looking at the able hands through which the duty 

 I of orator has passed, and the eminence in the 

 profession of many present, that I do not approach 

 the undertaking without a deep sense of the re- 

 sponsibility attaching to it. 



The first portion of the duty which has been 

 marked out in such precise terms by the founder 

 of this oration to be performed is to commemorate 

 the benefactions that have fallen into the posses- 

 sion of the College since the last oration was 

 delivered. It is gratifying to me to feel that I do 

 not come empty-handed for the occasion before 

 you. 



A new benefaction, which promises to be as 

 useful as it is munificent, has to be recorded, and it 

 belongs to me to mention the manner in which the 

 College has decided to dispose of a recently acquired 

 increased income derivable from one of its ancient 

 benefactions. My immediate predecessor alluded 

 to the augmentation which the income from the 

 endowment for the Croonian lectureship has re- 

 cently undergone. Dr. Croone, a Fellow of our 

 College in the seventeenth century, left behind him 



