following year.  At first there was but a medical department, but, at the incorporation, a theological department was added, and for many years, principally through the exertions of Dr. Warneford and Mr. W. Sands Cox, it was one of the most thriving and popular Colleges in the kingdom, the courses of study qualifying for degrees at the University of London, and for diplomas of the Society of Apothecaries, and the Royal College of Surgeons; while theological students, with the College certificate, could go up for their B.A. degree, with only a twelve months’ residence at the University.  A department in connection with the Arts, Manufacture, and Commerce was opened in May, 1853, and a High School of Trade and Commerce, for giving an education specially adapted for youths intended for mercantile pursuits, was commenced in the autumn of 1877.  An attempt to extend the medical education to female students was made at one time, but the ladies were refused permission to attend the College June 27, 1873; they are still debarred from studying surgery here, and none have as yet entered their names on the list of theological students.  In the other departments greater facilities have been allowed the fair sex, a Central High School for girls being opened at the College September 17, 1879, accommodation being provided for eighty pupils.  The Museum of Natural History formed at the College soon after its opening, long one of the town attractions for visitors, was presented to the Corporation, and formed the nucleus of the heterogenous collection at Aston Hall.  The medical students have the advantage of an extensive Anatomical Museum, and there is, besides, a library of about 6,000 volumes of the best works and books of reference that could be obtained.

Oscott College.—­The old Roman Catholic College of St. Mary’s, at Oscott, was first used as such in 1808.  The present building was commenced in 1835, and opened May 31, 1838, and is considered one of the chief English seminaries for Catholic students in theology.  The chapel is 112 ft. long by 33 ft. wide, and is richly decorated, having side chapels and several handsome memorial windows.  The College library is very extensive, and includes many very rare, valuable, and ancient works, some choice MSS., and a number of “old masters,” the latter having been contributed by the late Earl of Shrewsbury.

Saltley Training College, which covers nearly seven acres of land, was instituted in 1847, and was opened at Easter, 1852, for the education of future schoolmasters in connection with the Established Church.  The building cost nearly L18,000 and will accommodate 100 students who undergo a two years’ training, the College being under the inspection of the Committee of Council on Education.  Government grants amount to about two-thirds of the income, the balance being raised by public subscription and from fees.  In addition to over fifty scholarships tenable by students who pass their examination, there are four exhibitions arising from a sum of L2,000 given in October, 1874, by the late Mr. Arthur Ryland (for a donor who desired to be anonymous) to the governing body of this College “to found a trust for promoting the teaching of teachers the laws of health, and inducing teachers to make that subject one of the things statedly taught in their own schools,” and a further L1,000 for four exhibitions to students.