Scientific Lectures. 237 



done, and it seems as though we might get some valuable hints 

 from the experience and practice of our French neighbors. 



A Fire-proof Building for the American Institute. 



Before closing my lecture, to which you have listened with surpris- 

 ing patience, I must say a word with regard to the importance of a 

 suitable building for the exhibitions of this Institute. The last exhi- 

 bition was most creditable. Under the great roof of the Rink could 

 be seen illustrations of every art and trade, the products of all, and 

 the machinery of many in actual operation. The pumps, the saws, 

 the printing-press, the busy loom, and hundreds of other labor-saving 

 machines, were in full activity. As a means of education, nothing 

 can be more valuable or effective ; but it must be made permanent, 

 and, as an inducement to exhibitors, it should be held in a fire-proof 

 building. My attention has been called by my friend, Mr. E. D. 

 Lindsay, of this city, who is an accomplished architect, to the advan- 

 tages offered by the reservoir on Fifth avenue. It has been stated 

 in the papers that it is the purpose of the city government to abandon 

 the use of this structure as a reservoir, and to dispose of it to the 

 highest bidder, as it is said to be no longer required by the Croton 

 department. Its capacity is only 20,000,000 gallons, less than one- 

 fourth the daily consumption of the city, while the reservoirs in the 

 Central Park have a capacity of 1,038,000,000 gallons. 



Considering the importance of the object, in its effect on the edu- 

 cation of the people, nothing would be more proper than for the city 

 to hand the reservoir over to the American Institute, to be converted 

 into a grand Palace of Industry, for permanent exhibitions. Its loca- 

 tion is admirable, and, on special occasions, the adjacent park could 

 be made use of for special classes of machinery. The dimensions of 

 the reservoir are 460 feet square, or more than four acres. The walls 

 are most massive, sloping inward and outward, and containing a series 

 of chambers connected by arches, which could be used as a grand 

 arcade running entirely around the building. The cross-wall of gra- 

 nite, which divides the reservoir, would furnish more than enough 

 material for the construction of four massive entrances, one on each 

 face of the building. A light arched roof of iron and glass could be 

 erected over the interior, leaving a gallery to surmount the walls, 

 which would be fifteen feet wide and 1,840 feet, or one-third of a mile 

 long, admirably suited for statuary, paintings, photographs, and other 

 works of art. The floor of over four acres would furnish ample space 

 for everything it would be desirable to exhibit, with room for thou- 



