HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



HARVEST-BUG 



577 



in 1(537, uixl, living in 1638, liequeathed to the pro- 

 posed college iiis lil>iary of over .'{00 volumes and 

 t'TT'.i. During the colonial period tlie avowed 

 object of Harvard College was 'the education of 

 the Knglish and Indian youth in knowledge and 

 godliness,' mainly with a view to their entering 

 tin' I'll I'it. -in ministry : only one Indian ever gradu- 

 ated (in 1665). In its infancy the college was 

 npported by voluntary contributions from the 

 churches, and by grants from the Massachusetts 

 colony, but for a long time it was a rather ob- 

 scure and feeble school. Its expansion into a 

 university, its deliverance from sectarian control, 

 and its independence from the state have l>een 

 accomplished during the 19th century. During 

 the same period its resources have enormously 

 increased, and almost wholly from private dona- 

 tions. It was mainly under the rule of the state 

 until 1865, when by statute the government 

 was vested in a board of thirty overseers, in six 

 classes of five members each, chosen by the alumni ; 

 one class being renewed annually. The overseers 

 direct the courses of study and general manage- 

 ment, but the nominations of professors and other 

 officers are made by the 'corporation,' consisting of 

 the president and live fellows, a self-perpetuating 

 body, originally created by charter in 1650, ana 

 homing all the property of the university as trus- 

 tees. The nominations made by the ' corporation ' 

 require confirmation by the overseers. 



The halls for ' recitations ' and lectures, and for 

 students' lodgings, as also the chapel, library, and 

 law-school, are in a square called the college yard, 

 containing about 15 acres, planted with beautiful 

 elms. The other buildings are in other parts of 

 the town, not far distant, and occupy about 60 

 acres. The Agassiz museum of comparative zoology 

 is world-famous. The Peabody museum of Ameri- 

 can archaeology and ethnology dates from 1866 ; 

 and in 1890 a sum of $50,000 was given to found 

 a museum of Semitic antiquities. The most im- 

 posing edifice is Memorial Hall, built in honour 

 of the alumni who fell during the civil war. It 

 is 310 feet in length, and 115 in breadth, and 

 has a tower 200 feet high. An ample vestibule 

 contains busts and mural tablets. The principal 

 hall is 164 by 60 feet, and 80 feet to the ceiling. 

 This has a fine collection of historical portraits. It 

 is used as a dining-hall, and accommodates nearly 

 700 at table. At the eastern end is a beautiful 

 theatre for public exercises on ceremonial occasions. 

 Memorial Hall, built of brick and freestone, in 

 Norman style, richly ornamented, needs only the 

 mellowing touch of age to be one of the most 

 impressive collegiate buildings in the world. 



In the academic department the requirements for 

 admission are high, and as a consequence few stu- 

 dents enter before the age of eighteen. There is a 

 choice of two lines of study, both including ancient 

 classics, mathematics, and other sciences ; but in 

 one line the classics are prominent, in the other the 

 sciences. There are also various minor elections 

 of study ; but no degree is given without some 

 full course, thoroughly carried out. As the univer- 

 sity is amply endowed, there are many scholar- 

 ships in all the departments, besides prizes and 

 aids of many sorts, amounting to about $45,000 

 per annum. Morning prayers are conducted by 

 clergymen of different denominations in turn; 

 and students must attend Sunday services at the 

 church designated by their parents. The general 

 library contains above 250,000 volumes ; ana other 

 libraries raise the total to 360,000 volumes. There 

 is a weU*eqnipped observatory, besides a botanic 

 garden and an arboretum. There are no fees pay- 

 able t<> professors; each student pays the general 

 fee of his department, and may attend such cour>r>. 

 as within certain logical limits he may elect. Ex- 

 245 



|M>IIHUH vary with the habit* of the student, but 

 need not exceed $1000 ( 200) JMT annum. 



The following are the department* included in 

 the university : Harvard College, the Divinity 

 Scliool, the Law School, the Lawrence Scientific 

 School, the Medical Scliool, the Dental School (in 

 Boston), the Bussey Institution (a school of agri- 

 culture), the School of Veterinary Medicine (in 

 Boston), and the Graduate Department. Further, 

 Radcliffe College (formerly called Harvard Annex) 

 was organised in 1879 for the collegiate instruction 

 of women by professors and instructors of Harvard ; 

 a four years course preparing for a certificate 

 corresponding to the B.A. degree. The total 

 strength of the teaching staff in 1895 was close on 

 300 (about 100 buing professors proper), and of the 

 students near 3000, of whom 1700 were at the 

 college the others being at the various other 

 connected institutes or departments. The total 

 income is considerably more than $1,000,000 a 

 year; the invested funds (exclusive of lands, build- 

 ings, books, and apparatus) amount to about 

 $8,500,000. Though wholly unsectarian, the col- 

 lege has largely been in the hands of Unitarians. 

 Amongst the alumni have been the Adamses, the 

 Danas, Channing, Theo. Parker, Motley, Prescott, 

 Bancroft, Emerson, Wendell Phillips, O. Wendell 

 Holmes, Parkman, Lowell, Child, and Norton. 



See J. Quiucy, History of Harvard University (1860) ; 

 Rendle's monograph on John Harvard ( 1885 ) ; Tliayer, 

 An Historical Sketch of Harvard University (1891); 

 Four American Colleges ( 1895) ; Birkbeck Hill, Harvard 

 College, by an Oxonian (1895). 



Harvest-bag, the larval form of the silky 

 Trombidium (Trombidium holosericeum Linn.) of 

 the family Trombidiidae, order Acarina. It is of 

 minute size, scarcely discernible by the naked eye, 

 and of a bright scarlet or vivid crimson colour. In 

 the hot months of summer it is found in gardens 



a, Trombidium holosericeum, female (mag. 9 diameters) ; 

 6, larva, full grown (Harvest-bug). 



and on wild vegetation, being most plentiful in hot 

 dry seasons in places near the sea and in chalky 

 districts. It specially torments people with delicate 

 skins, and the wound it produces causes a good 

 deal of local irritation and also, in wanner coun- 

 tries, a considerable amount of constitutional dis- 

 turbance. The most unpleasant symptoms are 

 only observed in climates warmer than Britain ; but 

 the mite is troublesome enough in some parts of 

 Scotland. M. P. Megnin has investigated the life- 

 history of the harvest-bug, or roupet, as it is called 

 in France (see Annnles des Sciences Naturelles, 

 6th series, vol. iv. 1876). He found the silky Trom- 

 bidium ( T. holoscrireitni ), a bright scarlet species, 

 from spring till July and August, when it suddenly 

 disappeared. In April he found some males witn 

 many young females, in the end of Mav and in 

 .lime only gravid females. In June and July eggs 

 were laid, which hatched, producing the ro-uget or 

 harvest-bug formerly described as Leptus out inn- 

 nalis, an almost spherical six-legged larva, which 

 soon found a host into whose skin it thrust its 

 sharp mandibles. Forthwith its abdomen began 

 to swell with the fluid imbibed, reaching ultimately 



