Not till about 1818 was it recognized that a temperature of 25°-30° Fahrenheit was inimical to the comfort of readers, and not till 1821 were two pipes for introducing hot air inserted, and it is recorded that even this was “wholly ineffectual.” In 1845 steam warming was attempted, but that too “did not give satisfaction.” In 1861 the hot-water system was introduced, which with various improvements is still in use. [Sidenote: Oriental MSS.] In view of the trend of Oxford studies in the past, it is not surprising that Classical MSS. and printed books, whether texts or commentaries, are a feature of the University library, and it probably contains in addition more academical dissertations than are to be found elsewhere. Each dissertation, it should be remembered, has its particular justification for the degree gained by it, however minute the point discussed may be.[19] The foundation of this department was laid in 1827 when about 43,400 foreign dissertations were purchased at Altona, and large additions were made in 1828, 1836-7 and 1846, as well as by systematic exchange in more recent years. In 1828 the Hebrew MSS., which had hitherto been inferior in value and number to the Arabic, received a great augmentation by the purchase _en bloc_ of the Oppenheimer Collection of both manuscript and printed Hebrew literature. It is noticeable how large donations tend to produce further accessions in the same line. The Uri Catalogue of Oriental MSS. with its Second Part, noticed above, and the purchase of the Oppenheimer library seem to have called attention to this department, and from 1837 on a stream of minor donations and purchases set in. These were the Hodgson Sanskrit MSS. (1837), Wilson Sanskrit (1842, bought), Bruce Arabic and Ethiopic (1843, bought), Ouseley Persian (1844, bought), Walker (1847), Michael Hebrew (1848, bought), Mill Sanskrit (1849, bought), Elliott Persian (1859). [Sidenote: The Fifth and last Catalogue.] The period closes with the last of the printed Catalogues of the Printed Books. This was a great undertaking, but had its reward in being the largest presentation of printed literature which had ever been issued. It is contained in four folio volumes, issued between 1843 and 1851, the last recording the accessions of 1835-47. At the same time the Quarto Series of detailed Catalogues of Manuscripts was started (in 1845), which has now extended to some twenty volumes. The gaps left in this monumental series are filled up by the shorter but not inadequate descriptions of the Summary Catalogue in octavo form, which was instituted in 1890, and fulfils a useful purpose. CHAPTER IV THE BODLEIAN IN MODERN TIMES [Sidenote: Bandinel and Coxe.]