Hebrew University’s Work Being Extended, League is Informed

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Progress in the work of the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus was reported by the Zionist Executive in its memorandum submitted to the Secretary General of the League of Nations.

The report depicts the cultural work done in Palestine, including that of the Hebrew schools which have an enrollment of 16,132, the educational work for adults by the Jewish labor organization, in the evening classes in which there are 4,161 enrolled and the Haifa Technical Institute which has 67 students.

Concerning the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the report states:

“During the period under review the activities of the three Institutes opened in April, 1925, have been continued and enlarged, and several new Institutes and Departments have been added.

“The Institute of Medical Research is divided into two sections. Of these, the Department of Parasitology, which is under the direction of Dr. S. Adler, of Leeds, has devoted itself mainly to the examination of the problems connected with the prevalence of Phlebotomus (sandfly) in Palestine, and with the experimental transmission of cutaneous Leishmaniasis to man. Routine protozoological examinations have also been carried out. A number of articles on the results obtained from these investigations have been published in the “Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology,” and in “Refuah,” the Hebrew organ of the medical profession in Palestine.

“The Department of Hygiene is now being organized under the direction of Professor Kligler, formerly of the Rockefeller Institute, New York. The main objects of this Department, which is to be opened at the end of the summer, are to carry out research work in certain branches of epidemiology and hygiene, and to provide post-graduate courses in public health.

“The Institute of Chemistry devoted itself during the period under review to experimental work in (among other subjects) synthetic-organic chemistry, tobacco fermentation, colloid chemistry of proteins, and the nature of certain colloidal processes. It also began an investigation into the mineral resources of Palestine, with special reference to phosphates. Articles on the results of this research work have been published in the ‘Biochemical Journal’ and in the ‘Kolloid Zeitschrift.’ Courses of lectures for advanced students have been delivered on the following subjects: ‘General and Analytical Chemistry of the Elements,’ ‘Physical Chemistry of the Molecule.’ ‘Introduction to Thermodynamics,’ ‘Differential and Integral Calculus,’ and ‘Introduction to Theoretical Physics.’ The total number of students and laboratory workers was twenty-three, of whom eight were women.

“As a further Department of the Science Faculty of the University, an Institute of Palestine Natural History has been established in close connection with the Agricultural Institute at Tel-Aviv. The Natural History Institute is specializing in the investigation of the geology, botany and zoology of Palestine. Among the subjects now being studied are the flora of Palestine, the Palestine fisheries, the anatomy of flax, and the prehistoric geology of Mount Carmel. The Institute has acquired the valuable Palestine geological collection of Professor Blanckenhorn. Arrangements are being made for adding Departments of Meteorology and Hydrobiology. The Institute is under the direction of Professor Otto Warburg of Berlin.

“A beginning has also been made with the establishment of an Institute of Mathematics under the direction of Professor E. Landau. A course of lectures on higher mathematics was delivered during the winter term by Dr. B. Amira, formerly of the University of Geneva, who has been entrusted with the preliminary arrangements for the organization of the Institute.

“On the Arts side of the University, the Institute of Jewish Studies has continued to provide courses of instruction and facilities for research work in Hebrew philology, Bible translations, Jewish civil law, Mishna and Talmud, post-exilic Jewish history, Jewish mysticism, topography of Palestine, and modern Hebrew literature. The Institute has on its registers sixty-one students, of whom ten are women, exclusive of a further thirty-two students who have been permitted to attend the lectures, though not of full University standing.

“A School of Oriental Studies has now been established as a further section of the Arts Faculty of the University. The Arabic Department of the School was opened on March 15th, 1926, with a course of lectures for post-graduate students by Professor Horowitz, the Director of the School. on the works of Djahiz and on selected chapters from the history of Sufism. During the summer term of 1926 the School will provide courses, under the direction of members of the staff, in Islamic Philosophy, Islamic Art and Archaeology, and Arabic Literature.

“The Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem has received considerable additions during the period under review. It comprised on April 1st, 1926, 125,000 volumes, as compared with 95,700 on July 1st, 1925. On the occasion of the opening of the University valuable gifts of books were made to the Library, both by individual donors and by learned institutions and foreign Governments. The Library receives about 550 periodical publications. The bibliongraphical review (Kirjath Sefer) published by the Library has been continued and considerably enlarged.

“Plans have been completed for two additions to the University buildings, one of which is to house the Institute of Mathematics and Physics and the other the University Library. A largeopen-air amphithcatre has been constructed on the Univesity site, and the building of a Central Hall is now in contemplation, a donation of $500,000 having been received for this purpose from Mrs. S. Rosenbloom of Pittsburgh, in memory of her late husband, who during his lifetime gave $250,000 to the Institute of Jewish Studies,” the memorandum states.