208 MEMOIR OF GEORGE WILSON. CHAP. IV. 



my time has been given almost entirely to other things, I have 

 still more felt the value of such occupations of time ; for the 

 observation of machinery in motion, the mental struggles before 

 the mode of action is quite understood, the admiration of the 

 ingenuity shown in devising beautiful contrivances to effect 

 desired ends, and still more the endeavour to imitate such or 

 similar mechanical adaptations, develops the imagination and 

 the powers of reflection, it fosters and ripens ingenuity, and all 

 the while exercises on the mind a silent but salutary dominion, 

 which quickens its most useful powers. Do then, my dear 

 Jessie, try to fathom the mysteries of wheels and cranks, and 

 rods and pinions, and strive to acquaint yourself with the object 

 for which the wheels move at all, and then the means by which 

 the desired motion is effected." 



The following description of the capping is from George 

 Wilson's own pen, and may be new to many of our readers : 



" The ceremony, which goes among the students of Edinburgh 

 by the name of 'capping/ is always looked forward to with 

 great interest, and is the only occasion on which the general 

 public, including ladies, take part in academical proceedings. 

 Students of the University of Edinburgh do not wear any aca- 

 demical costume; but on the 1st of August the medical gra- 

 duates of the year, attired in black gowns, resembling generally 

 those of Oxford and Cambridge, assemble in one of the largest 

 class-rooms in presence of the principal and professors of the 

 University, the magistrates of the city, and a large concourse of 

 spectators of both sexes. The more important parts of the 

 ceremony, are the administration of a solemn oath to the gra- 

 duates, and the offering up of prayers by the Principal, but as 

 they are couched in Latin, only a small portion of the audience 

 can intelligently follow them. An address in English from one 

 of the medical professors, which is often the occasion of eloquent 

 appeal and important advice, is always listened to with atten- 

 tion. But in the eyes of the students, the chief and indeed only 

 essential part of the process is the ' capping,' which is performed 

 by the Principal, who, as the graduates one by one pass before 

 him, lays on the head of each for a moment, a velvet cap and 



