UNCLE SAM'S FARM. 183 



kind in the United States. It was opened in 1817. 

 It has spacious buildings, with a large tract of land 

 attached. All instruction here is communicated by 

 means of signs. I saw several pupils say their lessons, 

 and work sums in arithmetic on the black board. 

 The Retreat for the Insane is a beautiful stone build- 

 ing, opened in 1824. 



One of the most interesting Institutions which I 

 visited was Wadsworth Athenseum. The site of this 

 building was a donation from Daniel Wadsworth, and 

 the building was erected in 1844, by the voluntary 

 contributions of the citizens ; the entire cost of which 

 was over $50,000. It is a granite structure of the 

 castellated style of architecture, one hundred feet in 

 length and eighty feet in depth. It is appropriated 

 to four distinct Societies, viz : — Young Men's In- 

 stitute, for a reading-room, quarterly and other 

 meetings, and for their library of 10,000 volumes ; 

 the Connecticut Historical Society, for the use of their 

 books and other collections ; the Natural History 

 Society, for the use of their collections ; and a gallery 

 of splendid Paintings, some of which are eighteen feet 

 long. There are also some beautiful Statuary. 

 Among the paintings is the Battle of Bunker Hill ; 

 Declaration of Independence ; Assault of Quebec ; 



