MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. 269 



of a floor in the Henry L. Pierce Building. The collections of this 

 department number many thousands, and are supplemented by those 

 of the Society of Natural History, which are available for purposes of 

 instruction. As would be expected in a school of applied science, the 

 economic aspects of geology are kept closely in view, and the work is 

 adapted to the particular object to be attained. The student in archi- 

 tecture, for instance, receives a course in geology in which the study 

 of building stones is a prominent feature. 



An engineering laboratory formed part of the original scheme of 

 President Kogers, although he included it under the head of physics 

 and did not anticipate the importance which has since attached to it. 

 Such a laboratory, especially devoted to engineering, was established on 

 a small scale in 1874, through the efforts of Professor Whitaker. An 

 engine for experimental purposes was presented to the institute by 

 Mr. G. B. Dixwell, and this, with other apparatus, constituted what is 

 believed to have been the first engineering laboratory in the world for 

 the regular instruction of classes. For lack of funds and space, it was 

 not much developed until 1882, but since that time it has been brought 

 to a high state of efficiency. To-day the engineering laboratories, as 

 they are called, which include laboratories of steam engineering, 

 hydraulics, for the testing of materials and a room containing cotton 

 machinery, occupy a floor space of 21,380 square feet on the two lower 

 floors of the Engineering and Pierce Buildings. In addition to this, 

 there are workshops which will be referred to again. It would be 

 tedious to enumerate the great variety of apparatus to be found in 

 these laboratories, but a few important points may be mentioned. In 

 the steam laboratory a 150 horse-power triple-expansion Corliss engine, 

 the first of its kind of practical size ever arranged for experimental 

 purposes, was purchased in 1890 and is regularly used for testing pur- 

 poses. A second engine of 225 horse-power was added two years ago, 

 transferring its power through a rope drive. Besides these two large 

 engines, there are a number of smaller ones for experimental purposes 

 and the study of valve setting, and, in addition, there are gas engines, 

 hot-air engines and other apparatus. There is also a collection of 

 cotton machinery sufficient to make clear to the student the mechanism 

 of the various machines. 



The hydraulic laboratory is well equipped for the study of the laws 

 of flowing water, having a steel tank five feet in diameter and twenty- 

 seven feet high, with a system of stand-pipes eighty-five feet high, 

 reaching to the top of the building. This tank is furnished with gates 

 and other apparatus suitable for experiments on the flow from orifices, 

 and connected with a system of horizontal pipes by which a large 

 variety of other investigations may be carried on. Among the other 

 apparatus of interest may be mentioned two impact water wheels, 



