136 REMINISCENCES OF 



Natural History, which included Zoology, Botany, 

 and Geology, was in January of 1851. 



The college was opened March 12, 1851, by an 

 address from Professor Greenwood on the languages 

 and literature of Greece and Rome. Illness deferred 

 the Principal's address until a later date. My own 

 was delivered a few days after Mr. Greenwood's. 

 The contemplation of the work that lay before me, 

 that of teaching three subjects rolled into one, almost 

 appalled me. But the first session closed before 

 the end of its third month, being merely a pro- 

 visional one, to enable the college to commence 

 operations without further delay. Hence my brief 

 course of lectures was confined to a hasty review of 

 the animal kingdom. During the summer months I 

 had time to deliberate on my plans. I decided 

 to divide my course into two parts, dealing with 

 the animal kingdom one year, and with botanical 

 and geological subjects a second year. The botanical 

 portion of my work was that for which I was the 

 least prepared. At that time the great schools 

 for teaching chemistry and advanced botany were 

 mainly to be found in Germany, and of the German 

 language I was utterly ignorant ; hence I was at a 

 .great disadvantage in endeavouring to work up the 

 subject. Still the difficulty was overcome by deter- 

 mination and work. 



Reverting to the progress of the college, some 

 circumstances of importance demand notice. During 

 the first complete session, 1851-2, sixty-two students 



