198 MR. C. E. EOBSON'S REPORT OF 



fiftieth anniversary of the publication of his great work on 

 " The Origin of Species." 



To honour their master, the University of Cambridge 

 organised a Commemoration in June, to which representatives 

 of the universities and learned societies throughout the world 

 were invited. From Japan to California, from Scandinavia to 

 New Zealand, East touched hand with West, North touched 

 hand with South. 



Our Natural History Society was included in this invitation, 

 and it was my good fortune to be honoured by the Council as 

 their representative. The University of Cambridge, whose 

 celebrations are traditional, threw all her colleges and 

 buildings, including the fine new School of Botany, open to 

 her guests, and spared nothing to entertain those who came 

 to join in paying homage to Darwin. 



On the first evening a reception was given by the 

 Chancellor, Lord Rayleigh, and the Senate, in the Fitz- 

 william Museum ; the spacious galleries, the gardens, and 

 those of Peterhouse adjoining, laden with the scent of June 

 roses and acacias, and illuminated by the soft light of 

 Chinese lanterns, was a fitting and charming place in which 

 to receive the 3,000 guests, the majority of whom, British and 

 foreign, were resplendent in their rich academical robes. 



On the following morning the delegates, numbering 249, 

 were received and presented to the Chancellor in the Senate 

 House, for the purpose of delivering the addresses of the 

 various societies with which they were entrusted. At this 

 assembly speeches of appreciation of Charles Darwin were 

 delivered by Lord Rayleigh, the Chancellor; Professor Elie 

 Metchnikoff of the Pasteur Institute ; Dr. Oscar Hertwig of 

 Berlin j Professor Osborne of New York; Sir E. Ray 

 Lankester, Royal Society. 



In the afternoon a reception was given by the Master and 

 Fellows of Christ's College in their grounds, when the rooms 

 occupied by Darwin as an undergraduate, and the collection 



