The Portland daily press., 1864-03-19
Portland society OF Natural History.

Portland Society Oh Natnrai History'
The adjourned meeting Monday evening
was well attended.
Mr. Edward s. Morse read by title and pre-
scented for publication in the Journal of the So
ciety,a paper upon the"Land and Fresh Water
Shells of the State of Maine" which was re-
ferred to the Publication Committee. In
some remarks upon it, he illustrated his
method of classification by drawings upon the
blackboard, of the curious and varied struc-
ture of the lingual teeth and jaws of this in
teresting class of animals.
After this he gave a verbal description of
the four methods or plans of structure which
form the basis of classification oe the whole
Animal Kingdom. His remarks, which were
very interesting, were illustrated by numerous
large eolored drawings of the characteristic
animals of the four types, and one of the I'M
answerable objections to the Darwinian theo-
ry of the upward progress of all animal life
from primordial utricle was plainly brought
out: since in the earliest of the fossiliferous
works in which traces of animal life exist, the
Siurian and the Devonian, these four plans or
types of structure already exist, so that in
stead of one there must have been at least
four distinct primordial germs.
DIR. Wood then read a paper from DIR. n. t.
True, of Bethel, upon the Antiquity Of Man"
and followed it with some remarks upon the
evidences which have been accommodating for
many years, but more especially within the
last ten or fifteen, tending TO show that man
has existed upon the earth much longer than
we have heretofore imagined. Upon this
point geologists may be charged with hest
tation in changing their preconceived opin-
ions as to the late appearance of man upon
the earth, in view of the evidences with
which they are more or less familiar. Sir
Chas. Lyell seems to be surprised at himself
in not comprehending the force of them at an
earlier date, and he appears now to be con-
viuced that man and some of the huge mons
tiers of the mammalian age,now extinct,a as the
mammoth, the mastodon, the cave bear, &C.,
were contemporaneous denizens of this
globe.
This would imply either that the extinction
of these animals came down to much later
period than that to which it has usually been
referred, or else that the existence Of man
must be carried back to one proportionally
remote. Yet this period, however remote it
may be, is established by geological evidences
to be one Of the last of those mighty changes
which for so many countless ages had been
in operation fitting the earth for the residence
of man, and only requires that we should
adopt rational and enlightened interpreta-
ton of the measurements of time given in
the Bible to make the cosmogonoy of the
one perfectly harmonious with the results of
the other.
DR.. w. enumerated some OF the sources of
this evidence and stated that he would bring
them forward more fully as opportunity pre-
scented, at the subsequent meetings of the
society.
The donations were announced, among
them an importation by DR.. II. T. Cummings,
expressly for the Society, of valuable French
works upon Crustaceans, Cetaceans, Acalephs,
and Corals, illustrated with numerous colored
steel engrayings.