September 21, 1911] 



NATURE 



38/ 



liith' -hurt of 4000 people being present. Before the 

 nil. mi 1 of the procession of the chancellor, rector, 

 principals, senate, and staff in general, the students 

 beguiled the time with songs, and as the procession 

 entered the band played " Gaudeamus Igitur." The 

 president of the Students' Representative Council then 

 intimated the result of the rectorial election ; Lord 

 Rosebery took the oath, was robed, amidst the cheers 

 of the students and audience, and then delivered his 

 address, which was marked throughout as the pro- 

 duction of a finished orator and man of affairs, as 

 the experience of a man of letters, and as the counsel 

 of a statesman. He lightly touched on the early 

 history of the University (much of which recent writers 

 have necessarily borrowed from Lyon, biassed though 

 Be was, and others), the troubled times following its 

 foundation, the tenacity of its hold on learning (science 

 for the time being forgotten) amidst the vicissitudes 

 of its centuries, and in a fascinating manner drew a 

 picture of the first rector as a Struldbrug of Swift 

 doomed to perpetual life, who, from a point of 

 vantage, survey-ed the progress of the University cen- 

 tury after century, and, though shocked at and 

 ttverely critical in regard to many of the change-, 

 concluded by affirming that, after all, substantial ad- 

 vances had been made all along the line. In his final 

 words the rector counselled the students to hold fast 

 to the simple and temperate life, the dogged perse- 



■ 1 , and the pure and high aims of those who 



had gone before them. Especially did he warn them 

 of the dangers of losing that self-reliance, that fru- 

 gality, that resolute application to work, and that 

 masterful surmounting of difficulties which have made 

 their countrymen thrive even under neglect, and have 

 won for them the respect of the world. Above all, 

 should th.y avoid being a "spoon-fed" nation. 



After the conclusion of the rectorial address, con- 

 gratulations from the Senate were conveyed by Prin- 

 cipal Stewart to Sir James Donaldson on the com- 

 pletion of his twenty-fifth year of office, and in 

 recognition of the skill and ability with which he had 

 guided the affairs of the University. The principal 

 feelingly replied. Then the graduation ceremony pro- 

 ceeded. The first (about ninety) were those receiving 

 the honorary degree of LL.D., and as each dis- 

 tinguished graduate stepped on the platform to be 

 capped by the chancellor, he or she was cheered by 

 the students and audience ; and so with the fourteen 

 men who received the D.D. degree. Amongst those 

 on whom the degree of LL.D. was conferred were 

 many eminent men of science, as mentioned in the 

 last issue of Nature (p. 374), some of whom had 

 been students in the old university, or had carried 

 out researches in its marine laboratory. 



In the afternoon garden-parties on a large scale 

 were given by the mistress and council of St. 

 Leonards' School in their fine grounds, the band of 

 the Scots Guards playing at intervals; whilst another 

 larg-e party was entertained at Mount-Melville, the 

 seat of Mr. J. Younger. Both had endless beautiful 

 and interesting: pictures in scenery and landscape 

 gardening-, in fine trees and shrubs, to entertain them, 

 especially at Mount-Melville, where arboriculture has 

 long been prominent. 



The banquet in the Bell-Pettigrew Museum in the 

 evening was on a large scale, the chair being occupied 

 by the chancellor, and he was supported bv the rector 

 and principals, by Lord Reay, Lord Elgin, Lord Stair, 

 Lord Ailsa, Lord Pentland, Lord Kinnoull, Lord 

 EFullibardine, Lord Haddo, Lord Southesk, Lord Kin- 

 naird, Lord Glenconner, Lord Shaw, the principals of 

 Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, Dr. Andrew Car- 

 negie, Mr. Whitelaw Reid, Mr. A. J. Balfour, the 

 NO. 2l86, VOL. 87] 



Maharajah Gaekwar of Baroda, and a long list of dis- 

 tinguished men. After the loyal toast the chancellor 

 declared the museum open, and alluded to the munifi- 

 cent gift of Mrs. Bell-Pettigrew. Speeches were given 

 by the rector, principals, Mr. Balfour, Sir William 

 Turner, Sir Donald Macalister, Lord Reay, Lord 

 Elgin, Lord Pentland, Mr. Munro- Ferguson, Presi- 

 dent Butler (New York), and many others, and the 

 dinner was throughout of the most agreeable and 

 successful character. 



In order to entertain those whom the limited capaci- 

 ties (550) of the hall had of necessity excluded, a 

 ladies' "at home" was held in the large North Hall, 

 under the auspices of the Ladies' Celebration Com- 

 mittee. Lady Balfour, Lady Leconfield, Lady Helen 

 Munro-Ferguson, and the ladies of the executive com- 

 mittee received the guests, who spent a most enjoy- 

 able evening. Moreover, a similar reception was held 

 in the Victoria Art Galleries, Dundee, where Lady 

 Baxter of Invereighty and Mrs. Urquhart, the wife 

 of the Lord Provost of Dundee, received the guests, 

 and the evening was spent in the same happy and 

 memorable way. 



The close of the quincentenary celebrations occurred 

 on Friday, September 15, which was chiefly spent in 

 Dundee in connection with University College (for- 

 merly the Baxter College), which is now an integral 

 part of the University of St. Andrews. A special 

 train conveyed the Court, Senate, staff and guests 

 from St. Andrews to Dundee at 10 a.m., and all 

 the visitors assembled at University College Library, 

 signed the visitors' book, and proceeded to the gym- 

 nasium, where, on behalf of the council of the col- 

 lege, Lord Camperdown gave them a cordial wel- 

 come. Remarks were then made by the chancellor 

 and bv the rector, who, in a humorous yet suggestive 

 speech, held that universities of the future would 

 alwavs be founded in great centres of population. The 

 buildings, especially the new Carnegie Physics Labora- 

 tory, the medical buildings, the engineering labora- 

 tory, the college museum of natural history, the 

 various class-rooms, and the city museum, were then 

 inspected, and a tribute paid to the wonderfully com- 

 plete arrangements for the teaching of. medicine, engi- 

 neering, physics, and other departments. 



A luncheon was given by the University in the drill- 

 hall, where the guests were received by Lord Provost 

 Urquhart and the magistrates. The chancellor occu- 

 pied the chair, and many distinguished men supported 

 him, viz. Lord Reay, Lord Rosebery, Lord Camper- 

 down, Lord Stair, Lord Shaw, the principals, senate, 

 and staff of the University, and others. Between 600 

 and 700 persons were present. The usual toasts were 

 given, and the company broke up about half-past two 

 to proceed to view various large mills in the city, to 

 join the excursions to Glamis, Rossie Priory, and a 

 sail by steamer to Perth — all under most favourable 

 auspices. 



Another function was a graduates' and students' 

 dinner in the Bell-Pettigrew Museum at St. Andrews, 

 presided over by the chancellor, at 7.20 p.m. More 

 than 500 were present, and amongst the guests was 

 Sir Dvce Duckworth, who has so frequently visited St. 

 Andrews, and he, in his speech, took his hearers 

 back to the days of Principal Tulloch, on whose grave 

 thai afternoon a procession of old graduates and 

 alumni had placed a wreath. The same would have 

 been done if the grave of Sir David Brewster, of 

 world-wide renown, had been in St. Andrews, for the 

 University cherishes the memory of her, and subse- 

 quently Edinburgh's, great scientific principal. 



Lastly, a students' ball at 10 n.m. brought the pro- 

 ceedings to a termination. This was one of the 



