n San Marcos, and the same rules and ceremonies
are observed as in the Spanish Universities. In the departments of
medicine and jurisprudence there are three degrees; those of Bachelor,
Licentiate, and Doctor. In former times the dignity of Doctor was
conferred with great pomp and solemnity, and the public were admitted in
large numbers to witness the ceremony. The acquisition of the degree of
Doctor was then attended by an expense of about two thousand dollars,
chiefly expended in presents. The new Doctor was required to send to
every member of the University, from the Bachelors to the Rector, a new
dollar, a goblet full of ice, and a dish of pastry.

Lima is overrun with monks, lay and conventual. The monastic regulations
are not very strict, for the monks are permitted to leave the convents
at all hours, according to their own pleasure. They avail themselves of
this liberty to the utmost extent. Friars of various orders are seen in
the streets in numbers. Most of them are fat Dominicans, who sit in the
Portales playing at draughts, or lounge in shops staring at the
_Tapadas_ as they pass by. Many of these ecclesiastics are remarkable
for their disregard of personal cleanliness; indeed it would be
difficult to meet with a more slovenly, ignorant, and common-place class
of men. They frequent all places of public entertainment, the
coffee-houses, the chichereas, the bull-fights, and the theatres: these
two last-mentioned places of amusement they visit in disguise. The
Franciscans and the Mercenarias are little better than the Dominicans;
but the Descalzados (barefooted friars) lead a somewhat more strict and
regular life. To the monks of the _Buena Muerte_ belongs the duty of
administering the last consolation to the dying. Whenever they hear of
any person who is dangerously ill, they hasten to the house without
waiting till they are sent for, and they never leave the invalid until
he either recovers or dies. Day and night they sit by the sick-bed, and
scarcely allow themselves time for necessary rest and refreshment. I
have known many of these monks who, from long experience and
observation, but without any medical knowledge, had acquired wonderful
shrewdness in determining the degree of danger in cases of illness, and
who could foretel with almost unfailing certainty the moment of
dissolution. As soon as the patient has breathed his last, the monk
utters a short prayer, then giving the corpse a knock on the nose, he
s