bishop of the diocese, was made president pro tern. In 1776 the college was ordered by the committee of safety to be prepared for the reception of troops. The students were dis- persed, the library and apparatus deposited in the city hall, and in consequence lost, and the building became a military hospital. Six hun- dred volumes were recovered 30 years after in a room in St. Paul's chapel, their existence having been known only to the sexton. The library had received, among great numbers of valuable presents, a copy of every work from the university press of Oxford. This state of things continued for eight years. In 1784 re- gents of a state university were appointed, of which the governor, Clinton, was chancellor, who demanded and received what property belonged to King's college, the name of which was changed to Columbia college by the same aot which gave them the power. The regents organized four faculties : a faculty of arts, with seven professors ; one of divinity, with such professors as might be established by the different religious societies within the state ; a faculty of medicine, of seven profes- sors ; and one of law, of three. Besides all these, there were to be nine extra professors, a president, secretary, and librarian. For sev- eral years there was no president, his duties being discharged by the professors in turn. There were no funds to carry out the scheme of the regents. In 1787 the original charter was confirmed to Columbia college, and it was placed under the care of 24 trustees. These held their first meeting May 8, 1787, and on the 21st elected William Samuel Johnson, LL. D., son of the first president, and one of the most eminent lawyers and statesmen of the day, as president. In 1792 there was a full corps of professors, including one of oriental languages, one of natural history, chemistry, agriculture, and botany, occupied by Dr. Mitchill, and one of law, by James Kent. Dr. Johnson resigned in 1800, and was suc- ceeded by the Eev. Dr. Wharton of Philadel- phia. It is believed, however, that Dr. Whar- ton never entered upon the duties of the office. From this period the president took no part in the instruction, but exercised only a general supervision ; and under this arrange- ment Bishop Moore accepted the presidency, Dec. 31, 1801. He did not reside in the col- lege, nor on ordinary occasions take part in the discipline. In 1810 a new charter was obtained. In June, 1811, Bishop Moore paving resigned, the Rev. William Harris was elected president, and the Rev. Dr. John M. Mason provost, the statutes of the college having been altered for the latter purpose. In 1812 Dr. Mason was also elected a trustee, a previous act of the legislature allowing it having been obtained. He was one of the most learned of the clergy of his time, and distinguished for the life and interest which he gave to the exercises of the lecture room. On Nov. 1, 1813, the medical school was incorporated with that of the college of physicians and surgeons. Dr. Mason resigned in 1816, and the office he held was discontinued. In 1817 the college received from the state the gift of the botanic garden ground, and a little after a grant of $10,000. In 1823 the Hon. James Kent deliv- ered the course of lectures which were the basis of his celebrated commentaries. Upon the resignation of President Harris in 1829, William A. Duer, LL. D., was made president. He resigned in 1842, and was succeeded by Nathaniel F. Moore, LL. D., who was suc- ceeded in 1849 by Charles King, LL. D. In 1830 the college opened a " scientific and liter- ary course," accessible to others besides matric- ulated students, and professors were appointed in engineering, analytic chemistry, and other branches. This course was discontinued in 1843 for want of patronage. The power to endow and nominate to new professorships was extended to religious bodies and individuals, and some 20 free scholarships were constituted, to be in the gift of various religious and civil cor- porations in the city. In 1843 a professorship of German was founded by a bequest of $20,000 from Mr. Frederick Gebhard. In 1857 the col- lege was removed to its present location in 49th street, the building formerly occupied by the institution for deaf mutes being fitted up for that purpose. The college grounds comprise the block bounded by Madison and Fourth avenues and 49th and 50th streets. In 1858 the law school was opened in Lafayette place. From 1813 to 1860 there was no faculty of medi- cine ; but in the latter year it was revived by the adoption of the college of physicians and surgeons as the medical department of Colum- bia college. This college is situated on the corner of 23d street and Fourth avenue. The connection, however, is little more than nomi- nal, as the medical college is governed by an independent board of trustees. In 1864 Presi- dent King resigned, and was succeeded by the Rev. Frederick A. P. Barnard, LL. D., who still retains the office (1873). In 1872 the college pur- chased at a cost of $375,000 nearly ten acres of land near 160th street, on Washington Heights, extending from the Boulevard to the Hudson river, as a possible future site of the institution.
COLUMBIA (or OREGON) RIVER, a river of N. W. America, rising in Otter lake on the W. slope of the Rocky mountains, in British Columbia, in lat. 50∘ 30′ N., Ion. 116 W. It flows N. W. to lat. 52∘ 10′, where it receives the Canoe, which rises in about lat. 52∘ 40′, then turns W. and S., and flows in a general S. direction to the boundary of the United States, whence, entering Washington territory, its course lies through the great plain between the Cascade and Rocky mountains to the 46th parallel. Here turning somewhat abruptly, it flows in a general W. direction, forming the boundary between Washington territory and Oregon, and falls into the Pacific in about lat. 46∘ 15′, lon. 124∘ W. There is a remarkable bend in lat. 47∘ 55′, lon. 118∘ 10′, where the river turns
