all 
  sides" 
  and 
  

   the 
  boy 
  lived 
  in 
  the 
  center. 
  He 
  watched 
  the 
  northern 
  lights 
  and 
  

   looked 
  for 
  shootings 
  stars. 
  He 
  grew 
  alert, 
  but 
  not 
  yet 
  inquisitive 
  or 
  

   inquisitorial. 
  

  

  In 
  strong 
  contrast 
  with 
  the 
  untrammeled 
  outlook 
  of 
  his 
  natural 
  

   environment, 
  was 
  the 
  limited 
  scholasticism 
  of 
  his 
  school 
  training. 
  

   Chamberlin's 
  reaction 
  was 
  characteristic. 
  When 
  still 
  a 
  college 
  boy, 
  

   but 
  taking 
  his 
  first 
  examination 
  for 
  a 
  teacher's 
  certificate, 
  he 
  encoun- 
  

   tered 
  the 
  gymnastic 
  problem: 
  "If 
  the 
  third 
  of 
  6 
  is 
  3, 
  what 
  would 
  the 
  

   fourth 
  of 
  20 
  be?" 
  The 
  desired 
  answer 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  an 
  arithmeti- 
  

   cal 
  calculation 
  which 
  would 
  have 
  shown 
  that 
  a 
  fourth 
  of 
  20 
  is 
  7K, 
  

   but 
  the 
  young 
  student 
  at 
  once 
  refused 
  the 
  fallacy. 
  He 
  rephed: 
  

  

  The 
  fourth 
  of 
  20 
  is 
  5 
  under 
  any 
  and 
  all 
  circumstances 
  and 
  is 
  not 
  affected 
  by 
  

   any 
  erroneous 
  supposition 
  that 
  may 
  be 
  made 
  in 
  respect 
  to 
  a 
  third 
  of 
  6. 
  

  

  Late 
  in 
  life 
  he 
  answered 
  the 
  question 
  with 
  a 
  more 
  explicit 
  expression 
  

   of 
  his 
  attitude 
  toward 
  false 
  postulates, 
  saying 
  : 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  third 
  of 
  6 
  is 
  3 
  and 
  if 
  the 
  whole 
  universe 
  were 
  running 
  on 
  that 
  crazy 
  basis 
  

   what 
  might 
  be 
  the 
  crazy 
  proportion 
  of 
  the 
  fourth 
  of 
  20? 
  

  

  His 
  conviction 
  was 
  profound 
  that 
  the 
  universe 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  created 
  

   by 
  a 
  crazy 
  creator, 
  and 
  his 
  antagonism 
  to 
  "crazy" 
  assumptions 
  

  

  