11 



performance of his College duties, valuable services 

 in surveying and engineering. Professor Penhallow 

 was instrumental in improving the process of tan- 

 ning ; he studied also most assiduously the different 

 kinds of textile fibers produced in the Hokkaido. 



In the course of the second academic year (1877 

 -78), the chemical laboratory was completed and 

 furnished with the necessary apparatus and speci- 

 mens. In this year, too, an important acquisition 

 was made to the College in the form of the Plant 

 House, which had been built and managed under the 

 Agricultural Bureau of the Kaitakushi, and from 

 which it was now transferred. Professor Brooks, 

 who had arrived in the meantime, carried on various 

 improvements on the College Farm, building a corn 

 barn, draining the cellars, and so forth. It was 

 about this time, also, that the nucleus of a museum 

 of Natural History was first formed from specimens 

 collected by the professors and students during their 

 vacation excursions. Almost simultaneously was 

 founded a more pretentious museum in another part 

 of the town under the direct auspices of the Colonial 

 Office. Later on, as we shall see, these two re- 

 positories were combined and the result was a more 

 excellent institution. 



The third academic year (1878-79) opened with 

 the full number of students, which the College could 

 well accomodate namely fifty. It was memorable 

 for the completion of the so-called Military Hall, the 

 dedication of which took place on the sixteenth of 

 October, 1878. This building afforded in its upper 

 floor room for a drill hall and an armory, while its 

 ground floor served for a museum and the wings for 



