CALIFORNIA, Lower, or Old (Sp. Baja or Vieja Califonia) . A peninsula in southwest North America, forming a Territory of Mexico (Map: Mexico, B 3). It extends from about latitude 22° 40′ to 32° 40′ N. It is bounded by California on the north, the Pacific on the west, and the Gulf of California and the Mexican State of Sonora on the east. Its total length is over 750 miles, while its width varies from about 30 to 140 miles. Area, 58,328 square miles. The surface is generally mountainous, the peninsula being practically an extension of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Range region. At the centre is a plateau region interrupted by mountain peaks and short ranges, Santa Catalina, in the northern central part, attaining an altitude of over 10,000 feet. An eastern coast range borders the Gulf of California, and in places attains elevations considerably exceeding 6000 feet. The western coast range, bordering the Pacific, is less elevated and seldom exceeds 3500 feet in altitude. At the extreme south the peninsula terminates in an immense mountain mass, rising in San Lázaro to 8000 feet altitude. The coasts are considerably indented, but there are not many really good harbors. The principal islands are Angel de la Guarda, off the central eastern coast, and Cedros (Cerros), off the opposite western coast. Numerous smaller islands are scattered along the southeastern coast, and a few long, narrow islands fringe the southwestern coast. The climate and vegetation of the western portion resemble those of southern California. The climate is dry and warm, the rainfall in most of the region ranging from under 10 to 25 inches, which, with a high temperature, is a small amount. Few streams occur of any importance except as irrigators. They are most numerous in the southwest. In the southern part are considerable areas of uninhabitable land. Population, in 1895, 42,245.
CALIFORNIA, Southern, University of. A Methodist Episcopal educational institution, situated at Los Angeles, California. The university was founded in 1880, and in 1901 had endowment and productive funds amounting to about $130,000, buildings and grounds valued at $70,000, an income of about $12,000, and a library of 4000 volumes and 3000 pamphlets. At the same time the collegiate and preparatory faculty numbered 92, and the total number of students, of whom over one-half were in the preparatory department, 518. In the collegiate department courses are maintained in the classics, art, oratory, music, medicine, law, and dentistry. President, George P. Bonard, A.M., D.D.
CALIFORNIA, University of. A leading American university, situated at Berkeley, California. The university was established in 1868, under the general provision for agricultural colleges made by the Congressional act of 1862, which united with it the College of California, chartered in 1869. Instruction was begun in Oakland in 1869, and the university was transferred to its present location in 1873. The government of the university is vested in the Regents of the University of California, a corporation, consisting of the higher State officers, the presidents of the State Agricultural Society, of the Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco, and of the University of California, all acting as members ex officio, and of sixteen other members appointed by the Governor of the State. The university is in effect a State institution, receiving various State appropriations for specific purposes, and in addition receiving the benefits of a tax of 2 per cent. on each $100 of assessed valuation. As a State institution, it is obliged to make reports to the Legislature, and to be under that body's general jurisdiction.
The university comprises the following departments of instruction: In Berkeley, the colleges of Letters, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Commerce, Agriculture, Mechanics, Mining, Civil Engineering, and Chemistry; on Mount Hamilton, in Santa Clara County, the Lick Astronomical Department; in San Francisco, the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, Hastings College of Law, Medical Department, Post-Graduate Medical Department, Dental Department, California College of Pharmacy. Among the colleges at San Francisco, the Institute of Art, founded by Edward F. Searles in 1893, is occupied by the San Francisco Art Association, affiliated with the university and maintaining the California School of Design, founded in 1874. The Medical Department was organized in 1873 by the absorption of the Toland Medical College. The Post-Graduate Medical Department (the San Francisco Polyclinic) was affiliated with the university in 1892. The Dental Department was organized in 1888. The Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton was founded in 1875 by James Lick, who devoted $700,000 to the purpose, among other things, of constructing “a telescope superior to and more powerful than any telescope ever made.” The Department of Anthropology, organized primarily for research, conducts excavations in Egypt, Peru, and North America, and pursues linguistic and ethnological investigations.
In consideration of its official relation to the State and of the funds given to it yearly by the State, the University of California makes no charge to students resident in California for courses in the colleges of Letters, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Commerce, Agriculture, Mechanics, Mining, Civil Engineering, and Chemistry. The instruction in all the colleges is open to properly qualified persons, without distinction of sex. Students not residents of the State are charged a nominal fee for tuition. Since 1888, when its total student body numbered only 306, the university has grown very rapidly. A large part of this growth should probably be ascribed to the establishment and equally rapid growth of Leland Stanford Junior University, by which a friendly rivalry in educational matters was instituted. In 1902 there were 4006 students enrolled in the University of California, of whom 952 were in the College of Social Sciences, 284 in the College of Letters, 248 in the College of Mining, 194 in the College of Natural Sciences, 190 in the College of Mechanics, 186 in the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art, 156 in the Medical Department, and 171 in the College of Chemistry, 825 in the summer session, and 37 in the short course in dairying. The undergraduates numbered 2248, the graduate students 230, omitting summer-session students. At the same time there were 481 professors, instructors, lecturers, and administrative officers, of whom 201 were in the academic department. Nearly one-half of the university's students are women. A relatively large proportion of the students pursue the general academic courses, as compared
