felt rather than described. Whether in dining-room or common room one is conscious of the change. It is all finer, nicer; and every one feels charmed at once, and generally says so promptly. The crowning glory, of course, must be on the top floor; and truly the new billiard-room is a gem, to many the most attractive part of the house. If a quiet word to the wise be permitted, be it said, as to its practical usefulness, that the new table (for billiards only) is most excellent in quality, its cushions receiving the unqualified indorsement of those most expert among the club's habitués. An additional advantage, sure to be appreciated, lies in the fact that two tables—one pool, one billiard—give some assurance that the would-be player will not find the room completely pre-empted by members of the Faculty, as had been known to happen in the past.

The common room, especially, seems more spacious and harmonious in detail. The general color scheme, even to the selection and hanging of the pictures, is most pleasing. Among the most effective paintings are found a number by our Institute people,— C. H. Woodbury, Ross Turner, and C. L. Adams. Those who have not kept tabs on Mr. Adams for a year or two past will surely feel surprise at the progress he has made, while his better-posted friends are ready to express satisfaction (and not astonishment) at the excellence of his work. The building and refurnishings are, of course, themselves a work of (architectural) art, for which great credit is due to the club members, W. H. Kilham and H. W. Gardner, by whom the plans were drawn and under whose immediate charge, as architects, the changes and improvements were made.

Ground has been broken for the new Technology Chambers described in our last issue, and pile-driving for the foundation is already well under way. The contract was awarded to the George A. Fuller Company of New York, and contemplates the completion of the building July 15, 1902.

REPRINTS— III.

In continuation of its series of Reprints from early documents, the REVIEW presents what is believed to be the first printed announcement, of any length, relative to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under its first designation that of a "Conservatory of Art, Science, and Historical Relics." It is interesting, in the light of later years, to note the wide divergence of opinion as to the means of reaching what appears to have been, at that meeting, a common end; and while it to-day seems absurd. to have suggested, as did one of those present, that the "Conservatory be established in the Hancock house, one cannot but deeply regret that Mr. Ross, in urging the projectors to secure "at least four blocks, of 600 X 250 feet each," was too far in advance of the time to be seriously heeded.

To those who last winter listened to arguments for a Charles River Basin, based, as they largely were, on the example of Hamburg, it is of peculiar interest to find the same model brought forward for Boston's imitation fortytwo years ago. So long does it take for an idea of this nature to take root and to develop into action!

It is clear that, like "Zelotes Hosmer, Esq.," all the speakers at this historic meeting "saw in this movement a gigantic plan"; but it needed the master mind of William Barton Rogers so to organize and unify this plan that it might be carried by him and his noble colleagues and successors to its present gigantic and perennial fruition.

CONSERVATORY OF ART AND SCIENCE

A meeting of gentlemen representing the association of Agriculture, Art, and Science, and various industrial, educational, and moral interests of the city, was held at 31⁄2 P.M. on February 18, 1859, at the library of the Boston

Society of Natural History. The meeting was organized by the choice of Hon. Marshall P. Wilder as Chairman, and Dr. S. Kneeland, Jr., as Secretary.

The Chairman stated that the object of the meeting was to take steps for memorializing the present legislature for a grant of land belonging to the Commonwealth, in aid of a plan for a conservatory of art and science; and he invited the representatives of the different interests to state their views. A reading of a portion of the Governor's message, in which he refers to the value of the public land, and advises a certain disposition to be made of a portion of it, brought the subject fairly before the meeting.

Hon. A. H. Rice gave a sketch of the rise and progress of education in this community, and traced the connection. between education and science and the mechanical and fine arts. The highest development of knowledge among us was only an expansion of the common-school system. He considered that some such plan as the one presented, for the enlargement and practical application of science in its various branches to the useful and ornamental arts of life, was imperatively demanded as an educational measure. Boston must have it. He considered it not a question of fact, but merely a question of time. He considered the present a favorable opportunity to make application to the legislature in aid of a plan which would be of great advantage to the State as an educational point of view, and which would add to the value of the public land. He thought the mercantile interest was specially concerned in the objects contemplated in this plan, which could not fail to make Boston doubly attractive to strangers.

Professor Agassiz spoke in favor of the plan, which he thought of great importance, as occupying the middle ground between abstract science and its practical applica

tion. Science, in the abstract, must go alone, not hampered with any considerations of practical application, assisting, but not interfering with each other. The moment they are combined in the same association, science must languish. Hence the importance of some institution occupying the ground of an interpreter between the two, which, he thought, the plan proposed would do.

Mr. M. D. Ross said that the cause of the present movement was the fact that this unoccupied Back Bay land was in the vicinity of the city; in order to make valuable what now is mere water, must be developed by the citizens, must be used for some purposes of public improvement. From conference with persons owning land in the neighborhood, he thought that they would generally co-operate in the carrying out of a plan of the kind, for uniting the various associations of art and science.

His own pursuits led him more especially to favor the section which would form a kind of polytechnic institute. The utility of this could not be questioned, and its probable success he thought merely a question of time. Gentlemen interested in agriculture and natural science, and the citizens generally, would heartily approve it. He thought the main thing at the present time was to secure ample territory, a like opportunity to obtain which would never occur again. Its value must depend on the use made of it; and he knew of nothing which could so enhance the value as the reservation of space for the educational, scientific, artistic, and other practically useful purposes embraced in this plan.

Professor Agassiz, in relation to the Polytechnic School, said that such an institution, intermediate between trade and science, was vitally important, they could not be combined in the same association. This he likened to the high

schools, which are the necessary medium between the primary school and the university.

Rev. Dr. Blagden expressed his approval of any plan which promises to develop the relations between science and art. Such an institution as the one proposed, he thought, would elevate the intellectual standard of the community, and meet a great public want.

Dr. A. A. Gould alluded to the frequency of such institutions in Europe, and thought they were imperatively demanded here. He mentioned particularly the Museum of Practical Geology and the Kew Gardens, the one presenting the wonders of the mineral and the other of the vegetable world to public observation. Such are not only attractive to strangers, but exceedingly useful to every citizen. He mentioned the project of a munificent gentleman of St. Louis, who intended to make for that city a miniature "Garden of Plants," solely at his own expense. What we want to meet this popular demand, in the first place, is ample space; and he thought the present favorable opportunity should be improved to ask for the requisite grant, and that the memorial should be properly presented at

once.

J. D. Philbrick, Esq., president of the American Institute of Instruction, spoke in favor of such a plan as an educational agent. He thought a collection of objects illustrating education, from the primary school to the university, a most desirable thing. Such a one had been commenced in Toronto, Can. There is no Polytechnic Institution in America worthy of the name; and he hoped Boston would take the lead in this, as she had in the primary and high schools. Dr. Barnard, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, has formed a grand plan of such a school, the only one that he knows of. He