200 acres of forest and open land at Milford, Pike county, Pennsylvania—the
estate of J. W. Pinchot—is open only to such graduates
of colleges and scientific schools as have had a suitable scientific
training, especially in advanced botany. It confers the degree
of Master of Forestry.
In the College the individual courses are arranged in twenty-six groups within three divisions, and each student must complete before graduation both a major and a minor in some one of the three divisions and one minor in each of the other two divisions. In the Freshman and Sophomore years the student's freedom of election is further restricted. In the Scientific School there is a somewhat different system of groups. The College confers only the degree of Bachelor of Arts, but the Scientific School confers the degrees of Bachelor of Philosophy, Master of Science (requiring at least one year of resident graduate study), and the engineering degrees. In the Divinity School the student has the choice of three courses—the historical, the philosophical and the practical—or, by the use of electives, he may combine the three; the study of Hebrew is required only in the historical course. In the Law School there is one course for candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Laws and another for candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law, the latter requiring the study of Roman law and allowing the substitution of certain studies in political science for some of the law subjects. The Graduate School confers the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy; the School of Music, the degree of Bachelor of Music; and the School of Fine Arts, which is open to both sexes, the degree of Bachelor of the Fine Arts.
In 1910 the body of officers and instructors in all departments numbered 496, and the students 3312.
In addition to the regular work of the departments there are several lecture courses open to all students of the University. Among them are: the Dodge Lectures on the Responsibilities of Citizenship (1900); the Bromley Lectures on Journalism, Literature and Public Affairs (1900); the Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching (1871); the Silliman Memorial Lectures (1884) on subjects connected with “the natural and moral world”; the Stanley Woodward Lectures (1907) by distinguished foreigners; the Harvard Lectures (1905) by members of the faculty of Harvard University; the Sheffield Lectures on scientific subjects; and the Medical Alumni Lectures.
The principal publications with which the University is more or less closely associated are: The Yale Review, a Quarterly Journal for the Scientific Discussion of Economic, Political and Social Questions, edited by Professors in Political Science and History; the Yale Law Journal, edited by a board of students; the Yale Medical Journal, edited by members of the Medical Faculty with the assistance of a board of students; the Yale Alumni Weekly; and the Yale News, a daily paper managed by the students. The Yale Bicentennial Publications contain reprints of Research Papers from the Kent Chemical Laboratory, Studies in Physiological Chemistry and Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrography. Numerous other publications of the Yale University Press are issued only with the approval of the University.
In addition to several million dollars invested in lands and buildings the University possessed at the end of 1909 productive funds amounting to $10,561,830 (in 1886, $2,111,000). The income from all sources for the year 1908–9, exclusive of benefactions ($1,469,515), was $1,240,208. Up to 1908 more than three-fourths of all the University buildings had been erected as private gifts; the rest were built with College funds, or from legislative grants.
Yale shares with its fellow colleges founded in colonial days the advantages of old traditions and social prestige. In particular it shared these with Harvard so long as New England retained its literary and intellectual dominance over the rest of the country. But the spirit of the two institutions has always been very different. Harvard has on the whole been radical and progressive; Yale conservative. Yale could not draw, like Harvard, on the leaders of the New England schools of letters and philosophy to fill her professorial chairs. Her “comparative poverty, the strength of college feelings and traditions” (President Hadley) united with the lesser stimulus of her intellectual environment to delay her development. Harvard's transformation into a modern university was more spontaneous and rapid; Yale remained much longer under the dominance of collegiate traditions. But, according to Dr Charles F. Thwing (The American College in American Life, New York, 1897), of the men filling “the highest political and judicial offices,” and coming from American colleges founded before 1770, Yale had helped (up to 1897) to train the largest number. On the roll of her alumni are such names as Philip Livingston, Eli Whitney, John C. Calhoun, James Kent, Samuel F. B. Morse, Chief-Justice Morrison R. Waite and President Taft.
The Presidents have been as follows: in 1701–1707, Abraham Pierson (1645–1707); pro tem. 1707–1719), Samuel Andrew (1656–1737); in 1719–1722, Timothy Cutler (1684–1765); in 1722–1726, office filled by the College trustees in rotation; in 1726–1739, Elisha Williams (1694–1755); in 1739–1766, Thomas Clap (1703–1767); pro tem. 1766–1777, Naphtali Daggett (1727–1780); in 1777–1795, Ezra Stiles (1727–1795); in 1795–1817, Timothy Dwight (1752–1817); in 1817–1846, Jeremiah Day (1773–1867); in 1846–1871, Theodore Dwight Woolsey (1801–1889); in 1871–1886, Noah Porter (1811–1892); in 1886–1899, Timothy Dwight (b. 1828); and Arthur Twining Hadley (b. 1856).
See Universities and their Sons (Boston, 5 vols., 1898–1900); Charles E. Norton, Arthur T. Hadley et al., Four American Universities (New York, 1895); Timothy Dwight, Memories of Yale Life and Men, 1845–1899 (New York, 1903); Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Sketch of the History of Yale University (New York, 1887), and Biographical Sketches of Yale College with Annals of the College History, 1701–1792 (New York, 4 vols., 1885–1907); B. C. Steiner, The History of Education in Connecticut, Circular of Information No. 2 of the United States Bureau of Education (Washington, 1893); L. S. Welch and Walter Camp, Yale, Her Campus, Class Room and Athletics (Boston, 1899); Charles Franklin Thwing, A History of Higher Education in America, (New York, 1906).
YALTA, a seaport of Russia, in the government of Taurida, on the S. coast of the Crimea, at the foot of the Yaila Mountains, 32 m. S. of Simferopol. Pop. 13,269. It is the Galita or Jalita of the Arab geographers. Its road stead is open, and the annual mean temperature is 56·5° F. The town is a fashionable summer resort.
YAM, a term usually applied to the tubers of various species
of Dioscorea. These are plants with thick tubers (generally
a development of the base of the stem), from which protrude
long, slender, annual climbing stems, bearing alternate
Yam (Dioscorea Batatas). Branch about
12 nat. size. Root much reduced.
or opposite, entire
or lobed leaves and
unisexual flowers in
long clusters. The
flowers are
generally small and
individually
inconspicuous, though
collectively showy.
Each consists of a
greenish bell-shaped
or flat perianth of
six pieces, enclosing
six or fewer stamens
in the male flowers,
and surmounting a
three-celled, three-winged
ovary in the
female flowers. The
ovary ripens into a
membranous capsule,
bursting by
three valves to
liberate numerous
flattish or globose
seeds. The species
are natives of the
warmer regions of
both hemispheres.
According to Professor Church's analysis of the Chinese yam, it
contains more nitrogenous matter, but less starch, than
potatoes: in 100 parts there are of water 82·6, starch 13·1,
albumen 2·4, fat 0·2, woody fibre 0·4 and mineral matter
1·3 parts.
D. saliva and D. alata are the species most widely diffused in tropical and subtropical countries. D. aculeata, grown in India, Cochin China and the South Sea Islands, is one of the best varieties. D. Batatas, the Chinese yam, is hardy in Great Britain, but the great depth to which its enormous tubers descend renders its cultivation unprofitable. It has deeply penetrating, thick, club-shaped, fleshy roots, full of starch, which when cooked acquire a mild taste like that of a potato; they grow 3 ft. or upwards in length, and sometimes
