408 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



science and art. Tliis union is represented as already effected and the 

 buildings completed. For these societies the State and city governments 

 had erected a substantial four story fire proof building, one thousand feet 

 long, terminated by two pavilions, accessible by cars uniting the Hudson 

 and East rivers, and the railroad lines extending from the southern to the 

 northern limits of Manhattan Island. 



For the cultivation and sale of plants, seeds and flowers, the basement, 

 the first and second stories, were rented to florists, having uniform, lofty 

 rooms of the height of two stories, projecting east and west, with roof and 

 walls of glass. The third story was occupied by the American Institute, 

 and contained models of furnaces, steam engines, locomotives, bake-houses, 

 iron foundries, wash-houses, roofing, iron promenade roofs overlaid with 

 asphaltum, apparatus for heating and lighting, turning-lathes, capstans, 

 cranes, freight-arms, bridges, markets, stewards' depots, carpentry, pulleys, 

 diving-bells, printing presses, looms, spinning machines, ropewalks, a col- 

 lection of weights and measures of countries with which the great empo- 

 rium is commercially connected, agriciiltural implements, astronomical 

 instruments, &c. ; also a library on subjects connected with agriculture, 

 arts, and trades. 



The fourth story was to be occupied, one half by the Horticultural Society, 

 and the other by the New York Lyceum of Natural History, rent free, on con- 

 dition that they there open a perpetual exhibition, free to the public from 

 sunrise till sunset, except on the Sabbath ; a suitable police guard and 

 other attendants being furnished by the city. 



Each of these societies established a co-ordinate department, auxiliary 

 to the Exchange Lyceum, reciprocating in products of nature and art with 

 individuals, and with corresponding societies in all the States of the Union, 

 and in remote parts of the earth. 



On the right and left rose two pavilions, on square bases, of which one 

 side exceeded the breadtn of the main building, surmounted by towers. 



The pavilion of the south was remarkable for the beauty of its propor- 

 tions, and the character of solidity it at the same time possessed. On the 

 first floor were the central ofl[ices of the police telegraphs, establishing in- 

 stantaneous communication with all the watch-towers. 



The second and third stories united, made a large room for public lec- 

 tures, for the public meetings of the American Institute, the associations 

 and societies located in the pavilions, and in the other parts of the city, 

 and for the exhibitions of the Horticultural Society. Here the annual 

 course of lectures on Astronomy attracted auditors from a great distance. 

 On the fourth story was a select library of mathematical, philosophical, 

 geographical, and astronomical works. 



Here was a bureau of longitudes and triangulations, co-operating with 

 similar bureaux in other cities, greatly aided by the net-work of telegraphs 

 throughout the land. Here, also, was a school for navigation and civil 

 engineering, sustained by the Legislature, and free to pupils from every 

 State and nation. These subjects were seen to be of increasing importance. 



