110 
THE NAUTILUS. 
and parts were wholly destroyed. This calamity brought the ques¬ 
tion of a permanent building to head, and a lot on Wabash Ave¬ 
nue, north of Van Buren Street was purchased and a fire-proof 
building erected. The first meeting was held January 28, 1868. 
The building was of brick 55 feet by 50 in area, and 50 feet high ; 
the floors were of brick and iron the stairways and principal doors 
of iron, and the windows were covered with iron shutters. The base¬ 
ment was used for laboratory and storeroom ; the first floor for 
library and offices, while the whole upper part, surrounded by two 
wide galleries, was occupied by Museum. From this time until the 
great fire the growth of the Academy, under the skillful manage¬ 
ment of Dr. Stimpson was rapid, and much valuable original work 
was done. 
On the 9th of October, 1871 , this building, in spite of the tire- 
proof qualities which it was supposed to possess, was totally de¬ 
stroyed in the great conflagration which laid Chicago in ashes,— 
specimens, library, manuscripts, and apparatus—all that was left of 
the once invaluable collections was a sheet of printed paper and a 
few pieces of broken pottery. Within twelve days after the fire, 
however, a meeting was held and steps taken towards a restoration 
of the Academy. A circular was issued inviting the sympathy and 
help of corresponding societies, which elicited many immediate and 
liberal responses. The loss of his priceless manuscripts so prostrated 
Dr. Stimpson that he died on the 26th of May, 1872. 
It was soon determined to rebuild upon the old site, and upon the 
same plan modified by such improvements as experience could sug¬ 
gest. Upon the front of the same lot a business block of the first 
class, four stories in height was erected. The restored building was 
occupied in the fall of 1873. The funds at the disposal of the 
Academy being insufficient for their needs, they borrowed such ad¬ 
ditional sums as were necessary, securing the lender by a mortgage 
upon the whole property. They estimated that the income from the 
property would provide a sinking fund by which the original indebt¬ 
edness would be paid when it became due. The scheme, however, 
proved disastrous. The new building did not pay the interest on 
the indebtedness, and after a term of years, in process of law, the 
whole property was lost to the Academy. 
When, in 1886, the Academy was finally driven from its home on 
Wabash Avenue, the Exposition Company received the collections 
within its building upon the lake front and paid the expense of their 
