162 THE AGE OF ELECTRICITY. 



admirable Museum of Comparative Zoology founded by Louis Agassiz, 

 as well as the observatory established by Bond iu 1840, which com- 

 mands a revenue of its own such as to enable it to maintain, besides 

 the mother institution and transient missions, three meteorolgical sta- 

 tions in the United States, a permanent astronomical observatory at 

 Arequipa, Peru, 2,600 meters above the level of the sea, and a meteo- 

 rological station on Mount Chachani, Peru, at an altitude of 5,460 

 meters. 



The university spends its income, but when confronted by some new 

 reauirement it need not be embarrassed. Such is the popularity it 

 enjoys that all it needs to do is to publish a notice in the daily press 

 that a sum of $50,000 is deemed necessary for the establishment of a 

 chair of histology or of the Peruvian language, and in a fortnight the 

 sum will be subscribed. 



It happens that some of the donations cause the directors considera- 

 ble embarrassment; such, for instance, as the pension applicable to the 

 maintenance of a pastor of Indian extraction. Xot only are the origi- 

 nal races indifferently adapted to the duties of a Christian pastor, but 

 the incumbents themselves will fail on the day, that may be near at 

 hand, when they shall have disappeared before the advance of a civili- 

 zation they can not withstand. 



A number of institutions of learning, charity, or public utility have 

 had a similar origin in the several States, and have in time grown 

 always in proportion to the good they have done. But the pace must 

 be quicker in these days of ours. Cities thrive at a more rapid rate, 

 and each State strives to do as well as the neighboring States or better. 



Chicago was last year the focus of public attention, and our country- 

 men have had some share in founding that great city. For these two 

 reasons we shall refer to it for some examples. The Institute of Fine 

 Arts of Chicago, incorporated under legal authority in 1879, erected in 

 1892, after occupying several temporary homes, a palace that cost 

 $600,000. I give the figures, because everything is measured by them 

 in America. This institute is nothing more than an association organ- 

 ized for the public good, and all its revenues are applied to the advance- 

 ment of art. It receives no subsidy from the State or the city; it has 

 no other source of income than the tuition fees and private contri- 

 butions. It has barely made a start and it already owns valuable col- 

 lections, donated by private citizens, some of which are entitled to the 

 much coveted name of being the greatest in the United States, pending 

 the time when they will be the greatest iu the world. 



The first university of Chicago, begun in 1858, was not a success. 

 It closed its doors iu 1886. In 1889, Mr. John D. Eockefeller, after 

 taking reliable advice, undertook to resurrect it and began ^ith a dona- 

 tion of $600,000, subject to that noteworthy condition that $400,000 

 more be collected by subscription before a certain date, for he wanted 

 to make sure that the public would approve his undertaking. Encour- 



