The University of Oxford, England, is said to have been founded by King Alfred in 872. The University of Paris was founded by King Philip II about 1200. The first college of the University of Cambridge was founded by Hugo, Bishop of Ely, in 1257. The first German university was founded at Prague in 1348. The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1582. Trinity College, Dublin, was incorporated by royal charter in 1591. Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., was founded in 1636. Yale University was founded in 1700 at Saybrook, Conn., and removed to New Haven in 1716. William and Mary College was established in 1617, at Williamsburg, Va., and its charter was granted in 1693. The first common schools established by legislation in America were in Massachusetts in 1645. The first town schools were opened at Hartford, Conn., prior to 1642. * * * * * The loftiest active volcano is Popocatapetl; it is 17,748 feet above sea level, and has a crater three miles in circumference and 1,000 feet deep. BOB WHITE Whose voice is that that wakes me from sleep, As soon as the day begins to peep-- Now under the wall, and now in the hay, Now in the meadow, piping away? Why, that’s Bob White. He seems as fond of his common name As humans who’ve attained to fame; But he isn’t conceited, not a mite. Though he wakes us up before it is light To call “Bob White.” Our Robert has just two notes, that’s all; But many a bird might envy his call, So rich and full, so joyous and free; For a matin singer, there’s none to me Like dear Bob White. “Wake up!” we hear from among the sheaves; “There is work to do, and old Time leaves The laggard and lazy on the way; The best time for work is this very day, And I’m Bob White.” --_Eleanor Kirk._ [Illustration: WITH THE EDITOR] August is the high-tide month of outdoor life. At this season, young folks, in preparation for the new school term, are hurried off to draw their last breath of vacation at the country, the seashore, or mountains, and the older people, wherever it is possible, leave their work and join the children on the court and field. Athletics supplant business and study. The habit of taking physical exercise can be traced as far back as the time of Homer. With the old Greeks, systematic gymnastics was a part of the young person’s education. Further than that, it even became a matter of legislation, and to this fact can be attributed the splendid physiques which are portrayed in the old Greek statues. At Athens, the government erected public gymnasiums. In connection with them were medical attendants whose duty it was to prescribe the special kind of exercise needed by each pupil. To show still further the regard for athletics at that time, it might be said that both Plato and Aristotle believed that public gymnasiums were essential to a perfect nation.