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Benjamin Thompson,
Count Rumford.

of work: scientific, military, and political.
the Revolution, he would have been placed
of similarity in their lives.

AMONG the great men that America has produced, none have had a more romantic or eventful life than Benjamin Thompson. Springing from a common New England family, he became famous in three lines Were it not for the fact that he was a Tory during side by side with Franklin. There are many points

Like Franklin, he was born in Eastern Massachusetts and apprenticed at an early age. During his apprenticeship, he devoted his spare time to the study of mathematics and mechanics. Finally, as he was out of work, he returned to his native town, Woburn. Then it was that he showed his interest in science by walking daily from Woburn to Cambridge, a distance of eight miles, in order to attend lectures in physics. As a companion in his long walk, he had his neighbor, Laomi Baldwin, the projector of the old Middlesex Canal from Lowell to Boston, better known perhaps as the originator of the Baldwin apple. After this he taught school in various places. Young Thompson had what the Westerners call a physical basis for his greatness; that is, he had a magnificent carriage and was handsome. He also had a personality which attracted every one to him. While he was teaching school in New Hampshire he attended a muster of the militia, where his appearance so impressed the royal governor that he appointed him a major in the New Hampshire militia. This immediately aroused the jealousy of the subaltern officers, as any one who was supposed to be a friend of the royal governor was despised. This event proved unfortunate for Thompson, for as the Revolution drew near he was suspected of being a friend of the crown and was compelled to leave New Hampshire. He then came to Woburn and applied for a commission in the continental army, but was refused, owing to the opposition of the New Hampshire officers. He was even arrested in his native town by his old neighbors and tried for treason, but not convicted. With his high spirit, what could he do but leave the people who appreciated him so little? Cut to the quick and exasperated, he resolved to be loyal to his king instead of to his country. According to his resolution, he drove from Woburn to Newport and was received on board a British man-of-war which was to take him to London, where, upon his arrival, he was appointed a secretary in the colonial office. Afterward, he raised a regiment of Royal Dragoons in America.

His chief work, however, during this period was along the line of physical investigation. Like Edward Atkinson, he devoted himself to improving the methods and appliances of cooking. This earned for him the ridicule of the Londoners, but he maintained that there was only one right way to do even so common a thing as cooking. He also invented a remedy for smoking chimneys, which had formerly been a plague to London. After the Revolution he traveled on the continent. Once again his appearance on horseback earned for him a royal friend. This time it was the Elector of Bavaria, who asked him to visit the royal palace at Munich. The result was that he became a sort of missionary to Bavaria, introducing many reforms and new ideas from England and the New World. First he reorganized the army, introducing a new system of tactics, and sending each man home for ten months of the year to work after the fashion of the American militia. As there were many beggars in Bavaria, he had them all collected at Munich, Jan. 1, 1790, and distributed to various government factories which he had had prepared for them. These factories manufactured cloth, shoes, and various necessities of life quite like the ideal state of our nationalists. He also introduced modern breeds of cattle and farming methods, and in fact made Bavaria an "up-to-date " country. For these services, he was given the highest military and civil offices, being finally a lieutenant-general in the army and regent of the throne. He was also made a count, and chose for his title "Rumford," which was suggested by the scene of his early school-teaching days in New Hampshire.

In 1802 he removed to Paris, in order to pursue his physical researches. These alone would have made him famous. He discovered the correlation of forces by observing that water boiled when placed in a cannon that was being bored. He made many other discoveries in light and heat, and references to his work are continually met with in scientific books. Paris was frequented by many of the great men of the time. It was there that the nephew of

Napoleon killed his opponent in a duel. Rumford used to dine frequently with Napoleon, and corresponded with the Czar of Russia and Emperor of Austria.

At his death, he showed his regard for his native country. He left to the United States his books and plans; and to Harvard College he gave the money to found the Rumford professorship of physics and mathematics. He also gave five thousand dollars to the American Academy of Science, which amount has increased greatly since then. The income of this was to establish biennial prizes for discoveries in light and heat. A medal from this fund recently given to Professor Pickering of Harvard was about one-quarter of an inch thick and three inches in diameter. To an American the ineffaceable stain on his escutcheon obscures his many good works, but to the foreigner the fact that he was faithful to his king instead of to his country only adds to his fame. This is the reason that he is so little known in America. The city of Munich has a noble statue to his honor. America has no recognition of his services to science beyond the marking his birthplace, an old house in Woburn, Massachusetts, with a wooden sign.

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B.

Departmental
Work.

III. CHEMISTRY.

In this article we propose to consider briefly the work carried on in the Department of Chemistry at Tufts. The work accomplished this year is hardly typical, as the courses have been necessarily abbreviated owing to a considerable delay in the completion of the new chemical building,—a structure fifty feet wide by one hundred long, two stories high, and exclusively used for chemistry. On the lower floor are the storerooms, a large lecture-room, and a room to be used for metallurgy and assaying. Up-stairs are the laboratories for general chemistry, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, organic chemistry, the private laboratories of the professor, and a library and weighingroom. The rooms are very conveniently arranged and afford ample accommodations for the department.

Laboratory work occupies the main position in the courses of instruction. The students are from the first made familiar with the properties and behaviour of chemical substances, by experimental work in the laboratory. In the analytical divisions the students are fitted for the various kinds of analytical work by obtaining a complete and practical knowledge of the common analytical methods. A number of new courses have been arranged, which will be offered next year. These are, (1) metallurgy and assaying, (2) theoretical and inorganic chemistry, (3) organic chemistry (advanced), (4) laboratory work in advanced inorganic and organic chemistry, (5) original investigations. The plan adopted by the college, whereby a student can pursue a special course of undergraduate work in chemistry, enables him, with two or three years of postgraduate work, to get a very fair knowledge of the science. Quite an important advance has been made in the department by increasing the requirements leading to the attainment of the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy, the standard of scholarship being thus raised very considerably.

Original investigations in the most organic chemistry are continually being carried on by Professor Michael and those under his supervision. At present a number of problems are under investigation, the nature of which is far too complicated to explain in this article. The results of the work are published from time to time in the leading German and American chemical journals. Considerable analytical work is also performed in the department for outside parties. All the analytical work for the Dominion Coal Company has been done here for several years, also the analysis of nickel and iron ores for Boston parties. A large variety of substances are sent in for chemical examination. At present a number of alloys are being analyzed. This kind of work has been of considerable importance in making the college known in many sections of the country.

A pure scientific training is necessary for the professional chemist. For many years German universities have been at the head in giving to their students the best possible scientific training.

Discoveries made in the pure science are often applied in the manufacture of commercial products. Thus Germany, although much poorer in natural resources than many other countries, has been able to compete successfully with them in the manufacture of certain products in the laboratory, which owe their process of manufacture to previous discoveries in the pure science. As an illustration, Professor Boeyer, several years ago, reduced carbolic acid to benzine by passing the former over heated zinc dust. The application of this purely scientific discovery to alizarine, the coloring principle of madder, led to the discovery that alizarine is derived from anthracine, a product contained in coal tar. Having thus found the mother substance of the dye, it was very easy to convert anthracine into alizarine. In a short time, all the enormous amount of alizarine used for dyeing purposes was made exclusively in the laboratory, at greatly reduced cost from that which was formerly produced from the vegetable. Before the synthetical process was discovered, the greater part of the madder was grown in the Garonne District, France; but the greatly reduced cost made it impracticable to cultivate the vegetable. How thorough was the expulsion of the natural product from the market is shown by the action of the French military authorities, who, to avoid purchasing the madder from Germany, for coloring their soldiers' uniforms, were obliged to change the color of the uniforms. This serves as one illustration of the close relations existing between the pure and the technical science. When it is stated that nearly all of the technical discoveries are dependent upon previous scientific observations, it will be understood how a purely scientific training is the best mental outfit that can be given to a chemist.

Recognizing the great value of the pure science in itself and the great material advantages which have sprung from it, the department at Tufts has striven to offer every facility toward original investigation in chemistry. The advantages offered are equal to those offered in any other institution in the country.

Exchanges.

The University Beacon of Boston University contains a thoughtful essay entitled "Byron's Rise and Decline." The writer of the article declares that Byron's success was owing to his intense earnestness and also his sympathy with his own time. Byron was not a literary artist like Shelley or Tennyson, but on account of his personality, he exerted a far greater influence than either. One of the best features of this essay is the author's decided conviction in regard to Byron and his work. At the very At the very outset he states the above opinion and quickly proceeds to substantiate it. In establishing his views on the subject of Byron's genius, the author uses most effective means by quoting from competent judges. Macaulay called Byron "the most celebrated Englishman of the nineteenth century;" Goethe proclaimed him "the greatest talent of the age;" "it lies," says Swinburne, "in the splendid and imperishable excellence which covers all his defects; the excellence of sincerity and strength." There is an interesting comparison between Byron and Shakespeare, and it is remarked that Byron failed as a dramatist in much the same

way as Browning has, the inability to conceal his own personality and to represent the emotions of others. This proves the author's original claim for a striking personality on the part of Byron, so strong a one that it prevented him from being a success as a dramatist. The essayist also displays a good knowledge of the literature of this remarkable century, mentioning for comparison's sake, Coleridge, Scott, Southey, and Wordsworth. The fact of especial emphasis is that Byron was pre-eminently for the age in which he lived, an age of sentimentality, and that he owed a great amount of his inspiration and fame to environment.

The Maine colleges are making efforts to form an intercollegiate chess club. Indeed, this game is becoming more and more popular in the various institutions of learning. And why should it not? Brains are the chief requirement, and colleges and brains are generally closely allied. The chess tournament between Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia attracted a great amount of attention, and the Princeton students were so interested that they paid the

entire expenses of their representatives at the contest in New York. Intercollegiate debates and chess contests are destined to be very popular in the near future, and they will afford a welcome relief from the undignified athletic contests, which, however, seem to be on the wane.

The University of Minnesota Magazine is an especially attractive paper. The president of the university, Mr. Cyrus Northrop, has contributed a vigorous and timely article entitled "The Manly Man." He would not have any student work with the intention of filling his head with a supply of knowledge that will last him during life. But in getting this knowledge, the mind of the student has been disciplined; he himself has acquired coolness, resolution, and discretion, and thereby he is in a position to face the practical world. Mr. Northrup pertinently says, "Of all things, deliver me from the scholastic dude, who is not a sufficiently vigorous scholar to have a creative mind, but who is so crammed and weighted with the fruits of other men's scholarship as to have no freedom of action in his own independent manhood."

Lombard has offered a good suggestion to co-educational institutions. This college, with others, has long felt the need of a pronoun of common gender. We all realize here at Tufts how awkward it must be for the professor to remark, “Each student should be in his (or her) place at the proper time," "It is for the interest of the college that each student conduct himself (or herself) in an orderly manner.' The suggestion has been made that the word

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"se" be adopted as the common gender pronoun. Then, by analogy, the possessive case would be "sis" and the objective case "sim." Who, pray, has a better right than college students to lead in linguistic reform ? Then let us heed this suggestion from Lombard and henceforth say, "Each student should be in sis place," "Each student should conduct simself in an orderly manner," and the like.

CHIMES.

HE:

"Sweet and clear, O Chimes, you're ringing
As you never rang before;
To my heart a message bringing,
Hallowed there forevermore."

CHIMES :

"We, poor soul, are always ringing
At the morn and eventide ;
While to self thou hast been clinging,
On thine ear our music died."

- Walter W. Drew, in "Inlander.”

PRIVATE THEATRICALS.

His role was to propose; hers to accept ;

And so the two rehearsed from day to day;
But scarce an hour ago, he knew full well
It was no more a play.

The audience had cheered with loud applause
The skill wherewith he seemed to act his part,
Nor did they, in their ardor, dream that he
Laid bare his inmost heart.

In agony of doubt, he longs to know

Yet fears to learn the truth. Her lips said, "Yes." Was Art the prompter, or did Cupid speak, And urge her to confess?

Divinity School.

Professor Woodbridge has returned from abroad.

Frank Blackford, '96, is attending his recitations again, after his severe illness.

Extempore preaching by the members of the graduating class begins to-day, March 20.

The Revs. Lester E. Williams, '92, Allen Brown, '94, E. B. Barber and Curtis H. Dickins, special, have visited the Hill recently.

-John Gowdy, in Wesleyan Lit."

Dr. Leonard took part in the service of ordination of Mrs. MacCoy, March 13, at Mansfield, Massachusetts.

Several of the Seniors have enjoyed the privilege of supplying the pulpit of Dr. Cushman's church in Providence.

The next reception by the students will be held Thursday, March 21. The present management is entitled to hearty support, for it is conducting these gatherings very creditably.

The Rev. H. W. Smith gave an address in Miner Hall Chapel, March 5, on "Vital Expression," which was enjoyed by all present.

Merrill C. Ward, '96, Lucy A. Milton, '98, and Bertram D. Boivin, '98, represented the Tufts College Prohibition Club at a temperance meeting of six hundred people in Canton, Massachusetts, March 2. The club realized a respectable sum over expenses.

Professor Curtis read a paper entitled "Biblical Teaching on the Use of Wine," in Miner Hall Chapel, March 6, under the auspices of the Prohibition Club. This paper is deserving of a wide reading. Professor Curtis is not a prohibitionist in politics, and did not read the principle into the Bible; but he gave abundant information, in his judicial way, to satisfy the members of the club on the matter involved.

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The Prohibition Club held its regular monthly business meeting March 14, and voted to secure the services of Professor A. H. Evans to lecture before the students in Goddard Chapel soon. Professor Evans is a popular speaker, and deserves a good audience.

The Prohibition Club has appointed M. C. Ward its representative on the Boston InterCollegiate Team, composed of representatives from Tufts, Boston University, Harvard, and Newton, who are to deliver orations and hold contests at various places in the State.

Joseph F. Cobb, of the Senior Class, has accepted a call to East Montpelier, Vermont ; Ashley A. Smith has accepted a call to Annisquam and Lanesville, Massachusetts, and Arthur A. Blair to Hinsdale, New Hampshire. All will supply their parishes until June, and then go to them to reside.

Medical School.

Professor Austin has finished the lecture course upon "Urinary Analysis," and has begun the regular lectures upon "Toxicology."

Hopkins, '97, Ford, '97, Stowe, '97, and Misses McGee, '97, and Bourne, '96, are assisting at the Surgical Room at the Boston Dispensary.

Five candidates were initiated at the regular meeting of the Alpha Kappa Kappa Society on March 19, after which a banquet in honor of the newly elected members was indulged in.

Two new chairs have been created in the faculty, that of Professor in Legal Medicine, and Professor in Mental Diseases. It is probable that the present lecturers upon those subjects will be elected to fill the respective professorships.

William A. White, M.D., the lecturer on pediatrics, has been appointed and confirmed, by an unanimous vote, Superintendent of the Marcella Street Home for Children. The home at the present time contains about four hundred inmates. This will undoubtedly give the Medical School a valuable clinic upon diseases of children.

The regular course of lectures of the Medical School will terminate this year about the first of May, according to the prescribed curriculum in last year's annual announcement, instead of June 5, as was supposed by many of the students.

At the last meeting of the faculty of the Medical School, the following lecturers and instructors were added to the already large staff: W. J. Otis, M.D., lecturer on rectal diseases; Fred S. Reading, M.D., lecturer on genitourinary surgery; H. S. Dearing, M.D., and H. W. White, M.D., instructors in clinical medicine; and W. P. Derby, M.D., instructor in clinical obstetrics.

Tufts Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Kappa Society, at a recent meeting appointed John Frances Ryan and Harry C. Holmes, both '96 men, as delegates to the Alpha Kappa Kappa convention recently held at Dartmouth College. During the session, at the election of officers, Professor C. P. Thayer was elected Grand President of the society. After the close of the business for which the delegates were convened, an elaborate banquet was held at the Newton Inn, Norwich, Vermont, at which John Frances Ryan, '96, responded to the toast

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