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ington. It comprises (1) the extensive collections, chiefly of marine animals, made by President Webster during his occupancy of the chair of natural history; (2) the celebrated Wheatley collection of shells and minerals, donated by E. C. Delavan; (3) specimens received from the National and State governments; and (4) contributions from friends and patrons of the college.

The philosophical museum is also rich in apparatus, especially in instruments illustrating electricity, magnetism, light, heat, acoustics, pneumatics, statics and dynamics, hydrostatics and hydraulics, and measurements.

The engineering department possesses the celebrated Olivier collection of models, consisting of about 50 models, representing the most important and complicated ruled surfaces of descriptive geometry, particularly warped or twisted surfaces. Their directrices are represented by brass bars, straight or curved, to which are attached silk threads representing the elements or successive positions of the generatrices of the surfaces. Each of these threads has a weight suspended by it, so as always to make it a straight line. These weights are contained in boxes sustaining the directrices and their standards. The bars are movable in various directions, carrying with them the threads still stretched straight by the weights in every position they may take; so that the forms and natures of the surfaces which they constitute are continually changing, while they always remain "ruled surfaces." In this way a plane is transformed into a paraboloid, a cylinder into a hyperboloid, etc. These models were invented by the lamented Theodore Olivier while professor of descriptive geometry at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, in Paris. One set of them is now deposited there and a second is in the Conservatory of Madrid. Copies of some of them are to be found in most of the polytechnic schools of Germany. The Union College set is the original collection. of the inventor, having been made in part by his own hands, and after his death in 1853 retained by the widow till bought from her by Professor Gillespie in 1855. It is more complete than that in the Paris Conservatoire. It may be worth noticing that the silvered plates on the boxes, reading "Inventé par Theodore Olivier," etc., were added by Madame Olivier after the purchase, at her own expense, as a tribute to the memory of her husband, her own words being: "Je tenais à ce que chaque instrument portat le nom du savant dont la reputation passera à la posterité."

Memorial Hall, long a familiar object in the pictures, and originally designed for a chapel, was delayed for various causes, so that the foundation was not laid till 1858. The war and its attendant depressions interrupted the work, which was not resumed till 1874, and the present domed structure was evolved in 1876. This building, situated midway between, and in the rear of, the two main buildings, is nearly circular, 84 feet in diameter, the dome rising 120 feet from the floor.

It has never been of any particular use to the college, but is employed for the banquet hall at commencement time, and is adorned by paintings, statues, and works of art.

A president's house was built in 1873, and in 1874 a gymnasium, which, when finished, was one of the largest and best equipped in the country. All these buildings, except Memorial Hall, are of brick, roughcast with stucco or cement, producing the "gray old walls" celebrated in college song.

Some distance behind the circular building has recently been erected a handsome structure known as the Powers Memorial Building, finishedin 1885. This consists of a chapel-like central building, with wings extending from it on either side in the form of a half circle. The central building forms a splendid receptacle for the 40,000 volumes which constitute the college library, and the wings contain the president's office and eight spacious and well-equipped recitation rooms.

The development of fraternity life is gradually introducing a more modern architecture on the college grounds. The Psi Upsilon fraternity recently secured the grant of a lot on the college grounds, to the rear of South College, and has erected on it a fine chapter house, costing $30,000. The Alpha Delta Phi Society has for several years owned a lot near the college gate, and has a considerable fund subscribed for building a chapter home, which it has decided to locate near the Psi Upsilon chapter house, on a circular path which is known as the "Grecian Bend." The Sigma Phi chapter has recently been enriched by a bequest of $40,000, and a building for this venerable fraternity is probable in the near future. Similar plans are contemplated by Delta Upsilon and other of the Greek-letter societies. The original grounds acquired for college uses in Schenectady have been somewhat reduced by street improvements and the sale of lots, but are still amply sufficient, embracing about 125 acres, including the campus, gardens, and grounds properly belonging to the college and essential for its use, besides some 100 acres of woodlands and fields adjoining.

During the residence of Prof. Thomas Macauley, more than fifty years ago, a beginning was made in the improvement of a garden north of North College. The work was, however, scarcely more than a beginning until Prof. Isaac W. Jackson became a resident of the adjoining dwelling in 1831, when a series of improvements were begun which, aided by a small annual grant from the trustees, have gradually transformed a wild ravine and tangled woodland into a charming ramble and pleasant retreat. The grounds embrace some 12 acres, and combine many attractions of sylvan solitude and floral beauty. "Captain Jack," as the professor was affectionately styled by his pupils, devoted the last years of his life almost entirely to the beautifying of this garden, and under the spreading elm, which was his favorite resort, were held his funeral ceremonies at his death in 1877.

Besides the real estate in Schenectady the college owns a few lots in the city of New York and a large tract, comprising over 1,300 city lots, in Long Island City. This tract was received under the deed of Dr. Nott, and is of great value, already yielding the college a considerable annual income. The constant growth of Long Island City, its probable connection with New York City in the near future by tunnel or bridges, and its inevitable consolidation with the metropolis unite to make the college real estate of immense prospective value.

The trustees of the college are, by its charter as amended, the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, and attorney-general of the State, ex officio, thirteen chosen for life by the board of trustees, and four elected, one each year for a term of four years, by the alumni. The present trustees, exclusive of the ex officio members, are Silas B. Brownell, Rev. Dr. Wm. Irvin, Hon. Judson S. Landon, Hon. Edward W. Paige, Wm. H. H. Moore, Rev. Dr. Denis Wortman, Hon. John H. Starin, Clark Brooks, John A. De Remer, Rev. Dr. George Alexander, Robert C. Alexander,1 Hon. Warner Miller, N. N. V. Franchot, S. K. Williams, Col. Charles E. Sprague, Howard Thornton, and Wallace T. Foote.

The faculty as now constituted is made up as follows: A. V. V. Raymond, D. D., LL. D., president; John Foster, LL. D., Nott professor (emeritus) of natural history; Henry Whitehorne, LL. D., Nott professor of the Greek language and literature; William Wells, LL. D., professor of modern languages and literature and lecturer on current history; Maurice Perkins, A. M., M. D., professor of analytical chemistry; Sidney G. Ashmore, A. M., L. H. D., professor of the Latin language and literature; James R. Truax, A. M., Ph. D., professor of the English language and literature; Thomas W. Wright, A. M., Ph. D., professor of applied mathematics and physics; Frank S. Hoffman, A. M., professor of mental and moral philosophy; Benjamin H. Ripton, A. M., Ph. D., professor of history and sociology, and dean; Olin H. Landreth, A. M., C. E., professor of civil engineering; James L. Patterson, Sc. D., professor of mathematics; Samuel B. Howe, Ph. D., adjunct Nott professor, principal of Union school; Albert H. Pepper, A. M., assistant professor of modern languages; James H. Stoller, A. M., professor of biology; Edward Everett Hale, jr., Ph. D., professor of rhetoric and logic; Philip H. Cole, A. M., assistant professor of English; Edwin H. Winans, A. M., assistant professor of mathematics; Homer P. Cummings, instructor in surveying; Wendell Lamoroux, A. M., librarian and lecturer; C. P. Linhart, M. D., instructor in physiology and physical education; Geo. V. Edwards, A. M., instructor in Latin and Sanskrit; Howard Opdyke, A. B., instructor in mathematics and physics; Elton D. Walker, B. S., instructor in engineering; John I. Bennett, A. M., instructor in Greek, besides a corps of 36 lecturers.

1 1 Deceased, 1900.

The general catalogues of Union College contain a list of names of which both the college and the country may well be proud. In the total number of its graduates it stands at least fourth, and perhaps third, among American colleges. The number of its alumni is nearly double that of any other college in New York State. Its graduates have become prominent in every profession and walk in life. Among the number have been a President of the United States, two Secretaries of State, two justices of the United States Supreme Court, ten Senators, two Speakers, and one hundred and thirty members of the House of Representatives. Thirty-six college presidents have had their educational ideas molded at Union and have transplanted them to other institutions. One-fifth of the whole number of judges elected to the bench of the court of appeals and of the supreme court in New York State have been Union College graduates.

The general alumni association was organized and incorporated in 1857, and local associations have been formed in New York City, Albany, Chicago, Rochester, St. Paul, Boston, San Francisco, and Washington. The New York association has over 500 members.

ELECTIVE COURSES.

"Elective courses, not elective studies" were declared by the late President Webster in a recent address to be the present policy of Union College. There are, it is true, a considerable number of elective studies arranged in the latter stages of each course, but the aim has been rather to increase the number of definite, well-arranged courses than to enlarge the list of optional studies in the courses.

Union now offers, in its academic department, one A. B. course, one B. S. course, one Ph. B. course, three B. E. courses, and one graduate C. E. course. These courses are distinguished as follows:

COURSES OF STUDY.

[Beginning September, 1895.]

1. Course leading to the degree of A. B.-—This is the usual classical course. After the sophomore year the work is largely elective. French and German are included in addition to the ancient languages. Students may pursue additional studies in other courses.

2. Course leading to the degree of Ph. B.-This differs from the A. B. course chiefly in the omission of Greek and the substitution therefor of additional work in modern languages and science.

3. Course leading to the degree of B. S.-The modern languages are here substituted for the ancient, and the amount of mathematical and English studies is increased. After the sophomore year a large list of electives is offered.

4. General course leading to the degree of B. E.-This course is intended to give the basis of an engineering education, including the fundamental principles of all special branches of the profession, a knowlege of both French and German, and a full course in English.

5. Sanitary course leading to the degree of B. E.-This differs from course 4 in substituting special work in sanitary engineering for some of the general engineering studies.

6. Electrical course leading to the degree of B. E.-This differs from course 4 in substituting special work in electricity and its applications in place of some of the general engineering studies.

7. Graduate course in engineering leading to the degree of C. E.-A course of one year offered to graduates of course 4, 5, or 6.

The arrangement of studies in the course leading to the degree of A. B. is as follows:

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3 English. (Past and present; rhetoric, intellectual qualities.)

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