Page:Convocation Addresses of the Universities of Bombay and Madras.djvu/223

 are shortly to be laid before the Senate for its acceptance, amount to the large sum of Rs. 1,03,600. These have come from the different parts of "Western India to which the influence of this University extends, from the more distant Kutch and Junagadh, as well as from the City of Bombay and the near parts of the Presidency, and they are designed for the furtherance of several of the branches of learning over which the University presides. Medicine, Indian Philosophy, Literature, Science and Law are included within the scope of these benefactions, and it is a matter for congratulation not only that the interest of the people of Western India in the University is so widespread, but also that it shows so intelligent an appreciation of the University's varied wants and of the special need of the time. The munificent gift made by Bai Motlibai of Rs. 1,50,000, together with a valuable site for an Obstetric Hospital, and Sir Dinshaw Manekji Petit's well-timed offer of Rs. 1,25,000 for a hospital for children's diseases and for gynæcological research and in close proximity to the Cama Hospital, the Obstetric Hospitals to which the Allbless family devote a gift of Rs. 60,000, have placed this city under great obligations to these generous benefactors. In addition to fulfilling their primary object, the alleviation of human suffering, these endowments will give an impulse to special departments of medical study, and it is therefore fitting that they should find mention on this occasion. It is unnecessary to allude on this occasion in any detail to the great national movement which has for its aim the provision of efficient medical aid to the women of India, but I refer to it in this connection, because amongst the gifts which it falls to me to announce are several which show a laudable desire to associate the University with this great movement. We have the Sir James Fergusson Scholarship for lady medical students, to which part of the sum of Rs.22,500 presented to the University for Scholarships by the Sir James Fergusson Memorial Committee has been devoted; the sum of Rs. 3,000 bestowed by the women of India Medical Fund Committee for a similar purpose; and the sum of Rs. 6,000 presented by Mr. Harkissondas Narotumdas for the foundation of a Lady Reay Gold Medal and Scholarship also to be awarded to successful lady competitors. The desire to advance the cause of Mahomedan education is represented by the wisely directed liberality of Bahudin Vazir Saheb of Junagadh, who has placed the sum of Rs. 30,000 at the disposal of the University for the foundation of a Scholarship in memory of Sir Mohobat Khan Bahadur, the late Nawab of Junagadh, to be awarded preferentially to Mahomedan graduates of the University. We may congratulate the Vazir