92 REMINISCENCES OF 



During my first winter in London a movement 

 was started amongst us, not for the first time in the 

 history of the college, advocating the wearing of 

 caps and gowns by the students, and it fell to my 

 lot to open the debate. The officials of the college 

 looked so good-naturedly upon what we were doing 

 as actually to suspend for the day all lectures. I 

 should say the men of St. Bartholomew's and other 

 medical schools looked with great jealousy upon 

 ours in Gower Street, to which, I never knew on 

 what foundation, they gave the name of " Old 

 " Stinkamalee." It so happened that in advocating 

 the change which we contended for, I used the 

 argument that the world was materially influ- 

 enced by symbols; that men were familiar with 

 caps and gowns at Oxford, Cambridge and other 

 colleges as an indication of studentship, and 

 that, our students having no such visible symbol, 

 we were regarded as a half-and-half sort of a 

 college. 



The leader of the opposition was an old student of 

 the college, now practising as dentist with his 

 uncle, at that time the head of this branch of the 

 profession. A day or two after our meeting the 

 following brochure from his pen appeared in one of 

 the medical journals : 



" Mr. Williamson thinks he has found out the cause 

 Why ' Old Stinkamalee ' gains so little applause : 

 Oxonians may smile, St. Bartholomew's laugh, 

 University College is but half-and-half." 



