64 



NATURE 



\_NoV, 2 2, 1877 



1812, the re-appearance of which is shortly expected. 

 We have already mentioned that sweeping-ephemerides 

 have been prepared by Herr Mahn, of Strasburg, and 

 may be found in " Vierteljahrsschrift der Astronomischen 

 Gesellschaft, 12 Jahrgang, 2 Heft." 



MR. DARWIN AT CAMBRIDGE 



AS we intimated last week, the honorary degree 

 of LL.D. was conferred on Mr. Charles Darwin 

 at Cambridge on Saturday. The occasion was in 

 many ways remarkable, and suggestive of reflections 

 that must occur to all, and which need not be put 

 formally into words. The university seems to have been 

 conscious of the honour Mr. Darwin was doing it, and 

 seldom, it is said, was a more exciting scene seen in the 

 senate-house. To appoint a special congregation of the 

 senate for the transaction of no other business but the con- 

 ferment of a solitary degree, although it be honoris causa, is 

 only resorted to in exceptional and important cases. The 

 step taken by the university evidently has met with general 

 approval to judge by the tone of the assembly in the 

 senate-house on Saturday. The building was packed, and 

 the inevitable pastime of the undergraduates assume! a 

 form extremely appropriate, however questionable its 

 taste may have been. 



The appearance of Mr. Darwin entering the senate- 

 house by a side door, with the Master of Christ's, of 

 which College Mr. Darwin is a member, was the signal for 

 a burst of applause which was evidently the result of 

 genuine enthusiasm, and was certainly thoroughly hearty. 

 At two o'clock the Vice-Chancellor took his seat on the 

 raised dais, and the business of the day began. Standing 

 side by side with Mr. Darwin in the centre of the senate- 

 house, Mr. Sandys, the Public Orator, commenced the 

 delivery of the customary Latin oration. Interruptions from 

 the galleries occasionally interfered with the orator's efforts 

 to make himself heard, but the pleasant manner of his 

 delivery, combined with great tact and judgment, helped 

 to quiet the undergraduates' " chafif,"^ and assisted him 

 materially in getting through his task. 



We have been favoured with a copy of the Public 

 Orator's address, which our readers will no doubt read 

 with interest, both on account of the elegance of its 

 Latin, and for its neat summary of Dr. Darwin's work ; 

 indeed, in its way, it is somewhat of a literary curiosity. 



" ORATIO AB ORATORE PUBLICO HABITA CANTABRIGIAE 

 DIE XVII° NOVEMBRIS A, S. MDCCCLXXVIl 



" DiGNlssiME domine, domine Procancellarie, et tola 

 Academia : — 



" Meministis Horatianum illud, ' fortes creantur forti- 

 bus ' ; vix igitur necesse est commemorare viri huius de 

 rerum natura optime meriti patrem fuisse medicum egre- 

 gium, avum poetam quoque insignem. ' Doctrina sed 

 vim promovet insitam ' ; iuvat igitur recordari pueritiam 

 huius fovisse scholam celeberrimam Salopiensem ; adu- 

 lescentiam aluisse non modo Caledonicas illas Athenas, 

 sed in hac etiam Academia Miltoni nostri Collegium. 

 Tanti in laudem alumni, nisi fallor, ipsa paterni fluminis 

 nympha, non immemor hunc primum patefecisse insu- 

 larum corallinarum originem, ilia inquam Sabrina quae 

 Miltoni in carmine vivit, 



curalio nitida roseum caput exseret unda, 

 frontemque tam venerabilem sua praecinget corolla. 



" Quanta cum voluptate accepimus insularum illarum 

 circulos, sese e vadis sensim attollentes, quasi florum 

 irnmortalium palmarumque victricium corona locos illos 

 \irides placidosque in Oceani campo designate, ubi 

 priores insulae depressae et sepuUae sunt. Quam facete 

 describit, quo modo varios sensuum affectur expriman': 

 indices illi \u;tus et ipsa tacitorum oculorum eloquentia ; 

 quo more apes, dum dulce illud nectar e flore delibant, 

 quod continuandae floris stirpi utile sit, ipsae aliunde 



referant. Quam venuste explicat, quo modo captet Venus 

 ipsa muscas ; quali ex origine sint Veneris volucres, 

 ' raucae, tua cura, palumbes ' ; quibus cantuum illecebris, 

 quo splendore plumarum, concilientur volucrum amores. 

 Quam familiariter, velut rex ille excellenti sapientia, de 

 tot rebus disserit, quicquid volat, quicquid natat, quicquid 

 serpit humi ; quam varia eruditione disputat de fabuloso 

 illo lepadum balanorumque marinorum genere, de mon- 

 tium igneorum miraculis, sed idem de gracili vitis pam- 

 pino et lentis hederarum bracchiis in apricum enitentium ; 

 quanta liberalitate in patrocinium suum vindicat non 

 modo 'aurea pavonum saecla,' sed etiam minus pulchram 

 simiarum familiam. Qua de re quanquam poeta vetus 

 dixit, ' simia quam similis nobis ' ; nobis tamen, viri 

 Academici, cum oratore Romano, viro Academicae prae- 

 sertim philosophiae dedito, gloriari licet, * mores ' esse * in 

 utroque dispares.' 



" Illud certe extra omnem controversiam constat, pul- 

 chrum esse tantam rerum naturae varietatem contemplari, 

 regiones remotas invisere, silvarum incaeduarum solitudi- 

 nem penetrare, insularum prope ignotarum recessus per- 

 scrutari, varias denique animalium formas comparare 

 inter se et distinguere ; pulchrius, haec omnia accura- 

 tissime observata aliorum in usum voluptatemque lit- 

 terarum mandare monumentis ; omnium pulcherrimum, 

 infinita talium rerum multitudine ad leges quam paucissi- 

 mas revocata^ipsum fontem et originem omnium repetere. 

 Quanta igitur laude vir hie dignus est, qui adhuc iuvenis, 

 aliorum magis quam suo commodo, tot terras lustra verit, 

 lustratas feliciter descripserit ; qui maturiore aetate, tot 

 generibus animantium et earum rerum quas terra gignit 

 diligenter investigatis, illi praesertim legi constituendae 

 operam dederit, qua docere conatus est, ita e perpetuo 

 prope ad internecionem debellantium certamine aptissi- 

 mam quamque novae stirpi propagandae speciem vivam 

 victricemque superesse, ut tot species inter se diversae 

 alia ex alia minutatim per immensam annorum seriem 

 generari potuerint. 



' Usus et impigrae simul experientia mentis 

 paulatim docuit pedetemtim progredientes. 

 sic unumquicquid paulatim protrahit aetas 

 in medium ratioque in luminis erigit oras. 

 namque alid ex alio clarescere et ordine debet 

 omnibus, ad summum donee venere cacumen.' 



" Tu vero, qui leges naturae tam docte illustraveris, 

 legum doctor nobis esto. 

 "Duco ad vos Carolum Darwin." 



The conclusion of this oration was greeted with loud 

 applause, and the proceedings ended with the Vice- 

 Chancellor conferring the degree on Mr. Darwin in the 

 usual foimal manner. 



In the evening the anniversary dinner of the Cambridge 

 Philosophical Society was given in the Hall of Clare 

 College. The president of the Society, Prof. Liveing, 

 occupied the chair, and among the visitors present were 

 Professors Huxley, Ramsay, Tyndall, Parker, Burdon 

 Sanderson, Drs. Giinther, Wilks, Pye Smith, Mr. Francis 

 Galton, &c. Prof. Ramsay proposed the toast of the 

 University of Cambridge, and Prof. Huxley responded to 

 that of Mr. Darwin, who was unable to be present. In 

 his speech Prof. Huxley sarcastically spoke of the Uni- 

 versity as reserving its highest honour till all other 

 distinctions had been heaped on Mr. Darwin, that its own 

 chaplet might crown the whole, and not be covered up. 

 Prof. Huxley spoke of Mr. Darwin as the foremost 

 among men of science, with one exception, since the days 

 of Aristotle. 



A special meetiag of the Philosophical Society is to be 

 held next Monday in the combination room of Christ's 

 College, to consider the best means of making a permanent 

 memorial of Mr. Darwin in the University. Would not 

 a Darwin Professorship of General Biology be a very 

 suitable memorial 1 



