Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/651

 CAMBRIDGE (UNIVERSITY OF) 645 VEESITY. The examinations take place in the Lent term in each year, are conducted by the moderators and by examiners appointed by the senate, and the course of study pre- paratory to the degree of B. -.A. comprises the principal branches of learning. The first university or "previous" examination, tech- nically called the " little go," takes place in the Lent term of the second year from that in which the student commences his academi- cal residence, the subjects of examination be- ing one of the four Gospels or the Acts of the Apostles in the original Greek, Paley's " Evi- dences of Christianity," and one each of the Greek and of the Latin classics. The exami- nation of bachelors of arts extends over 22 days ; that of candidates for mathematical hon- ors, technically called the mathematical tripos, lasts eight, and that in classical learning, or the classical tripos, five days. Examinations in moral and natural sciences (moral sciences and natural sciences tripos) have likewise been in operation since 1857. At the close of the ex- amination, a select number, 30 at least, are recommended to the approbation of the proc- tors, and their names are classed in three di- visions, viz. : wranglers, senior optimes, and junior optimes, the highest of all being the senior wrangler for the year. The candidates are then admitted to their degrees by the vice chancellor, after they have taken the oath of allegiance and supremacy, and of observing Gothic Chapel in King's College. the statutes of the university, and having also declared that they are bonajide members of the church of England. There are 430 fellowships, tenable for life, but in most cases conditioned upon taking holy orders within a limited period. Their value varies from 100 to 300 per an- num. There are also salaries attached to the offices of dean, bursar, steward, &c. ; and there Pitzwilllam Museum. are prizes, medals, and scholarships of different values. Since the days of Newton, Cambridge has been considered more particularly the chosen seat of mathematical science, but the tendency to make it a stronghold of learning in all the various branches of science has been increasing of late years. Among the eminent men who have studied at Cambridge are Chaucer, Bacon, Coke, Harvey, Spenser, Ben Jonson, Milton, Dryden, Newton, Pitt, and Byron. Among the famous teachers have been Archbishop Whitgift, Bishop Wilkins, Isaac Barrow, and Richard Bentley. Many of the principal buildings and offices of the vari- ous colleges are of remarkable beauty, and above all the Gothic chapel of King's college. The public buildings of the university consist of the senate house, the university library, the schools, the university or Pitt press, the observatory, the botanical garden, the ana- tomical, geological, and mineralogical muse- ums, and the celebrated Fitzwilliam museum, for the establishment of which Lord Fitzwil- liam bequeathed to the university the annual interest of 100,000 South sea annuities, and which contains a collection of books, paintings, and engravings. The university library has greatly increased, mainly through the munifi- cence of George I. and II. , and the number of printed volumes is now about 230,000. There are also about 3,000 manuscripts, which con- tain many remarkable works. By the copy- right act it is entitled to a copy of every vol- ume, map, and print published in the United Kingdom. The library of Trinity college con- tains nearly 50,000 volumes, including MSS. in the handwriting of Milton, Newton's copy of his Principtti, and Dr. Gale's Arabic manu- scripts; an addition of 4,300 volumes by a be- quest of Archdeacon Hare is especially rich in German literature. The library of Corpus Christi college, St. John's college library, and the Pepysian library (so called after Samuel Pepys) also contain many ancient manuscripts