The annual report of President Eliot has just been received, and cover a period from Oct. 1, 1886, to Sept. 30, 1886, with the reports of the several departments of the college.

After referring in appropriate terms to the decease of Prof. E. W. Gurney, a member of the corporation, of Francis E. Parker and H. P. Kidder of the Board of Overseers, and Mr. John L. Sibley, for many years the college librarian, President Eliot refers to the voluntary attendance at prayers and the plans adopted for religious guidance of the students, and says that the success of the new method during the first three months of the current year has surprised those even who advocated it the most strongly. The officers and students of the college, and a large part of the thoughtful public, have manifested great interest in the enterprise; because they see men of eminence belonging to four different communions, meeting on broad, common ground, and sinking their differences as to non essentials, that they may try to do good work for morality and religion in a field of peculiar difficulty and importance.

At the beginning of the year 1885-86, the charge of athletic sports came into the hands of a committee appointed by the president for one year on a new plan, which had been adopted by the faculty near the close of the preceding year. The committee was to consist of five members - the director of the gymnasium, a physician resident in Boston or Cambridge, a graduate of the college interested in athletic sports, and two undergraduates from among the leaders in athletic sports, and this appears to have worked well.

The subscription toward a new building for the Divinity school yielded $33,-828.21 in 1885-6. Strikes in the spring of 1886 delayed the commencement of work upon the building so much that the school will have no use of it during the present academic year. The society for promoting theological education has already contributed $10,033.91 toward this building, and is likely to give more still. The other subscribers, with one or two exceptions, were persons connected with the Unitarian denomination.

The Law school is now in a position of great strength. It has a well-high perfect building, a well-chosen library, which is steadily increased and improved, hard working and competent teachers in the prime of their powers, an enthusiastic body of students, and a large number of loyal alumni scattered all over the country in positions of influence and trust. What the school needs is more teaching and more scholarships.

THE MEDICAL SCHOOL.makes a slow gain in the number of students and its annual income, but is nevertheless doing excellent work. A plan for abridging the four years' course of study in certain cases is now under consideration.

It is now nearly 20 years since the dental school was organized. Except the professor of mechanical dentistry, all its teachers of dental subjects are graduates of the school. It has graduated 136 doctors of dental medicine; has gradually organized and maintains a thorough course of instruction covering two years and protected by a admission examination; and carries on an infirmary in which thousands of patients are treated every year. It remains without endowment and owes the university $6256.

The Lawrence Scientific school has had most of its functions assumed by the college, and now the best way to get the degree of civil engineer is to first take that of A. B. and then spend one more year as a graduate on technical engineering.

The Bussey institute had a considerable surplus last year, and for two years past the money receipts from board of horses, etc., has paid the cost of carrying on the farm.

The School of Veterinary Medicine is still without endowment. Its tuition fees and the receipts of the hospital and forge, which it is obliged to maintain in order to teach effectively, come near to supporting it with a low scale of salaries and an insufficient number of officers. Like the dental school, the veterinary department is really dependent on the gratutous assistance from the medical school.

The college library was increased by only 6730 volumes in 1885-86, whereas in the preceeding year it was increased by 12,442 volumes, and on the average of nine years past by 8085 volumes a year. It numbers about 240,000 volumes and about 233,000 pamplets. Five thousand five hundred and six volumes beside the reserved books, were taken out or used in the library during the year, but in this enumeration, if the same volumes were used twice, it counted for two volumes. These figures show a part of any great library is used in a manner which figures can record' On the most favorable interpretation, not one book in four of the whole number in the library was used at all last year, except by persons having access to the shelves and using books in a manner incapable of record. Nevertheless, it is a pleasant fact that the 1358 persons authorized to borrow books from the library carried home 44 books apiece on the average during the year 1885-86, and that this use of the library is increasing. The librarian reports another very agreeable sign of college progress which he mentions that, whereas in 1874-75 only 57 percent of the undergraduates used the library at at all, now nearly 90 per cent use it. The library has lately received large bequests, the income of which will amount to some $20,000, which are not restricted to the purchase of books.

SCHOLARSHIPS - FINANCES.For 30 years past scholarships and other money aids for needy and meritorious students have been given or left as permanent funds to the university. Many of these benefactions have been limited in their application to undergraduates of the college proper. It is henceforth desirable that special, graduate, and professional students should be included within the scope of such benefactions, or, in other words, that a needy, meritorous student in any department of the university should be eligible, Among needed buildings, are a dormitory, a reading room connected with Gore Hall, a museum, with laboratories and lecture rooms for the botanical department, a swimming-bath connected with the Hemenway gymasium, a boathouse and a new building for the observatory.

The president and fellows have tried, through their treasurer, to manage the financial affairs of the university in a prudent and conservative way, though on the principle of applying their entire income to the objects of their trust. Since 1873 the times have been somewhat difficult for the trustees who had large permanent obligations like teacher's salaries, to meet with the diminishing income of safe investments in those 13 years the rate of income on the general investments of the university has fallen from 7 44 100 to 5 19-100 per cent, and it is still falling. The corporation have avoided debt, maintained and improved their buildings out of income, adhered to the low valuation of their old stocks, reduced the valuation of unimproved lands, put in operation a method of sinking railroad bond premiums, and preserved a prudent distribution of the property among the various kinds of secure investments.

The treasurer, Edward W. Hooper, reports that the totals of general investments of funds are $4,577,475,01. from which the income was $225,462,44, and those of special investments are $613,267,34, the income being $34,850.57.

The following figures show the income available for the departments dependent upon the college proper, and the expenditures in those departments: Interest on funds for university salaries and expenses, $28,234.11; college expenses, $2,933.39; library, $6,999.64; college salaries, $30,234,27; college term bills, $194,307.03; sundry cash receipts, $22,451.60; total, $285,060.04.

Expended for university salaries and expenses, $34, 114.43; college expenses, $51,017.06; library salaries and expenses (not books), $23,760.81; college salaries, $15,484.93; gymnasium expenses, $11,349.62; repairs and insurance on college buildings not valued on treasurer's books, $6,333.73; total, $282,060.58. Balance, which has been carried to stock account, to repay in part former deficits, $2,999.46. - Boston Herrld.