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CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA: REPUBLICAN PRINTING CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 1894. TO THE ALUMNI of 0»r Beloved ALMA MATER, This Effort of the Class of '95 is Respectfully Dedicated. Iowa Agricultural College. FOUNDED 1864. • • J. M^fM^jL^ • • Hip, Ha! Rip, Ra! Peda toalloo bailee! Huzza ! Zip boom! I! A! C! . COLORS . Gold, Silver and Black. INTRODUCTION . WHEN we first contemplated the task of continuing the custom initiated by the class of '94, much and various was the advice gratuitously bestowed upon us. Like the renowned author of the Pilgrim's Progress, we were told by some to write, and by others to write not. But class spirit finally prevailed upon us to assume the task and therefore we now discharge BOMB number two into the great unknown and look eagerly, even anxiously, for results. The first thought that comes to the mind at the mention of the name "Bomb," is that of an instrument of war, exploding and causing destruction amongst enemies. This present BOMB has a mission consistent with such a definition of the word. Rapid, though our advancement has been, superior to many other colleges though we be, there are yet a few common enemies to the best interests of the college in the form of unpardonable eccentricities, superfluous idosyncrasies, and antiquated habits and customs that are apparently difficult to slough off. We regard it as the mission of a college annual to call attention to these, in a friendly man­ ner, by light rebuke or gentle ridicule. The college paper, from motives of policy, sentiment or delicacy, is frequently silent on topics which the general opinion of the college condemns as detrimental to its best interests. The Annual, however, is untram­ melled by any such considerations. It fearlessly voices the general sentiment of the school upon the conduct of every person or group of persons connected therewith, from the all powerful, all wise, all honored State Legislature to the weak, ignorant, despised Prep. We hope, therefore, that if anyone has been "humorously hit" he will reflect before proceeding to censure us, remembering that it is worth much to "see ourselves as others see us." We have endeavored to unite justice and forbearance with perfect fear­ lessness and it has been far from our design to injure the feelings of anyone. But a bomb is occasionally put to a much pleasanter use than that of an engine of destruction. One form is used as a means of conveying messages to distant friends. Our BOMB agrees with such a definition also. Its mission is to awaken pleasant reminiscences in the minds of the alumni, and to convey to them information regarding all their brother graduates. Also to give them a conception of college life as it is to-day, its humorous and its serious sides, its work and its play. Thus it hopes to brighten the golden chain of memory that links every child of Iowa Agricultural College to his Alma Mater. J95 THE BOMB. 9 And so, as we discharge the BOMB of '94 we trust that the pleasure experienced in writing it will be augumented by the unanimous verdict of its having satisfactorily fulfilled its double mission. We would not forget to thank those who have assisted us in the preparation of this book. To the editors of last year's BOMB we are especially grateful, and tender our hearty appreciation of their efforts in our behalf. To those who have helped us by their advice we would say that the reason we did not follow it is because the sum of the positive was about equal to the sum of the negative quantities and the force resulting therefrom was therefore approximately equal to ^=0. Finally, allow us to "say a few remarks" as to the amount of space bestowed upon our own class. This is pre-eminently the privilege of every class that issues such a publication. Last year it was '94's turn. Next year the class of '96 may exalt them­ selves to fullest extent of their powers of rhetoric. But this book is written and published by the Class of ninety-five and we should feel ourselves unworthy representatives of the class did we not give to it the attention consistent with its merits and excellence. ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. A REVIEW OF THE PAST YEAR . T OWA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE is growing. An investigation of the progress made since the publication of last year's I BOMB will convince the most skeptical of this fact. An appropriation of $79,000 granted by a wise Legislature is convinc­ ing proof. The workmen hammering at the new Experimental barn, the long line of cars filled with material for the new Ladies' Hall is ample evidence. The immaculate purity of the rooms of the Main Building and cottages upon which $9,302 has been expended should silence the last doubter. In the Agricultural Department there has been a marked increase of students, the aggregate number now being upwards of one hundred and thirty. The number of dairy students this year is three times as large as ever before and is the largest attend­ ance of any school in the world. Some new features have been introduced in the dairy course—the features of six of Iowa Agri­ cultural College's brightest girls. Nof wonder the Agricultural Department is becoming popular. The new Experimental barn, rapidly approaching completion, and costing $4,000, will give more ample facilities for exper­ iments in live stock. Professor Wilson is planning a series of interesting experiments in sheep and swine, to be commenced when the new barn is finished. The influence of the hard times has been, perhaps, most manifest in the Veterinary Department. "It don't pay to doctor horses when yer ain't got nothi'n to feed 'em with," has doubtless been said on many an Iowa farm this year. Yet though the number of students in this department has been somewhat smaller than usual^ the instruction has been above the average, owing to the many highly interesting cases that have been treated by Dr. Stalker, one of them, a pacing horse, coming a distance of 150 miles to be treated. Dr. Smith has made some decided improvements in the Sanitarium. Rooms have been fitted up on the lower floor so that the accommodation for patients has been doubled. The Doctor has also introduced the system of physical measurements invented by Dr. Seaver, of Yale College. Experiments in Anthropometry will hereafter be a feature of this department. '95 THE BOMB. II It would be difficult to find a happier man than Prof. Pammel has been since the trustees purchased for him the Parry Her­ barium and Library. With but a single exception it is the most valuable collection west of the Alleghany Mountains. Iowa Agri­ cultural College may fairly claim to have one of the best botanical collections in' the West. With the large collection previously owned by the college, and the large herbarium of Prof. Pammel—now a part of the college collection—the herbarium now numbers more than 45,000 specimens, representing all groups of the vegetable kingdom. A great amount of experimental work in bacter­ iology smuts and migration of weeds has been done by Prof. Pammel. Mr. F. C. Stewart has also made a thorough study of corn smut and has done much experimental work in other directions. During 1894 the Horticultural Department has been moved into the commodious and pleasant rooms assigned to it in the new Agricultural building. The need of a suitable greenhouse and propagating pits rs~now most urgent. In the division of experimental Horticulture results must be estimated by periods rather than single years. As instances: the seedlings resulting from crosses and hybrids of orchard fruits several years ago are now giving their first fruits; the hybrid roses started two years ago are now giving their first blossoms; and each year gives new and important reports relative to the fruits, shrubs and ornamental trees placed on trial fourteen years ago. The apple crop has this year been comparatively light and the vineyard has been strictly prohibited for recreative purposes, much to the disgust of many a couple who thought it the most attractive part of the campus. The face of Professor Osborn wears a happy smile of content as he contemplates the bugs, birds, snakes, and four-footed things that have been added to his department. From the World's Fair came valuable additions in the form of hawks-bill turtles, crabs, shells, sea-horses and other marine animals, together with a fine collection of birds eggs. Prof. Beyer has achieved for himself the proud distinction of having been elected to a fellowship of the Johns Hopkins Uni­ versity, and his example should be a rebuke to those who claim that study after marriage is a failure. In the states of Pennsylva­ nia, Maryland, and Virginia, Prof. Beyer has collected a fine series of rocks and fossils which will be especially useful in the mining engineering course. A series of mineral and rock specimens has also been donated from the Smithsonian Institution together with a small set of marine animals. The department secured the services of a collector in the Bahamas and has consequently been enriched by a great deal of valuable material consisting of crabs, star-fishes, sea-urchins and crinoids and some rare insects. A complete set of types of the Hemiptera, described by Mr. Van Duzee, of Buffalo, N. Y., has been added, which, the Prof, says, are especially valuable from a scientific standpoint in the study of that group of insects.

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