March 12, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



445 



of Texas Carboniferous and Cretaceous fossils, 

 68 species, and 157 specimens of Texas flints 

 (implements). This material was brought to- 

 gether by Mr. J. A. Slngley, the well-known 

 collector, now a resident of Glddings. In the 

 mean time the library of the law department 

 has been increased by the addition of nearly 

 two hundred volumes, presented by Ex-Gover- 

 nor O. M. Roberts. The gift from the first pro- 

 fessor of law is greatly appreciated. The larg- 

 est donation, however, is that announced on 

 February 23d. On the day preceding the Palm 

 library, consisting of 25,000 volumes, the larg- 

 est private collection in Texas and probably in 

 the Southwest, was formerly turned over to the 

 University by its owner, Mr. Swante Palm, of 

 Austin. It contains many rare and costly 

 volumes brought together from the great book 

 centers of the world. 'The collection,' it is 

 said, ' embraces not only general literature, 

 history, biography, travels, science and philoso- 

 phy, but also a remarkable collection of art 

 books, illustrating ancient, medieval and mod- 

 ern art, custom and manners.' Mr. Palm is a 

 native of Sweden and a resident of Texas for 

 over fifty years. In 1883 he was knighted by 

 King Oscar. The University library now con- 

 tains over 40,000 volumes. 



Frederic "W. Simonds. 



The will of the late Anson Chapel! , of West 

 Hartford, Conn., leaves $3,000 to Washburn 

 College, Topeka, Kans. , and the same amount 

 to the Hampton Normal and Agricultural In- 

 stitute of Virginia. 



At the regular March meeting of the trustees 

 of the New York University it was decided 

 that the control of the University Medical Col- 

 lege should be vested in the Council., The Med- 

 ical College Laboratory, said to be worth $400,- 

 000, is transferred to the Council, which body 

 will hereafter be responsible for the appoint- 

 ment of professors. Chancellor MacCracken 

 announced at the meeting that the Building 

 Committee had made a contract for the construc- 

 tion of the new library building at University 

 Heights. The material used in construction 

 will be grayish yellow Roman brick and Indi- 

 ana limestone. The building will have a depth 

 of 200 feet and will be 100 feet wide. 



It is reported that the investigation of the 

 University of Wisconsin by a Legislative com- 

 mittee shows that the University has overdrawn 

 its account at the State treasury to the amount 

 of $145,944.76. 



The syndicate of the University of Cambridge 

 appointed to consider the question of granting 

 degrees to women has reported in favor of con- 

 ferring the degrees of B.A. andM.A. under cer- 

 tain conditions, but against admitting women 

 to membership in the University. 



We recently gave the percentages of hours 

 devoted to different departments at Harvard and 

 Yale Universities. The Boston Transcript has 

 now published similar figures for Cornell Uni- 

 versity and the New York Poat for Princeton 

 University. While we cannot vouch for the 

 accuracy of these figures they seem sufficiently 

 interesting to deserve repetition. 



Harvard. Cornell. Yale. Princeton. 



Classics 8.7 8.0 24.2 22.6 



European languages.. 22. 8 18.8 14.5 12.4 



English 16.8 16.3 10.9 11.3 



Political science 9.9 6.5 11.2 9.6 



History 14.3 8.2 10,4 



Mathematics 4.4 6.6 9.6 19.4 



Philosophy 6.1 7.7 8.9 8.6 



Natural science 10.2 23.5 8.1 8.8 



It thus appears that Yale and Princeton agree 

 somewhat closely in the distribution of studies, 

 except for the excess in mathematics at Prince- 

 ton. Harvard and Cornell also agree to a con- 

 siderable extent, but Cornell devotes one-fourth 

 of the entire time (the figures refer to the aca- 

 demic department) to science. It is noteworthy 

 that in the Senior year at Princeton, when the 

 studies become elective, only 3.8 per cent, of the 

 time is given to the classical languages, and 

 15.1 per cent, to natural and physical sciences. 

 The classical languages evidently only hold 

 their position at Yale and Princeton through 

 compulsion. European languages tend to take 

 their place in large measure with some gains by 

 English and the sciences. 



It is stated in the London Times that at a 

 meeting of Edinburgh University Court it was 

 reported that, in addition to the sum of £5,000, 

 less legacy duty, bequeathed to the University 

 in 1893 by the late Mr. A. L. Bruce, Edin- 

 burgh, towards the founding of a chair of pub- 



