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EDUCATION OF WOMEN, RECENT PROGRESS IN. 



the same mines, and agree with him that the 

 newly discovered gold-mines of Ecuador have 

 a great future before them. In May an English 

 company, engaged in gold-mining at Portohello, 

 in the Zaruma district, made its first gold re- 

 mittance. This gold was obtained from quartz 

 yielding, it would appear, two ounces of gold 

 per ton, the quartz being reported free from 

 pyrites. The mine was declared to be even 

 more valuable than the celebrated San Juan 

 del Rey gold-mine of Brazil. 



Eruption of Tnngurahna. Between Jan. 11 

 and 14 there was a formidable eruption of 

 the volcano Tungurahua. The ashes ejected 

 spread thickly over hundreds of miles, damag- 

 ing the crops, accompanied by a slowly rock- 

 ing motion of the earth, and a roaring noise 

 that was heard on Jan. 11 as far as Guayaquil. 

 The province of Bolivar suffered most, the 

 obscurity from the rain of ashes lasting thirty- 

 two hours, and the cattle dying for want of 

 food and water. In the villages of Patate and 

 Pelileo the ashes in the streets were a decime- 

 tre in depth. Latacunga also suffered severely 

 from the rain of ashes. Since February, 1797, 

 Tungurahua had not been active, although it 

 smoked at intervals, and its slopes were felt 

 to be warm, especially in 1850 and 1851. On 

 July 17, 1698, the Carhuairazo volcano, north of 

 the Tungurahua and close to the Chimborazo, 

 had caved in, causing a disastrous earthquake 

 that desolated the province of Tungurahua. In 

 April, 1886, the Tungurahua still gave signs of 

 activity, and in September began pouring out 

 lava again at short intervals, while clouds of 

 dust and ashes enveloped the summit. While 

 this was the state of affairs in Ecuador, the 

 Ulbinas volcano in southern Peru, early in Oc- 

 tober, showed signs of activity. Although 

 smoke had been issuing from it ever since the 

 time of the Spanish conquest, the inhabitants 

 became alarmed at its increased volume. 



EDUCATION OF WOMEN, RECENT PROGRESS 

 IN. In 1861 Vassar College, at Poughkeepsie, 

 N. Y., was founded the first institution, in the 

 history of the world, designed to give to young 

 women all the advantages of education hith- 

 erto enjoyed by young men. It was opened 

 for the reception of students in the autumn of 

 1865. Many schools for women, it is true, 

 were already in existence, styled colleges, of a 

 high grade of excellence and doing admirable 

 work. But Vassar was the pioneer institu- 

 tion explicitly intended and fairly equipped for 

 becoming to women what the best colleges are 

 to men. Within the twenty years that have 

 elapsed since the opening of Vassar, great 

 progress has been made on the novel lines pro- 

 jected by her founder; and during the past ten 

 or a dozen years this progress has been sur- 

 prisingly rapid. 



In the United States the number of institu- 

 tions for the higher education of women was, 

 in 1874, 209, with 23,445 students; in 1884, 

 236, with 30,894 students. Adding to these 

 the students in coeducation colleges and schools 



of science, we have 43,307 students in 1884. 

 Of the whole number, 18,196 are reported in 

 preparatory departments, and 19,916 in col- 

 legiate, special, and graduate courses. The 

 number of degrees conferred in 1884 was 884. 

 Smith and Wellesley Colleges, both opened in 

 1875, are, like Vassar, thoroughly equipped for 

 an education similar to that given in men's col- 

 leges. Vassar, besides several scholarships, 

 has a fund of $100,000, whose income is em- 

 ployed in aiding needy students. Wellesley 

 has 24 scholarships of $5,000 each. Bryn 

 Mawr (Pa.) College, founded in 1880 and 

 opened in 1885, claims the character of a uni- 

 versity. It has borrowed from the Johns Hop- 

 kins University "the system of major and 

 minor electives in fixed combination." The 

 course in mathematics presupposes preliminary 

 training through trigonometry, and the other 

 courses equal advancement. Three classes of 

 persons are admitted to the lectures under- 

 graduate students, graduates, and hearers. 

 Bryn Mawr awards five fellowships annually 

 one in Greek, one in English, one in histo- 

 ry, one in mathematics, and one in biology. 

 These fellowships, bestowed as an honor and 

 an approval of previous attainments, entitle the 

 holder to free tuition, a furnished room in the 

 college buildings, and the sum of $350 annual- 

 ly. It also awards annually to a graduate of 

 the college a European fellowship, which en- 

 titles the holder to the sum of $500, applicable 

 to the expenses of one year's study at some 

 foreign university. 



Many of the colleges for men are open on 

 equal terms to women conspicuously, Ober- 

 lin, Michigan University, and Cornell. The 

 number of woman students at Michigan Uni- 

 versity in 1883-'84 was 177 ; in Boston Univer- 

 sity for the same year 154, out of a total 

 attendance of 614. In 1879, the first year of 

 its existence, the Harvard Annex for women 

 had 27 pupils, and 50 in 1883-'84. Brown Uni- 

 versity has taken under consideration the sub- 

 ject of admitting women to its courses of study. 

 Columbia College, New York, conferred at its 

 last commencement the degree of doctor of 

 philosophy on a woman. 



Several associations, organized for this pur- 

 pose, have been very useful in promoting the 

 higher education of women. The Woman's 

 Education Association has been actively em- 

 ployed for years in this way. A kindred as- 

 sociation in New York was instituted in 1882. 

 The Association of College Alumnge is giving 

 special attention to the physical education of 

 women. In 1883 the Western Association of 

 Collegiate Alumna was organized, and has 

 been engaged in practical science. The Mas- 

 sachusetts Society for the University Education 

 of Women gives encouragement and direct pe- 

 cuniary help to needy women who are seeking 

 for opportunities of advanced study. In all the 

 colleges in the United States devoted explicitly 

 to women, the standards have been steadily ad- 

 vanced, both for admission and for graduation. 



