The Press., 1888-02-16
ooRREsroSDHrom.j HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
ITS ENDowAnNTs, LnRAHIEs, AssocuAT1oxs
 AND sURRoUNDNoA.


 Editor of The Press "A brief review of the recent annual catalogue of Harvard University, together with mention of stu dent life and few of the surroundings of Cambridge, may interest your readers. The vigor and prosperity which attend the civ ic and commercial institutions of our couu- try, appear to be no less shared by the foremost of American institutions of learn ing. The total attendance at Harvard for the present year is 1872 students. Of this number 113S are in the college or under graduate department, while 674 are in the various professional schools The medical and law schools are the most prominent of the professional departments, and number 263 and 215 students respectively. The scientific, dental and divinity schools, to- gether with the school of veterinary surg. cry. have an aggregate attendance of about 200 more. The present corps of instruct ors in the university numbers lSl profes- sors, assistant professors and instructors. Each department Iotinstruction is in charge of professor, who is assisted, in some SdSSny bJ RuS OE AhOAS hHnAobAut DEOtS6sOErt and several instructors. In the college de- partment there are more than 200 courses of study, and these are so arranged that the student may, principally, select those courses for which, his inclination and abil- ity are best suited.
 Harvard is the richest of the American colleges, having permanent funds running far up into the millions. The income of the university from all sources for the past year amounted to $703, ,00o. or this sum S19s, 900 was received from students. The chief source of income is the interest from the large invested funds The gifts to the - college within the past twelve months to increase these permanent funds amounted to S987, 900. In addition to these funds for college uses there is also held in trust by the college a large sum of money whose income is paid to meritorious students.
 One of the most important aids to stu. dent work in Harvard is the presence of the vast college library. This is one of the great libraries of the world, and con. tains, at the present time, PAS, 500 bound volumes, an equally large number of man. uscripts and maps, aud O valuable collec- tion of rare coins. Cove Hall, the library building, is provided with spacious reading rooms and slooves and is thoroughly fire proof. The only libraries in the United States which have a larger number of vol umes than the Cove Hall library are the Boston public library and the congression- al library at Washington. In addition to the Cove Hall library, there is a separate library in each of the professional schools of the university. The law school library contains 23, 900 volumes, the divinity school Is, 900, while there are more than 20, 900 volumes in the Agassz museum of natural history. The total number of volumes in the libraries of the university is 325. 900. The Agassiz museum, a collection of great value, is one of the monuments which Louis Agassiz left to commemorate his won. derful achievements in the fields of natural science. The collection in this museum illustrates the animal life of every climate, aud contains, in addition, many thousands of specimens of coral, fossils, and miner. als. One of the novel exhibits here is a collection of skeletons beginning with that of the smallest monkey and continued up through the various monkey species to the human savage, and ending finally in the skeleton of the civilized man. These mute witnesses, placed side by side, form a ~ug. gestive group, and tell us, according to Mir. Darwin's theory that if we had not passed, by the accident of circumstances, over a narrow line, we might now be monkeys in. stead of men.
 A feature of student life at Harvard which attracts much attention is the popu- lar memorial dining hall. The building, which contains the dining hall, was erect ed to commemorate the sons of Harvard who died in the civil war. The building is of brick and stone, is BIO feet long and l11E Fant vv1a and QE[n mn fnha central division is the memorial transept, 116 feet long aud 58 feet high, having high | black walnut screens around the walls, in which are set marble tablets bearing the I names and birth places of the 102 patriots, and telling the battles in which they fell. I Over thIs transept a tower rises to the height of POO feet and forms a conspicuous landmark. The dining hall opens from the west side of the transept and is l64 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 80 feet to the tim Der roof At either end of the dining hall are galleries, aud at the west end is the large stained glass window which bears the arms of the republic, the state md the university. The walls are adorned with many portraits and busts of many famous sons of New England and Harvard, pro- ductions of Stuart, Trumbull, Powers, Story and other eminent artists. There are sixty tables in the dining hall, which seat about 800 persons. The management Is in the hands of board selected annually by the students from their own number.
 But Harvard is not the only object of in- terest here for in Cambridge and its im- mediate locality occurred many of the greatest events in American history. Al. most within hearing was fired "the shot for freedom which echoed around the world" Only few miles osf are Concord 4 and Lexington, and tho country about abounds in scenes of Revolutionary events. Hardly mile away on the road to Lexing- ton stands a stone which tells that four pc. triot soldiers, while retreating from the battle of Lexington, were overtaken and dispatched on this spot by British merce. naries. A little further on another monu- ment shows the place where once stood the famous "Green's Tavern,r ,r used by British | officers for headquarters during the siege | of Boston. Still another stone marks the