74 NE WS [july 



John Conray, Sir J. S. Burdon Sanderson, and Professor Poulton. The Chan- 

 cellor, in opening the proceedings, said Darwin's method and Darwin's concep- 

 tions were applicable to the whole range of knowledge, and had been extended 

 to numerous fields of research which probably, at the beginning of his specula- 

 tions, never entered within his own purview. The historical method which had 

 been so fertile in its results was indeed known and practised before the time of 

 Darwin, but it was mainly owing to Darwin's splendid applications and illus- 

 trations of it in the natural sciences that it had now become the acknowledged 

 and generally received instrument of inquiry in the sciences of mind, morals, 

 aesthetics, language, society, politics, law, religion, and in fact every subject con- 

 nected with the constitution of history and the capacities of man. The statue, 

 which was pronounced as a remarkable likeness of Mr. Darwin, was unveiled 

 amidst loud cheers. 



The Johnson Memorial Prize of the University of Oxford has been awarded 

 to Mr. H. N. Dickson of New College, for his work on the distribution of water 

 and currents in the North Sea. 



Women's munificence to universities and colleges in the past has generally 

 taken the form of bequests, but Aberdeen recently received a handsome gift 

 during a lady's lifetime. Miss Cruickshank, daughter of Dr. John Cruickshank, 

 Professor of Mathematics in Marischal College from 1817 to 1860, gave not 

 long ago £15,000 to establish a botanical garden in the city for the use of uni- 

 versity students and the general public. The garden will be about five acres in 

 extent, and situated in Old Aberdeen. It is intended to perpetuate the memory 

 of Mr. Alexander Cruickshank, L.L.D., brother of the donor, who was devoted 

 to scientific pursuits, especially botany and geology, and who died about two 

 years ago. The laying out of the garden is now in rapid progress under Prof. 

 Trail's supervision. There will also be a physiological laboratory and other 

 important adjuncts. 



The North London Natural History Society sends us its programme for the 

 latter half of this year. There are excursions to Broxbourne, Tring, Eynsford, 

 Lambourn, Epping Forest, Kew Gardens, and " South Kensington Museum," 

 as well as cycle runs. The papers offered seem to be, for the most part, of a 

 general nature. Meetings are held at the Sigdon Road Board School, Dalston 

 Lane, close to Hackney Down Station, and begin at 7.45 p.m. Those who 

 wish to become members should apply to the Secretary, Mr. L. B. Prout, F.E.S., 

 246 Richmond Road, Dalston, N.E. 



From the Times of June 15 we learn that Sir Harry Johnston devotes a 

 section of his new report on Tunis to an account of the measures taken there for 

 educating the native population. In the course of this he gives a very interest- 

 ing account of the "Mosque of the Olive Tree" (Jama-Ez-Zituna) at Tunis, one 

 of the three great centres of Mahommedan learning in North Africa, the others 

 being El Azbar in Cairo and the Great Mosque at Fez, in Morocco. This Zituna 

 still remains a great centre of teaching. It is an immense building with 161 

 porphyry columns, lit only by many open doors. Outside the main building is 

 a vast square, surrounded by a colonnade, at one end of which is an immense 

 minaret. Within the main building, where the porphyry columns are, is the 

 sacred shrine, and in this main building the professors teach and the students 

 learn. The institution has a valuable library of Arab books and manuscripts, 

 some of which are said to have come from the famous library of Alexandria 

 destroyed by the first Mahommedan invader of Egypt. Over 400 students are 

 usually taught at this university, while there are about 100 professors. The 

 lectures begin at sunrise and continue until sunset, 15 different lectures usually 

 going on at the same time. Each professor sits cross-legged, with his back 

 against one of the many columns of the mosque, his students grouped about him. 

 The latter vary in age from 1 6 to 30, but occasionally are men of advanced 

 middle age. They can choose their own professors, but are constrained to some 



