TRANSMITTENDA.

WERE the many queer things which have been left as transmittenda in the various rooms the College brought together, they would form an interesting and a motley group. Though perhaps they could not be arranged artistically, yet the ideas suggested by a look at the individual objects would be strangely contrasted.

I will enter a certain room in Hollis and take for my centre-piece a life-sized picture of a "Goody" holding in one hand a broom, emblematical of her occupation; around her a great many names are written, not to indicate that these are the names of so many chivalrous knights ready to do battle for the "fair maid," but simply to denote who the occupants of the room have been since 1815, or thereabouts, if we are correctly informed.

Look now at this large, round rock which used to be left at an unusual time and in an unceremonious manner in H'y. I. On this are pasted the names of different classes, the following being the last that was added to it: "Immittendum. Compliments of '70 to '71."

I will next contribute to the collection a hawk and a crow from H y, also an owl which has sat for several years in solemn silence, scanning the movements of the inhabitants of 17 H'y. Could it speak, tales of some queer freaks in this old room might be told. A clock which used to be kept in Mass. 27 might add to the wonder of what is coming next. This shall be an exceedingly large pair of spectacles with various names upon it, and which formerly did service perhaps as a sign. A map of the world, completely covered with names on its back, tells us this transmittendum has seen service. For variety, a snake-skin from a corner room in Hollis will answer the purpose; though why this should be a pleasing object of contemplation is a mystery. Add now a pair of clasped hands with names neatly carved on them; this is the subject of an annual presentation to the happy occupant of a corner room in the ground-floor of Hollis. The last item is a skull, with a few names artistically painted on the exterior; there is also pasted thereon "Byron's Apostrophe to a Skull." A human skull in this heterogeneous heap! When I reflect that "history sometimes repeats itself," the inference drawn is not a pleasant one. I might increase this group indefinitely; enough objects have been given to show what are used as transmittenda.

In connection with this subject the following incident may not be out of place. The College Carpenter, closely scrutinizing the recitation-room in order to find something which would increase the "General Average" fund, happened upon a very neat piece of workmanship. The room was the recitation-room of a Professor in Metaphysics. A sort of little drawer had been fitted in the back of a seat in such a manner that the work could hardly be detected; applying a chisel, it was opened, a penny and piece of paper were found; the latter bore the following: "Transmittendum. Whereas our instructor is fully persuaded he does not exist, he must 'see through a glass darkly', therefore I most respectfully request the finder to present this money to him for the purpose of buying a new pair of spectacles." The name of the donor was signed, but it had better be omitted here.

In room 25 Stoughton there is an interesting transmittendum. On the panels of the closet doors some fine paintings were executed by a member of the class of '54. These doors were about to be removed, and the occupant roundly fined, when the President of the College fortunately happened in and ordered the carpenters to let them remain; they have not yet been taken away, and probably will not so long as the room is used for its present purpose.

Though transmittenda may be intrinsically of little value, yet the associations connected with them make the possessor of one prize it highly. With what interest in my Freshman year did I sound the sheathing in my room to ascertain the possibility of one being secreted behind it; how expectantly did I wait for the unceremonious entrance of one through my window. Many students have grown to consider them as their Penates, and look with disgust upon the destroying hands of the Goths and Vandals, namely, the College Carpenter, and a dealer in second-hand goods, who never leaves anything in a room the furniture of which he has purchased, but the paper on the wall. A short time ago almost every room possessed a transmittendum of some form. Of those made from parchment but a few can be found. It is alleged that some have been destroyed because the rooms have been injured in concealing them. As those who have damaged rooms are generally fined double the amount of the injury, it might be imagined that they are a source of revenue to the College. It is gratifying to those who occupy rooms in the older buildings to know who have previously held them; a parchment transmittendum forms a convenient method of ascertaining this. I hope for the sake of those who are interested in such things that their future destruction will cease.