Of Amherst's recent loss the Advertiser says : "Of the Shepard mineralogical collection, valued at $70,000, the meteors were valued at $30,000, and are not injured. Of the remaining $40,000 worth, a considerable proportion will be found susceptible of further use, for many specimens have been found undestroyed in the basement. The loss upon the philosophical collection will be about $15,000. It is believed by the best informed persons that the insurance - $70,000, and $50,000 additional, besides $15,000 for the philosophical collection, will place the college on as good footing as before the fire. To offset the adverse criticism for small insurance, the friends of the college say that it has not been the policy of educational institutions, as a class, to place insurance upon their buildings. Harvard College never had a dollar of insurance upon any of its edifices till within a few years. Amherst had done as other institutions had done which were constantly and painfully cramped for means - use all possible precaution and not insure. Walker Hall was believed to be the safest of the college buildings, and the management shows that it could not have been by carelessness that the fire was caused. No fire had been in the furnace for several days, it being vacation. No rags were in the building, as has been said, by which the fire could have caught. No light was in the building; no smokers were there. It is becoming more firmly believed that the fire was deliberately set. Two other fires have occurred in Amherst suspiciously like this in origin. The destructive fire in Cook's block, and the fire in Palmer's block, and the fire in Palmer's block each originated in the attic in such a way as to warrant suspicion that they were incendiary; the Walker Hall fire began in the same place. Just now the college feels its loss much, and vigorous attempts are being made among its alumni and friends to raise the necessary money. It has been suggested that the Western alumni take up the matter of raising the $15,000 for the philosophical collection, and that the $50,000 needed in addition be raised in the Eastern States. It is proposed to ask for individual subscriptions of $5,000 each; then of $1,000, and so on till the sum is raised. President Seelye and several professors are doing what they can to place the college in as good condition as it held before the fire, and to do it speedily."