would cut off his cue. The gin and the cue carried the day.

The Berkshire Medical Institute was established in 1822, mainly through
the exertions of Dr. H.H. Childs. The charter provided that degrees
should be conferred only by the President and Trustees of Williams'
College, and according to the rules in force in the school at Cambridge.
The purpose was to secure a uniform practice throughout the State, and
to cause a degree of confidence in the diplomas. The arrangement
continued fifteen years. The tuition fee was fixed at forty dollars, and
board, room-rent and lodging at one dollar and seventy-five cents a
week. In 1825 it became necessary to defray incidental expenses, and pay
the salaries of instructors out of the proceeds from tuition fees. These
were frequently paid in notes, many of which read "when said student
shall be able to pay," and having been distributed among the members of
the faculty, a large number were found afterwards in the deserted office
of the Dean. In 1867 the compensation of each instructor was about one
hundred and thirty dollars, hardly enough to attract young,
inexperienced physicians. Therefore, the college came to an end, having
graduated in the course of forty-four years over one thousand doctors of
medicine, who held rank in their profession equal to that of those sent
out by any college in the country.

[Illustration: BERKSHIRE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY'S BUILDING.]

The Public Library Association was founded in 1850, with a regulation
excluding forever all prose works of fiction, and on the other hand,
theological writings, unless admitted by a unanimous vote of the
Directors. After a few prosperous years public interest had so far died
out that the library consisted of a few books and a small room, open one
evening in the week by the dim light of a lantern. A timely donation,