USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Sketches of Boston, past and present, and of some places in its vicinity > Part 29
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33
1. Chemistry. - Professor Horsford will receive special students to the course of experimental instruction in Chemistry, who will give their at tendance in the Laboratory from 9 o'clock A. M. till 5 o'clock P. M.
The course, at the conclusion, of elementary qualitative and quantita- tive analysis, will be modified to meet the wants of those designing to pur- sue practical analysis, manufacturing, metallurgy, medicine, engineering, agriculture, instruction, or research, and poportioned in duration to the objects and previous acquisitions of the student. Excursions will be inade in term-time to manufacturing establisinnents in the neighborhood, where the practical application of Chemistry to the arts may be witnessed.
2. Zoology and Geology. - The instruction in this department con- sists, alternately, of a course of Lectures by Professor Agassiz on Zoology, embracing the fundamental principles of the classification of animals, as founded upon structure and embryonic development, and illustrating their natural affinities, habits, geographical distribution, and the relations which
SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE.
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exist between the living and extinct races ; and of a course on Geology. both theoretical and practical. The course on Geology will be delivered during the first term.
Besides the instructions of the lecture-room, Professor Agassiz will af- ford to the students access to his laboratory during certain hours, in order to show them how to observe isolated facts, how to determine living and fossil animals, how to identify rocks of different formations, and how to conduct a regular geological survey. For those who intend to make a fur- ther study in these sciences, excursions in the neighborhood will be made in term-time, and longer excursions in vacation, to those parts of the country, near or remote, which offer the most instructive field of observation.
3. Engineering. - Professor Eustis will receive special students to the course of instruction in Engineering, who will give their attendance at the School from 9 o'clock A. M. to 5 o'clock P. M.
The course will include instruction as follows : - 1. Descriptive Ge- ometry, with its application to masonry and stone-cutting, the construc- tion of arches, &c. 2. The theory of shades, shadows, and perspective,. illustrated by a course of drawing and mapping in all its branches. 3. Surveying, with the use of the instruments, and actual operations in the field. 4. The nature and properties of building materials, and their appli- cations to the construction of railroads, canals, bridges, &c. For those who are not sufficiently prepared, the course will commence with a review of such parts of practical mathematics as may be required.
4. Botany. - Professor Gray will give, during the Second Term, at the Botanic Garden, a course of twenty-four Lectures, or lessons, on Structu- rat Botany and Vegetable Anatomy, with microscopical demonstrations.
5. Comparative Anatomy and Physiology .- Dr. Wyman will give special instruction in this Departmant, consisting, -
1. Of a course of microscopic examinations of the different tissues of animals. 2. Of a series of dissections illustrating the anatomical charac- ters of the different subdivisions of the Animal Kingdom. 3. Of demon- strations of the physical and physiological phenomena of animals. 4. Of the study of Embryology and the development of tissues.
During the year a course of Lectures will be given to special students on Comparative Anatomy and Physiology ; also a course on Human Anat- omy and Physiology, to the members of the Senior Class, to which mem- bers of the Scientific School are admitted without charge. A Laboratory is provided for the use of students, and the Anatomical Museum is ar: ranged for the purpose of study.
6. Astronomy. - Practical Astronomy and the Use of Astronomical Instruments will be taught at the Observatory, by Mr. William C. Bond, Director of the Observatory, and Mr. George P. Bond, Assistant Observer.
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7. Mathematics. - Instruction will be given in the Higher Mathemat. ics, and especially in Analytical and Celestial Mechanics, by Professor Pierce.
Private instruction in the various branches of Mathematics will be given to those desirous of receiving it, by competent instructors residing at the University.
The following courses of Lectures delivered to Undergraduates will be open without charge to members of the Scientific School. 1. A course on Mineralogy, by Professor Cooke. 2. A course on Systematic Botany ac- cording to the Natural System, by Professor Gray. 3. A course on Phys. ics, by Professor Lovering. 4. A course on Human Anatomy and Phys. iology, to the Senior Class, by Professor Jeffries Wyman.
The formation of a Museum of Natural History, on an extensive scale, has been commenced, under the superintendence of the Professors in the several Departments. The Mineralogical Cabinet of the University, the Rumford and Philosophical Apparatus, the Anatomical Museum, the Bo- tanic Garden, the Observatory, and the Public Library, will be accessible to the students of the Scientific School.
Fees. - For special instruction of those who become private pupils of any Professor, and pursue studies, practical exercises, experimental re- search, or make excursions, under his particular direction, the fees are, -
In the department of Chemistry, for instruction six days in the week, per Term of twenty weeks, fifty dollars. For laboratory apparatus, and supplies, twenty- five dollars. For three days in the week, two thirds, and for one day, one third of the above sums.
The special students In Chemistry will also supply themselves, at their own expense, with such articles of apparatus as are consumed in using, such as flasks, corks, tubing, lamps, crucibles, &c., together with alcohol and platinum, gold and silver solutions.
Students who have passed two years in the Laboratory will be thereafter entitled to instruction with the charge only for Laboratory apparatus and supplies.
In the Department of Engineering, for instruction six days in the week, fifty dollars per Term. For three days in the week, two thirds, and for one day, one third of the above sum.
The special students in Engineering will supply themselves with conven. iences for drawing, necessary text-books, &c.
In the Department of Zoology and Geology, fifty dollars per Term.
In the Department of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, for three days in the week, twenty- five dollars per Term.
In any of the other Departments, the fees for special instruction may be agreed upon with the instructor, but shall not exceed fifty dollars per Term.
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The other expenses for a Term are as follows : -
Board, twenty weeks, from $ 2.50 to $ 3.50 per week, from $ 50 to $ 70
Room-rent, including care of room, but not making fires, 26 to 52
Furniture (if the student does not furnish his room), 10 to 20
Washing, 7 to 15
Fuel, for the First or winter Term, from August to January, 12 to 21
" for the Second or Summer Term, froin February to July, from $ 6 to $ 10.
Servant (if one is employed) to make fires, &c.,
5 to 10
$110 to $ 188
For any further information that may be wanted by persons at a dis- tance concerning the School, application may be made to Professor E. N. Horsford, Dean of the Faculty, at Cambridge.
The Lawrence Scientific School was opened for instruction to Students on the 7th of November, 1843. On that day the Class in Chemistry en- tered the Laboratory erected by funds provided by Mr. Abbott Lawrence.
The building of the new Laboratory was commenced under the personal directions of the founder.
The Laboratory of the Scientific School is forty-four feet wide by eighty feet long, and consists of two main stories of eighteen feet each, besides a basement of nine and a half feet. Each main story is, at the north end of the building, divided into two stories of eight and a half feet each. Two clusters of chimney-flues rise from near the centre of the edifice, pro- viding ample ventilation for all the working apartments, and meeting the wants of the furnaces and various pharmaceutical apparatus. The base- ment includes apartments for a steam-boiler and engine, for fuel, storage, and for coarser laboratory work.
Upon the first floor, occupying the front half, is a lecture-room. In im- mediate connection, lying beside the clusters of flues, is the pharmaceuti- cal laboratory. These, with the Professor's private laboratory, are of the full height. The Professor's study, the apparatus-room, and magazine of substances below, and a sales-room for chemicals and apparatus for special students, and a room for chemical preparations above, each eight and a half feet high, with the hall and stairways, complete the first main story.
The second floor is occupied in front for instruction in analysis. The furnace-room. with its conveniences for organic analysis and distillation, is in immediate connection. Both apartments are of the full height. Opening into the furnace-room is, on one side, an apartment for appara- tus to be loaned to students, and on the other, a room for reagent supplies for the instruction-room or analytical laboratory. At the north end of this floor, distant from noise and gases, are three well-lighted apartments, one for a library, another for the air-pump, hydraulic press, and for desic- cation, and the third for balances. Above, the corresponding apartments are occupied by the Janitor's family and the Assistant.
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The entire edifice, and the Professor's dwelling in connection, are warmned by steam, from the boiler in the basement of the Laboratory. Be- side heating the suite of apartments, the steam is employed to pump wu- ter from a cistern in the basement into the boiler, and also into a reservoir in the attic, from which it is distributed throughout the building. It also heats a large water-bath and steam drying-chamber, and discharges distilled water in the analytical laboratory ; and is arranged to fulfil similar offices in the Professor's private laboratory, and the pharmaceutical laboratory.
Lach student's working place is nearly five feet in length, is supplied with a suit of about forty reagents, a closet for apparatus, and six drawers. Each pair of places has a supply of rain-water, a bowl, and waste. The apartment will accommodate thirty-six chemists, and, if required, the fur. nace-room and pharmaceutical laboratory would accommodate, though less conveniently, sixteen more.
The enlightened views of the founder, and the ample means appropriat- ed to the erection and furnishing of the Laboratory, will ultimately have made the conveniences for instruction equal to those of any similar estab- lishment in the world.
RESIDENT GRADUATES.
Graduates of the University, or of other Collegiate Institutions, desit- ous of pursuing their studies at Cambridge without joining any of the Professional Schools, are permitted to do so, in the capacity of Resident Graduates. They are allowed to enjoy the use of the Library and scien- tific collections, on the payment of five dollars a year, one half in advance at the beginning of each Term.
They give the same bonds as Law Students for the payment of College dues, and are subject to the same laws and regulations, as far as they are applicable ; and they may attend all the Lectures given in the University, upon the same terms as Students in the Professional Schools.
SUMMARY.
Whole number of those who have received Degrees at the University, 7941
Of whom have died, 4579
Number still living. 3362
Whole number of graduates in the Collegiate Department, 6342
Of whom have died, 4165
Number still living, 2177
Whole number of graduates, for the ten years preceding and ending with July 15th, 1:51 : -
In the Collegiate Department, 625
" Medical
351
law
418
Theological
85
Scientific
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LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY.
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY.
THE Library is coeval with the establishment of the College. Its found- ation was laid in the bequest of John Harvard, who, in that first munifi- cent oblation upon the altar of civil, religious, and intellectual freedom, included a collection of works by no means insignificant either in number or value. His example, noble in itself, was, perhaps, still more valuable, as an incentive to exertion in others. "The Honorable Magistrates and Rev. erend Elders " acknowledged its influence, by a voluntary contribution of £200 value, in books; while individuals at home and abroad, - promi- nent among whoin stands the name of John Winthrop, the honored Father of the Massachusetts Colony, -followed with donations, not only of books, but of types to print them. In 1875, Dr. John Lightfoot, one of the most learned and eminent of English divines, bequeathed to Harvard Col- lege " his whole library, containing the Targuins, Talmuds, Rabbins, Poly- glot, and other valuable tracts relative to Oriental literature "; and this in valuable bequest was soon followed by that of the eminent Theophilus Gale, D. D., who, in the spirit of far-reaching benevolence and judicious liberality which had characterized his whole life, devoted his whole estate, real and personal, at his decease in 1677, to the advancement of education and the promotion of learning ; and with that view left his entire library, one of the most select and valuable in the possession of a private individ- ual at that day, to the " School of the Prophets " in New-England ; an ac- cession, say the records of the period, " which was more than equal to all that was in the College library before." In the year 1719, was received the first remittance of books from THOMAS HOLLIS, -- the first in that long series of benefactions, continued through a period of fifty-five consecutive years, by three generations and six individuals of the same family and name, affording an instance of "unparalleled and unceasing munificence " which may well challenge the admiration of succeeding ages. The son of a parent distinguished for liberality, Hollis " caught and wore the paternal mantle with a ready and enduring spirit. His appointment as one of the trustees of the legacy of his maternal uncle, Robert Thorner, to Harvard College, first turned his attention and thoughts to this institution ; and. once fixed, they were never afterwards withdrawn. The interest he took in its prosperity was general, constant, and unwavering. His benefactions commenced the year succeeding his father's death ; and from that time his bounty flowed towards the College in one continuous stream. He was in the practice of transmitting, almost every year, trunks of books, generally well selected and valuable, with directions to his correspondent, Dr. Col- man, 'to examine them, take out for the College such as its library had not already, and to give the rest to specified individuals, or to such young ministers, who may need and make good use of them.' His zeal for the College library was intense. He contributed to it liberally himself, and was
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urgent in soliciting his friends for their assistance. Through his instru- mentality the College received donations of books from Isaac Watts, Dan- iel Neal, William Harris. John Hollis, and others. He first suggested to the Corporation the want of a catalogue, which, he writes, if he pos- sessed, he should be able materially to serve the College, since many were deterred front sending books, through fear that they might be already in the library. The Corporation immediately ordered a catalogue to be prepared, and, when it was completed, sent eight dozen copies to Hollis for distribu- tion." In addition to the valuable contributions of Hollis, donations or bequests, for the library, were received, during the first half of the 18th century, from the Rev. Thomas Cotton of London, Dean Berkeley, the So- ciety for the Propagation of the Gospel, William James of Jamaica, and the Hon. William Dummer.
In January, 1764, Boston being infected by the Small Pox, the General Court was adjourned to Cambridge. The College Library was occupied by the Governor and Council, and the hall below by the Representatives. At midnight of the 24th of January, " in the midst of a severe cold storm of snow, attended with high wind," a fire broke out, which destroyed Har- vard Hall, with all its contents, consisting of the library, philosophical apparatus, and many articles belonging to different persons, who had rooms in the building. The other College edifices were in imminent dan- ger, and took fire several times; but by the vigorous efforts of the citizens of Cambridge, united with those of the members of the Legislature, the progress of the flames was arrested, and all were saved except Harvard, the most valuable of the halls, which, with the best library and philo- sophical apparatus in America, comprising the collections and donations of more than a century, utterly perished. Thus, at one fell swoop, were de- stroyed the entire libraries of John Harvard, Dr. Lightfoot, and Dr. Gale, with the donations of Sir Kenelm Digby, Sir John Maynard, Bishop Berkeley, and a host of other distinguished benefactors ; the font of types, Greek and Hebrew, the books, &c., presented by the first Thomas Hollis, together with " his picture, as large as the life "; the telescopes, the globes, the philosophical instruments, the College records, and a long catalogue of articles, " which, if they had been preserved to our day, would have been of incalculable and inexpressible interest to the literary and scientific inquirer, as well as to the historian, the antiquary, and the bibliographer." The library contained at this time above five thousand volumes, all of which were consumed, except a few books in the hands of members of the House, and two donations, from Lieutenant-Governor Dummer and Hollis, the younger, which, having been but lately received, had not been un. packed, and thus escaped the general ruin. "Great as this misfor- tune was, it happily occurred at a moment when the Legislature of the Province had just evinced a favorable disposition to the College by the erection of Hollis Hall, and when the people of Massachusetts were guided
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by those distinguished men, who soon after led the way to national inde- pendence. Many of them were Alumni of the College; and they all ac- knowledged the importance of the institution, and united in measures to repair the losses it had sustained." The Legislature resolved, unanimous- ly, that Harvard Hall be rebuilt at the expense of the Province, granted £ 2,000 to begin the edifice, and appointed a committee of both branches to superintend the work. The corner stone of the new building -the present Harvard Hall - was laid on the 26th of June, 1764, by His Excel- lency, Governor Bernard, accompanied by the Committee appointed by the General Court to rebuild the same, and the edifice was completed in June, 1766, at an expense of $ 23,000 In a few years, by the concen- trated efforts and influence of individuals and the Provincial Government. a library was collected within its walls, which soon attained an extension corresponding to the increase and prosperity of the Colonies. Foremost among those who stepped forward at this time to repair the loss of the Li- brary, was Thomas Hollis, the younger, usually called " of Lincoln's Inn." As soon as he was apprised of the event, he subscribed £ 200 sterling for the purchase of new apparatus, and the same sum for the library ; which ne also enriched, at different times, with a great number of curious, valuable, and costly works. His donations to the College during his life- time exceeded £ 1,400 sterling ; and at his death, in 1774, he bequeathed an additional sum of £ 500.
In 1775, immediately after the battle of Lexington, an army began to collect at Cambridge, the College buildings were converted into barracks, and the government and students were removed to Concord, where they continued fourteen months ; the library and apparatus having been previ- ously conveyed to Andover, and a part of it afterwards to Concord, by or der. and at the expense, of the Provincial Congress. In the summer of 1776, they returned to Cambridge, and on the 21st of June the students were again assembled within the College walls, though the library and ap- paratus, in consequence of the unsettled state of affairs, were not restored until the summer of 1778, more than two years from the time of their re- moval.
The origin and early progress of the College Library, and its destruction and restoration, have been related, and its history has been brought down to the period of the American Revolution. In 1764, at the time of its loss by fire, the number of its volumes was estimated at five thousand ; and in the year 1790, at twelve thousand. The subsequent additions have been numerous and valuable, but few of them can be particularized here. Be- side the benefactions of Thomas Hollis, the younger, and of Thomas Brand- Hollis, the names of Hancock, Hubbard, Erving, Boylston, Thomas, and Taylor, with a legion of others, might be mentioned as having honored the institution and themselves by their contributions. Samuel Shapleigh, " a virtuous son and faithful Librarian of Harvard College." devoted his whole
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estate (with the exception of a few legacies), amounting to $ 3,000, to the increase of its Library, in the department of polite literature. In the year 1818, Israel Thorndike purchased the library of Professor Ebeling, of Ham- burgh, at a cost of $ 6,500, and presented it to the University ; thus secur- ing to his native country one of the most complete and valuable collections of works on American history extant. Thomas Palmer, a worthy son of Harvard, whose name had already been enrolled among its distinguished benefactors, at his death in 1820, exhibited his affection for the place of his early education by bequeathing to it his whole library, consisting of twelve hundred select and valuable works, valued at $ 2,500. In 1823, Samuel A. Eliot, of Boston, presented Warden's extensive collection of books on American History, consisting of nearly twelve hundred volumes, beside maps, charts, and prints, at a cost of upwards of $ 5,000. In 1833, Samuel Livermore, Esq., another talented son of Harvard, bequeathed to his Alma Mater his whole library of foreign law, consisting of the works of the leading civilians and jurists of continental Europe, and amounting in num- ber to upwards of three hundred costly volumes, valued, in the inventory of his estate, at $ 6,000. As a collection of rare and curious learning, it is said to be probably unsurpassed, and perhaps not equalled, in value, by any other collection of the same size in America, if it be in Europe. In 1842, a subscription was made for the Library, by thirty four gentlemen, to the amount of $ 21,008. In 1814, Horace A. Haven, a graduate in the Class of 1842, cut down in the freshness of early promise, marked his devotion to the cause of Science by bequeathing the sum of $ 3,000 for the purchase of mathematical and astronomical works. In 1845, the Hon. Judge Prescott having bequeathed, for the increase of the Library, the sum of $ 3,000, it was appropriated to the purchase of a valuable collection of works on America, from the well-known Mr. Rich, of London; thus giving some. thing like completeness to what had become one of the most important departments of the Library.
For nearly seventy years, Harvard Hall had been the repository of the College Library. This edifice is not fire-proof; and, weakened by time, it gave indications of being unequal to support the weight of the increasing number of volumes, and of the concourse of persons to which it was sub- ject on public occasions. The library, too, had outgrown the capacity of the building, and more space was requisite for the arrangement and preser- vation of those treasures, the accumulations of public and private munifi- cence. which, if once lost, could hardly be replaced. Actuated by these considerations, the Corporation resolved to apply a portion of the munifi- cent bequest of the Hon. Christopher Gore to the erection of a suitable ed- ifice for the accommodation and protection of the library ; and it was de- termined, after consultation with his friends, that, since this application of his funds was deemed imperative, the building erected should be of suf- ficient capacity to contain the probable accumulation of books during the
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present century, that it should be as far as possible fire-proof, and that in material and architecture it should be an enduring monument to his mem- ory, and worthy to represent the liberal spirit of so distinguished a bene- factor of the Institution. Accordingly, on the 25th of April, 1838, the Corporation laid the corner-stone of a building to which they gave the name of their once honored associate, the late Governor Gore.
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