i i : \ n i ;s i . i s i T. N s i o N SYSTEM. 



years. Otlior profoMora of national reputation have 

 neoeeded to this faculty at various tin,.- The lii-i 

 commencement at which medical degrees were con- 

 ferred in America was held hen- in June. ITi'.v Since 

 that time over ]n.ii graduate* have received diplomas 

 whuee worth has been acknowledged in nil part* of the 

 world. One unpleasant result of this wide reputation 



was the attempt of unpritu-ipled men to sell <lipl as 



pri-tcndcd to DC issued by it.s authority. The fraud 

 was noon discovered, but to uproot it required the 

 effort of yean. Finally the chief offender was con- 

 victed and imprisoned and the legislature of Penn- 

 sylvania formally annulled the simulate! rliartrrs. In 

 1864 an auxiliary department of medicine was insti- 

 tuted through the liberality of Dr. George B. Wood, 

 one of the distinguished professors. Its course is 

 essentially post-graduate, and is intended to give in- 

 struction in collateral I 'ranches of science as needed tor 

 the thorough education of a physician. The Medieal 

 Department has shared in the changes produced by 

 the removal of the I'liiversity to West Philadelphia 

 and the erection for it." use of a commodious building. 

 An excellent hospital and an extensive laboratory have 

 been erected in connect inn with this department. The 

 course of instruction in medicine here pursued since 

 1877 is a graded one. extending over four years, though 

 diplomas are granted to those who have successfully 

 completed three years of the course. Advanced stu- 

 dents are encouraged to make original researches in the 

 various laboratories. Since the present system was 

 adopted the zeal and general proficiency of the stu- 

 dent.s have increased to a marked extent. (See MED- 

 ICAL COLLEGES or AMERICA.) 



The departments of the University fully organized 

 and in operation are those of Am and Science, Med- 

 icine, Law, Dentistry, Philosophy. Biology, and Vet- 

 erinary Medicine. The University has nine large 

 buildings the College Hall. Medical Hall, laboratory. 

 Hospital, Veterinary College and Hospital, Biological 

 Hall, Home for Nurses, Maternity Hospital, Library. 

 Close to the University buildings are the Athletic 

 grounds, which, as well as the gymnasium, furnish 

 Facilities for physical education, which is here under 

 the direction of a competent instructor. The Catalogue 

 for 1887-68 shows the total number of professors and 

 instructors to be 152 ; the number of students in the 

 College Department. 324 : in the two Medical Depart- 

 ments, 445; in the Department of Dentistry, 123; in 

 the Department of Veterinary Medicine, 57; in the 

 Department of Biology, 3d ; in the Department of 

 Law, 159; in the Department o. Philosophy, 54; 

 total, 1 1ST! (J. P. L.) 



PK.VOBSCOTS. See ABENAKIS. 



PKNSACOLA, a city of Florida, the seat of Escam- 

 biacp., is on Pensacola Bay, ~> miles from the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and 262 miles K. of New Orleans. H is a 

 terminus of the Louisville, Nashville, and Southern. 

 and the Pensacola and Atlantic' lluilroads. The latter 

 crosses part of the bay on a pile-bridge miles l^n-. 

 The city has a custom-house, court-house, marine- 

 hospital, 4 hotels, 1 national and 2 other banks, a 

 weekly and a daily newspaper, 10 churches, and 8 

 schools. There are 2 foundries, and several luuiber- 

 an'l planing-mills. The city has gas- and water-works, 

 ami parks averaging 5 acres. Its property is valued at 

 $3,000,000, it.s public debt is $280. (XX). and the yearly 

 expenses are $45,000. The city draws (00,000,000 M( 

 of yellow pine from the tbrest.s of Alabama, and ships 

 it to all parts of the world. Fishing is an impoitant 

 industry, the pompano, red snapper, and grouper, and 

 other varieties, bcinir abundant in tin- vicinity. 



Pensacola was settled by Spanish colonists before 

 1700. In 1719 it was captured by Bienville (,,. >:), but 

 soon afterwards was restored. The Uritish had pos- 

 session of West Florida Inuii 17n:i to 17S1, and during 

 the wars with Napoleon they were allowed to hold 

 Penaaoola, and organize expeditions in it.s harbor. 

 Gen. Andrew Jackson seized the town Nov. G, 1814, 



and the British withdrew, after blowing np the fort. 

 In prosecution ol the war with the Seminoles, in ISIS, 

 .lack-on again invaded Florida, and seized Pensacola. 

 on the plea that the Spanish authorities abetted the 

 Indians in hostility. By the treaty of ISl'.l Florida 

 became part of the United States. 



:'-nla I Jay forms an excellent land locked harbor 

 nearly S miles lonir. The entrance between Santa Rosa 

 Island and the mainland is a mile wide, and is guarded 

 bv Fort.- Mi-Kee and Piekens, the latter on the island. 

 The depth of water on the bar is L'l feet, and at the 

 wharves 2i feet a lighthouse, there are a 



navy yard, marine-hospital and barracks, and in the 

 vicinity the villages of Bagdad and Milton. When 

 Florida seceded in January. lst',1. the navy-yard was 

 surrendered without resistance to a body of State 

 militia. But Lieut A. J. Slcmmer, who had taken 

 NI soldiers and marines from Fort Barranca.- to the 

 more defensible Fort Piekens. refused to surrender. 

 After fruitless negotiations at Washington, Col. Harvey 

 I !i-own was sent with 750 men to take command. 

 I Other reinforcements were sent, which encamped on the 

 island. After some vain attempts to dislodge them, 

 and some ineffectual artillery practiei-, PmMoh was 

 evacuated by the Confederates. In February. 1864, a 

 fire destroyed much valuable pioperty. Since the 

 close of the war Pensacola has slowly recovered from 

 fleets. It has occasionally been visited by yellow- 

 j fever, and in 1882 this disease is said to have carried 

 off 2<K) inhabitants. Yet, with proper sanitary 

 regulations, the city can be kept five from this 

 plague, and in other respects its salubrity is unques- 

 tioned. 



PENSION SYSTEM OF THE UNITED STATES. 

 A pension is a stated allowance of money to a person 

 by the government in consideration of merit or the 

 nation's gratitude for services rendered civil, military, 

 or naval ; to provide for the casualties of battle, and to 

 encourage enlistments, continued service, and personal 

 bravery in the contingency of war. Pensions are 

 granted either under authority of exist ing general laws, 

 or by special act of Congress. Prior to 185.H the 

 weight of authority ruled that a pension law was a 

 contract and the pension granted thereunder a debt. 

 This was the view held by Attorney-General Gushing. 

 Since IS ."is, the Secretaries of the Interior, who have 

 appellate jurisdiction in the decisions of the Commis- 

 iSloner of Pensions, have invariably held that it is a 

 gratuity, and no part of a contract for service ren- 

 dered ; that it is not a vested right; that Congress by 

 legislation can terminate all rights existing under for- 

 mer pension laws ; that a pension is a payment for loss 

 of physical disability to earn a livelihood, determined 

 solely oy the degree of disability. The question. ;wr 

 ff. as to whether a pension is a gratuity, has never been 

 decided by the U. S. Supreme Court. 



The pension system of the United States differs from 

 that of most other countries in two important particu- 

 lars : first, pensions, with a very few exceptions, are 

 granted on account of military service only ; there is, 

 consequently, no large civil list ; secondly, owing to the 

 fact that the I nitcd States lias no large standing army, 

 but depends in case of war upon temporary levies, its 

 pension legislation has to do chiefly with the volunteers 

 and conscripts of it.s various wars rather than with 

 regular troops ; hence it is that long service, an impor- 

 tant element in forcii:n systems, is not recognize 

 basis for pension in (his. Military pensions comprise 

 two general classes : Inrah'il JM">-. paid to those 

 who in whole or in liart are disqualified for the per- 

 formance of manual labor by reason of wounds or dis- 

 ease contracted in the military 1 or naval service ; and 



nfiixiuii.*. into which the question of disability 

 incurred by reason of the casualties or incidents of 

 military or naval service does not necessarily enter. 

 Service pensions are usually granted by general a<-ts 

 many years after the termination of the war to which 

 they relate; Revolutionary pensions, thirty-five years 



