THE NEBRASKAN.
25
Last year seminar work was started by Prof.
Fling in European historical research. This
year American history will also be repre
sented in the same line of work. The work
has been undertaken under the leadership of
Professor Caldwell, and will consist of a
course oi investigation upon political and
economical subjects from 1850 to the present
time. Meetings are held every Wednesday
evening, and are open to all interested in this
kind of study. Mr. J. D. Calhoun will be
present at the meeting next week and will
lecture upon the feelings which actuated the
common people to secede at the beginning of
the war. Next week also the election laws
of the various states will be taken up, and
their advantages and disadvantages criticized.
The meeting for this week has been post
poned so that doublo work will be done on
the evening succeeding election.
It is not an easy task to find a man as well
suited to an occasion as was Prof. Blackmar
to Columbia day and the Columbian address
before the students and faculty of the Uni-.
versity. Himself a careful and conscien
tious student of history, and given to special
research in connection with early Spanish
archives bearing upon the discovery and
development of this country, he was pecul
iarly fitted to speak clearly and strongly and
wisely of the day and its hero and his work.
The address was short and terse, but full of
strong passages and thoroughly alive with a
keen appreciation all that the discovery of
the New World for the Old World and for
present generations within the limits of this
hemisphere. The address was listened to
with the utmost attention, and though not
interrupted by applause, received liberal
recognition at the close really the best trib
ute that can be paid to any speaker.
The Sem. Bot. has always been an
aggressive organization, and they are still
ready to fill any long felt want in botanical
circles. This year the members considered
a botanical survey of the state to be the
proper thing, not only to furnish the univers
ity herbarium a complete sot of the state's
botanical specimens, but also to add further
lustre to their own name. In future years
the tramp of the Semi. Bot. will be notice
able from the arid regions of the north to the
fertile plains of southern (Nebraska. Nothing
of botanical interest will escape their notice.
After everything hasbeen wound up the
collection will be tabulated, encased and pre
sented to the university herbarium. The
first open meeting of the year was held on
October 15th. The seminar listened with
great interest to the papers read and dis
cussed. This part of the program was
"Observations of Cross Fertilization," Fred
Clements ; "Notes on the Flora of the Sand
Hills," Roscoe Pound ; "The Leaf Structure
of Rcdficldia Flcxaora" communicated J.
G. Smith ; "The Black Cottonwood," P. A.
Rydberg ; "Notes on the Canon Flora of
Sioux County," A. F. Woods ; "The Present
Status of Nomenclature," ' Dr. Bessey.
Prof. Hitchcock of Kansas took part in the
general discussion. The second part of the
program consisted in the presentation of the
bust of Darwin to the University by the L.
W. on behalf of the Sem. Bot. Prof. Bessey
received it for the University. Mr. T. H.
Marsland then read a paper entitled "Dar
win, His Life and Work." Prof. Swezy of
Doane and Lieut. Webb of the Nebraska
Wesley an were present.
r
LECTURES 0A7 SHAKESPEARE.
Henry A. Clapp, dramatic critic of the
Boston Advertiser and a Shakespearian lec
turer of reputation, gave two lectures in the
chapel on the 12th and 13th of last month,
under the auspices of the Palladian girls. A
fair audience greeted both entertainments,
yet there was a financial deficit. Mr. Clapp
selected "Hamlet" and the "Merchant of
Venice." His views upon "Hamlet" were
more generally commented upon, since they
' were entirely different from those held by
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