making the corps of cadets of such size as to render it impossible to do anything with it in the present inadequate Armory of the University. A new and much larger Armory is, therefore, the first condition of further improvement of the military department at Cornell University.

It is hoped that the State of New York may provide such a building. There can be no doubt about the excellence of the work achieved by the military department of this University. Three army inspectors in succession have now answered affirmatively the question which appears in the army inspector's last report, "Has the course of inspection prescribed . been carried out?" And that Cornell University is also accomplishing the object of the War Department in maintaining such details at universities is now likewise a matter of official record. In a circular letter from the War Department to commandants, dated January 25, 1908, it was said that "the main object of the military instruction given at civil educational institutions having army officers as professors of military science and tactics should be to qualify students who enter the military departments of such institutions to be company officers of infantry volunteers or militia." That Cornell University is fulfilling the object sought by the Morrill Act as thus formulated by the War Department is not merely a matter of assertion but of official record. The records of the Spanish-American War show no less than sixty officers of volunteers who received their military training in the cadet corps of Cornell University. There are now seventeen officers of the regular army who are graduates of Cornell and a great many more who did not actually graduate but who were students here. The last class from civil life commissioned in the army contained four Cornell graduates-Charles L. Williams, '05, Chester J. Goodier, '07, Robert E. Vose, '03, and George Ruhlen, Jr., '07.

The last inspection of the cadet corps was made on the 11th of May, 1908, by Captain P. C. Harris of the General Staff. He reports that the requirements of the War Department as to the course of instruction have been complied with and that the instruction is of such extent and thoroughness as to qualify the average graduate for a commission as a lieutenant of volunteers, and his report concludes with the following words:

"The work accomplished at Cornell University is of a high order, and it would be a mistake to make any radical change at this time. There has been in the last few years a steady improvement in the military department of this university, for which Captain Frank A. Barton, 3d U. S. Cavalry, Professor of Military Science and Tactics, deserves great credit. With the encouragement and support of the president, who is a firm believer in the value of military training for young men, he has succeeded in arousing the interest of the students and in removing to a large extent the prejudice which existed against the drills and military inspection."

The President desires cordially to endorse this official encomium on Captain Barton. He has infused a new spirit into the military department of Cornell University and brought it measurably up to the ideal entertained by the War Department and by the authorities of the University. From beginning to end his work at Cornell has been an unqualified success. His high patriotism, his zeal for the service, his devotion to his work, his practical gifts as an administrator, his skill and persistency in pushing reforms till everybody recognized they were indispensable, and the admirable courtesy and diplomacy which he combined with the disciplinarian's firmness and stern sense of duty, enabled him to raise the department to a markedly higher plane of efficiency and invest it with a sentiment of regard and popularity such as it had never before enjoyed. In leaving the University Captain Barton carries with him the admiration and affectionate regard both of the students and of his colleagues in the Faculty.

To fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of Captain Barton's appointment, the War Department on the application of the University detailed Captain Ervin L. Phillips (see p. 13), who reported for duty on September 25th.

THE LIBRARY

The University Library now contains over 350,000 (353,638) volumes and over 50,000 (53,000) pamphlets. Over 300,000 (307,334) volumes and all the pamphlets are housed in the general library building which the late Henry W. Sage erected for the University and endowed with $300,000 as a book fund. Most of the annual accessions to the Library, which last year numbered nearly 14,000 (13.937) volumes and 2,000 pamphlets, were purchased from the income of that fund. The gifts, however, were considerable, aggregating 3,646 volumes. The most important of the gifts as also of the purchases of the year are mentioned in the report of the Librarian (Appendix XV).

The establishment of a separate library in the uppe story of Goldwin Smith Hall for the use of undergraduates in Arts was an important event of the year. The collection already numbers about 1,100 volumes, and must be greatly increased. It is to students in literature, history and philosophy what the laboratory is to students in science. The collection consists chiefly of additional copies of books already in the general library, which are used in undergraduate work in the humanities, and it contains in some cases many copies of the books most in demand in the larger classes. This arrangement now made in the interest of students in Arts had already been effected for students in other Colleges (Engineering, etc.) which have special library collections in their own buildings.

A still more noteworthy event was the extension of the privilege of drawing books from the general library for

home use to all regularly matriculated students of the University. This privilege was at first confined to Faculty and graduate students, then it was extended to seniors and juniors, and now it is granted generally to all members of the University, whether students or teachers. With the exception of certain reserved collections, these successive acts of legislation have the effect of converting the library of reference to a circulating library. As a consequence its relation to the recently established circulating library must now be reconsidered. That the change does not necessarily involve the abandonment of that enterprise is obvious enough. For an incomparable advantage of the circulating library was that it brought together in a comparatively small compass the books which students might desire for general reading and encouraged the students, in Dr. Johnson's phrase, "to browse" in that collection-to see, handle and taste books at their leisure. And this free access to the shelves for choosing books for general reading has been greatly appreciated by the students; the figures in the Librarian's report show that nearly one fourth of all the books taken from the Library for home use were from this collection though it contained only about 3,500 volumes. And a still larger number of students used books from this collection in the room without taking them home. Such a collection, therefore, seems specially adapted to promote the "reading habit" among undergraduates, which teachers very generally declare the chief desideratum in collegiate education at the present time. The suitable accommodation of such a circulating library is a grave problem. No satisfactory solution can be found short of an enlargement of the Library building which in a few years, at the present rate of growth, will be full to overflowing, and when the enlargement comes, special provision should be made for the circulating library and also, if possible, for the Fiske collections.

THE INFIRMARY

The new Committee, consisting of Mr. C. D. Bostwick, chairman, Judge Blood and Professor Kerr, have now had charge of the Infirmary for a year. The chairman's report, which is brief and which covers completely the important events of the year, is as follows:

"By reason of the action of the Board of Trustees at the time the present Infirmary Committee was appointed, in terminating the employment of the Infirmary Staff, the first act of the Committee was to secure a new Superintendent. Miss Harriet Sutherland formerly with St. Lukes Hospital, Utica, was appointed to the position and her administration has given satisfaction.

"The exterior of the building has been repainted and necessary repairs made. Some new equipment was purchased, particularly copper instrument sterilizers for the surgery. Two useful and needed gifts were received from seniors in the University. A wheel chair from Mr. C. L. Bradley and a complete X-Ray machine with table and photographic outfit from Mr. C. B. Goodspeed.

"On the recommendation of this Committee the Trustees enacted that hereafter an Infirmary fee of $2.00 per term be charged to all students entitling them to ordinary care for not exceeding two weeks in one year. This provision apparently meets the approval of the student body and will I think be a satisfactory change.

"During this year there have been among the students and in the city serious outbreaks of three contagious diseases, diphtheria, scarlet fever and measles. As the necessary isolation of such cases cannot be had at the Infirmary, these students were refused admittance. The patients were well taken care of at the Ithaca City Hospital and the Board of Health Emergency Hospital, but the urgent need of an isolation ward in connection with the Infirmary was impressed on all interested. Such a ward should have at least thirty beds and if built in keeping with the present building would probably cost, with equipment, between $40,000 and $50,000. Such a building I believe to be an urgent need of the University. I attach detailed list of diseases treated and financial statement."

Unhappily two students who were sick died at the Infirmary. One was Ernest C. A. Schaefer of Liverpool, New York, a junior in Mechanical Engineering, who had for years been a victim of chronic diabetis. Mr. Schaefer was a very diligent student and made an excellent record in his University work. The other was H. Douglas Fowler of Galveston, Texas, who had just registered as a freshman in