1878] University Ambitions 



dox and innocent of any disturbing knowledge of 

 Biology, was brought over from Scotland to fill the 

 vacant place. Afterward McCosh himself became 

 an evolutionist, but of an a 'priori^ logical, ultra- 

 Ulster type, not much influenced by facts of nature. 



Having failed to secure the Princeton professorship, 

 in 1876 I became a candidate for a similar position at 

 Vassar, and afterwards for one at Williams, but with- 

 out avail. The president of Vassar kindly wrote that 

 he "suffered from the embarrassment of riches," which 

 afforded me only moderate consolation ! 



My name was next presented to the University Michigan 

 of Michigan, but President Angell said that although 

 my recommendations in Zoology were of the highest, 

 and in Botany good, those concerning Geology and 

 Physiology were less complete. Moreover, they 

 were "getting along pretty well" as they were, 

 without an expert in any of those subjects. This 

 case illustrated the lack of specialization even in the 

 state universities of that period, and the satisfaction 

 of their executives in being able to "get along" 

 without trained teachers of science. 



At about the same time I was selected for the Cincinnati 

 professorship of Natural History in the University 

 of Cincinnati by the acting president, Dr. Henry 

 Turner Eddy, my excellent teacher in applied 

 mathematics at Cornell. But the then board of 

 trustees failed to ratify, giving as the more or less 

 legitimate reason that they already had among 

 their dozen or so professors three from Cornell 

 Eddy, Frank W. Clarke, and my classmate, Edward 

 W. Hyde. One member, it is reported, went even 

 farther, remarking that they had a professor of 

 "History," and he ought to carry the "Natural 



