84 PENIKESE. 



One can imagine the scene which followed upon the 

 discovery of the marks: the consternation of the pro- 

 fessor, and the good-natured raillery of the scholars. 

 But this did not deter him from further lectures upon 

 the subject; or we, who listened, from asking our- 

 selves, like Pilate of old "what is truth" in this mat- 

 ter. 



Of course not all who heard his lectures fully 

 agreed with Professor Morse in everything which he 

 said, in fact, I am of the opinion that the majority 

 rather sided against than in favor of his theories; yet, 

 personally, he was a great favorite with everyone, and 

 was greeted with a perfect storm of applause when- 

 ever he appeared amongst us nor will we soon for- 

 get the apparent interest and enthusiasm with which 

 he always entered upon his subject, nor was that in- 

 terest weakened, in either instructor or pupil, to the 

 end. 



I will now give you the substance, as fully and as 

 clearly as my notes will allow, of Dr. Morse's most 

 important arguments in favor of the theories of evolu- 

 tion and natural selection. He began as follows: 



"I come before you tonight, to say a few words 

 upon a subject quite foreign to my usual one the 

 molluscous branch of the invertebrate kingdom. It 

 is one which I think ought to be presented to you in 

 a fair way, as it is one which is now agitating the 

 whole world. I will not ask you to believe the evi- 

 dence to be set forth against your better judgments; 

 but I ask your attention while I explain, and lay be- 

 fore you, the views which are held by those who are 

 supporters of the evolution theory, and supporters of 

 Mr. Darwin; and I think you will see that it is not so 

 terrible a thing to suppose man originated from a 

 branch of the lower or animal kingdom, or, in other 

 words, from the ape, after all. 



"It is well known that all animals, in some form or 

 other, either in their adult or in their embryonic 

 stages resemble other animals, higher or lower, in their 

 adult or embryonic stages; and that all classes have 



