"great was the fall thereof." Some have described it as an _ad captandum vulgus_ use of words, and others have called it rash, and unduly sceptical. It is proverbial that doctors disagree, and it would be wonderful indeed if they were of one mind on the mysterious phenomena of spiritualism. It would be unpardonable were we to omit reference to Dr. Allen Thomson's great exertions on behalf of the new University. No member of the Senate was more zealous and hard-working in raising the necessary funds for the splendid edifice that now rests on Gilmorehill, and Professor Thomson was suitably selected to cut the first sod some four years ago, when the work of erection was commenced. Like his father, Dr. Allen Thomson has all his life been a consistent Whig in politics, although in political movements, as such, he has never taken any very prominent part. In August last Dr. Thomson received from his _Alma Mater_ the degree of LL.D. REV. DR. JOHN CAIRD. Of the many ornaments which the Established Church of Scotland has produced, Dr. John Caird is one of the most brilliant as a preacher, as a thinker, and as a rhetorician. During the comparatively short period of his ministry, he secured a world-wide fame for the eloquence and beautiful diction of his sermons, and although his pulpit appearances are now few and far between, they are sufficiently important to draw together larger congregations than any Church in Glasgow could possibly accommodate; to find a prominent place in the newspapers of the day; and to realise for the author a handsome _honorarium_ for the copyright of his sermons.