784 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



main conclusions or not, and we commend it to the serious con- 

 sideration of those interested in the world-riddle. We can not 

 forbear the remark, however, that even if we accept the conclu- 

 sions, the cause of gravity is still to be sought. If we attribute 

 it to the mutual attraction of bodies in different states of excita- 

 tion, we have advanced a proximate cause for the attraction, but 

 we have not explained why this is a cause or how it acts. We 

 have but carried the inquiry one step further back. 



u Veil after veil will lift but there must be 

 Veil upon veil behind." 



SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 



BY PBOF. FREDERICK STARR. 



WHILE it is true that buildings do not constitute a univer- 

 sity, it is also true that any description of science work at 

 a university must give considerable prominence to buildings. 

 Museums, laboratories, and observatories must be definitely con- 

 structed for the work which they are intended to perform; if 

 there are peculiar and individual features in the instruction, some 

 hint of these at least must appear in the structures in which this 

 instruction is to be given. The buildings of the University of 

 Chicago, with the exception of its astronomical observatories, are 

 located upon a piece of ground in the southern part of the city, 

 between Washington and Jackson Parks. These parks are con- 

 nected by the Midway Plaisance, which, since the time of the 

 World's Columbian Exposition, has been developed into one of 

 the finest boulevards in the city. The property of the university 

 fronts on this handsome driveway, and consists of four ordinary 

 city blocks containing twenty acres. The portions of the streets 

 intersecting this piece of ground have been vacated by the city, 

 leaving the campus unbroken. Before a single building was 

 erected the architect, Henry Ives Cobb, drew up a general study 

 for the mass of constructions, which it is hoped will be finally 

 erected. Ultimately the buildings will form a series continuous 

 around the four sides of the campus, but with entrance ways at 

 the middle of each side. In the great court thus inclosed will 

 be separate buildings for museums, libraries, and laboratories. 

 While some changes in the buildings thus planned have been 

 necessitated, the idea in general has so far been carried out, and 

 will be in the future. Many years must elapse before the plan 

 is completely realized, but much has already been done. One 

 temporary and sixteen permanent buildings have been erected ; 



