NATURAL HISTORY, TORONTO REGION 
that of the University of London. The University 
thus became merely an examining body. The teach- 
ing of the Arts faculty was handed over to a new 
foundation known as “ University. College,” which 
became “ the vital centre of the University.”* For 
this new college the beautiful Norman-Gothiec build- 
ing was constructed which is still its pride and its 
home. On St. Valentine’s Day in 1890 a fire de- 
stroyed the eastern half of the stately pile, which con- 
tained the Library and the Convocation Hall. As 
in the case of the rare Arabian bird, this loss, appar- 
ently irreparable at the time, proved ultimately a 
gain, and the opening of a new era of expansion in 
the history of the University. Toronto for once sym- 
' pathized, Quebec sent ten thousand dollars, and the 
Ontario Legislature passed an Act the next day pro- 
viding for the restoration of the building in a manner 
more suitable to the enlarged classes which had begun 
to crowd its halls. The generosity of individual citi- 
zens supplied funds for a new library, to which came 
contributions in books from all parts of the world. 
Germany alone sent seven thousand volumes. The 
building is on the east side of the lawn. To the 
south-west rises the new Convocation Hall, due in 
part to the gifts of the alumni. The inner hall has 
admirable acoustic properties, and contains an organ, 
made by Casavant, of Quebec, in perfect keeping 
with its surroundings. Other University buildings 
around the lawn are the Medical, with its Palladian 
* Chancellor Burwash, “ The University of Toronto and 
its Colleges,” p. 39. 
38 
