Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/461

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MORSE
MORSE

to Salem resumed his special researches on the brachiopods. In 1877 he visited Japan in search of new material on this subject, and accepted from the Japanese government the professorship of zoology in the Imperial university of Tokio. He thoroughly organized that department of the university, laid the foundation for the collections in the Imperial museum, and established a zoological station in the Bay of Yeddo, but resigned from these offices in 1880 to continue his researches in the United States. During his stay in Japan he was led to the examination of prehistoric remains by the observance of shell-heaps near Tokio. These he found to be similar to those that had been dis- covered in New England and Florida by Jeffries Wyman, with whom he had studied, and evidence was obtained showing the cannibal nature of this people that inhabited Japan before the Ainos, who were the predecessors of the present race there. His researches extended also to earthenware, and his collection of Japanese pottery now in Salem is considered the largest, most valuable, and most complete in the world. In 1881 he became director of the Peabody academy of sciences in Salem, which office he has since retained, except during 1882, when he again visited Japan, returning by way of Europe. His recent work has included the" classification of his material on Japan, part of which has been published, and an ethnological re- search on " Ancient Methods of Arrow Release," which has received favorable recognition from English scientists. Prof. Morse has lectured ex- tensively throughout the United States on scien- tific subjects, and has delivered special courses in Boston, Baltimore, and Salem. He has invented apparatus for utilizing the sun's rays in heating and ventilating apartments, a device for introduc- ing fresh air into a heated room, and a pamphlet jacket. In 1871 he received the degree of Ph. D. from Bowdoin, and besides membership in numer- ous scientific societies received in 1876 an election to the National academy of sciences. In 1885 he was elected president of the American association for the advancement of sciences, and in 1887 de- livered his retiring address at the New York meet- ing on " What American Zoologists have done for Evolution." His scientific papers exceed fifty in number, besides less technical articles written for popular journals. He is the author of " First Book in Zoology " (New York, 1875), a favorite text-book, which has been translated into German and Japanese ; and " Japanese Homes and their Surroundings " (Boston, 1885). Both of these works are illustrated by himself, and he possesses the rare accomplishment of drawing equally well with either hand.


MORSE, Harmon Northrup, chemist, b. in Cambridge, Vt., 15 Oct., 1848. He was graduated at Amherst in 1873. and then studied in Germany, where in 1875 he received the degree of Ph. I), from the University of Gottingen. On his return to the United States he became assistant in chem- istry at Amherst, and remained tiiere until 1876, when he became associate professor of chemistry and sub-director of the chemical laboratory at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Morse has been exceedingly active as an original investigator since he settled in Baltimore. Not only has his attention been di- rected to various researches in organic chemistry, but it also includes descriptions of original meth- ods of determination, and the devising of improved forms of apparatus. His papers number about twenty-five, and have appeared in the " American Chemical Journal." to which he has been an edi- torial contributor from almost its earliest issue, and also in the " Proceedings of the German Chemical Society," of which he is a member.


MORSE, Henry Bagg-, soldier, b. in Eaton, N. Y., 2 July, 1886: d. there, 20 June, 1874. He received an academic education, and then assisted his father in various farming and manufacturing enterprises. In 1862 he was authorized by Gov. Edwin D. Moi-gan to raise a company for the Chenango and Madison regiment, and successively attained the ranks of captain, major, and lieuten- ant-colonel. His regiment was sent to the De- partment of the Gulf, took part in the combat at Fort Bisland, La., and led in the charge on Port Hudson, where he was severely wounded. Subse- quently he had charge of a brigade at Sabine Cross- roads, and received the brevet of brigadiei'-general of volunteers on 13 March, 1865. He was one of the board of prison-inspectors for the Department of the Gulf in New Orleans, and acting chief quartermaster of the 19th army corps during the latter part of his service. After the war he studied law in Syracuse, N. Y., and then settled in Arkan- sas, where he held the office of U. S. revenue-col- lector. On the reorganization of the state govern- ment he was appointed probate judge, and he was afterward circuit judge for six years. Failing health led to his returning to the north, but in March, 1874, he went again to Arkansas in the heat of the Brooks-Baxter excitement (see Baxter, Elisha), and took an active part in state matters as chairman of the Jefferson county Republican committee. This again prostrated him, and he returned to the north to die.


MORSE, Henry Hntton, diamond-cutter, b. in Boston, Mass., 20 April, 1826 ; d. in Jamaica Plain, Mass., 1 Jan., 1888. In early life he learned the engraver's trade, and afterward became a jew- eler. He turned his attention to diamond-cutting in 1861, shortly after intelligence of the great yield of the South African diamond fields had been re- ceived. Mr. Benjamin S. Pray, of Boston, was then engaged in the African trade, and brought some rough stones to this country with the idea of com- peting with foreign dealers. Mr. Morse became as- sociated with Mr. Pray, and before the end of a year diamond-cutting in the United States had become a reality. The business was established under the name of the Morse diamond-cutting company, Mr. Morse superintending all the work. It was neces- sary to employ Dutch experts at first for cutting and polishing, but whenever they were engaged they maintained the same secrecy respecting their art as in their own country, and displayed the same dictatorial spirit toward their employers. In spite of this Mr. Morse succeeded in discovering what was so carefully concealed, and surreptitious- ly imparted the information to American boys in a suburb of Boston. As a result of this policy when the foreigners struck he was ready to fill their places with other workers. In 1869 Mr. Morse established his fame as a diamond-cutter by, the skill that he displayed in the treatment of a 50-carat stone found in Manchester, nearly oppo- site Richmond, Va. Lapidaries who worked at it in the rough expressed the opinion that it would be almost impossible to obtain a first-water stone of any size whatever from the original gem, but that it would be better to cut it into smaller frag- mentary crystals. Mr. Morse undertook the task of cutting it, and by adroit manipulation and study of the laws of light and geometrical relations, he produced a brilliant 12-carat diamond. He also invented a cutting and polishing machine, which reduced in a great measure the tediousness and inaccuracy of the old manual process. As an