THE RETROSREOT OF THE YEAR. 7 



15, and on August 2, sixty members of the American 

 Society of University Extension under the direction 

 of Prof. Lyman T. PoAvell, of Phi]adeli)hia. This 

 society, under the escort of a committee of the Institute, 

 was taken about the city to historical points in barges, 

 lunched in Plummer Hall at 12 o'clock and attended a 

 meeting at Academy Hall in the afternoon, where Hon. 

 R. 8. Rantoul gave a tine address on the history of Saleni 

 during the Revolution. The visitors expressed themselves 

 as greatly i)leased with the attention they received, and 

 with what the}^ saw and heard on this occasion. Profes- 

 sor Morse and the Seci"etary by invitation, represented 

 the Institute at a reception given to the "Historical Pil- 

 grims " in Boston, on the succeeding Friday evening. 



As usual, several schools and classes have visited our 

 rooms the past year. These excursions are l)ecoming so 

 general with the increase of the "travel habit," which has 

 taken i)ossession of most people, that any record of them, 

 ceases to be of sjiecial interest to any of us, I imagine. I 

 will mention, however, that on the olst of last May, the 

 architectural class of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 

 nology made a visit to Salem for the pur})ose of studying 

 exam])les of colonial architecture. This class was taken 

 to })oints of historical note about town by a committee of 

 the Institute, and two or three evenings our rooms were 

 opened to them that they might study any objects of inter- 

 est to be found there. The tirst evening the class was 

 introduced by jNlr. Ross Turner to the officers and commit- 

 tees of the society, who gave an informal recei)tion from 

 S to 10 o'clock, with a light lunch, nmsic, etc. 



The large and valual)le collection of manuscript letters 

 and})apers left to the society by Dr. Wheatland have been 

 carefully examined and arranged by AVm. P. Upham, 

 Es(|., curator of manuscripts, and these are now in the 



