Misdemeanors,  great  and  small,  on  the  part
of  the  students  were  more  common  formerly
than  they  have  been  in  recent  years,  for  the
good  reason  that  the  chances  of  detection  were
very  much  less.  Some  of  the  practical  jokes
were  of  a  much  too  serious  character.  The
college  Bible  was  abstracted  from  the  Chapel
and  sent  to  Yale;  the  communion  wine  was
stolen ;  a  paper  bombshell  was  exploded  behind
a  curtain  in  the  Greek  recitation-room;  and
Professor  Pierce  discovered  one  morning  that
all  his  black-boards  had  been  painted  white.
THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    WAR  21

All  the  copies  of  Cooke's  Chemical  Physics  sud-
denly disappeared  one  afternoon,  and  next
morning  the  best  scholars  in  the  Junior  Class
were  obliged  to  say,  '^Not  prepared."

A  society  called  the  Med.  Fac.  was  chiefly  re-
sponsible for  these  performances ;  but  so  secret
was  it  in  its  membership  and  proceedings  that
neither  the  college  faculty  nor  the  great  major-
ity of  the  students  really  knew  whether  there
was  such  a  society  in  existence  or  not.  A  judge
of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court,  who  had
belonged  to  it  in  his  time,  was  not  aware  that
his  own  son  was  a  member  of  it.
Some  of  the  members  of  this  society  turned
out  well,  and  others  badly;  but  generally  an
inclination  for  such  high  pranks  shows  a  levity
of  nature  that  bodes  ill  for  the  future.  A
college  class  is  a  wonderful  study  in  human
nature,  from  the  time  it  enters  until  its  mem-
bers have  arrived  at  forty  or  fifty  years  of  age.
