m as to name ministers of five different
denominations for ex-officio governors, and the purpose of the
institution as set forth by its first president, Dr Samuel Johnson
(1696-1772) was about as broad as that now realised. In 1756 the
erection of the first building was begun at the lower end of Manhattan
Island, near the Hudson, and the institution prospered from the
beginning. From 1776 to 1784, during the War of Independence, the
exercises of the college were suspended and the library and apparatus
were stored in the New York city hall. In 1784 the name was changed to
Columbia College, and an act of the legislature was passed for creating
a state university, of which Columbia was to be the basis. But the plan
was not a success, and three years later, in 1787, the act was repealed
and the administration of Columbia was entrusted to a board of trustees
of which the present board is a successor. In 1857 there was an
extensive re-organization by which the scope of the institution was much
enlarged, and at the same time it was removed to a new site on Madison
Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. From 1890 to 1895 much
centralization in its administration was effected, in 1896 the name of
Columbia University was adopted, and in the autumn of 1897 the old site
and buildings were again abandoned for new, this time on Morningside
Heights.

See _A History of Columbia University_, by members of the faculty (New
York, 1904); and J. B. Pine, "King's College, now Columbia
University," in _Historic New York_ (New York, 1897).

COLUMBINE (Ital. _columbina_, from _columba_, a dove), in pantomime
(q.v.) the fairy-like dancer who is courted by Harlequin. In the
medieval Italian popular comedy she was Harlequin's daughter.

COLUMBINE, an erect perennial herbaceous plant known botanically as
_Aquilegia vulgaris_ (natural order Ranunculaceae). In Med. Latin it was
known as _Columbina sc. herba_, the dove's plant. The slender stem bears
delicate, long-stalked, deeply divided leaves with blunt segments, and a
loose panicle of handsome drooping blue or white flowers, which are
characterized by having all the five petals spurred. The plant occurs
wild in woods and thickets in England and Ireland, and flowers in early
summer. It is well known in cultivation as a favourite spring flower, in
many varieties, some of which have red flowers.

COLUMBITE, a rare mineral consisting of iron niobate, FeNb2O6, in
which the ir