238 Transactions of tee American Institute. 



sands of visitors. An inside gallery would furnish seats overlooking 

 the whole. Five rows of seats would accommodate five thousand 

 persons. A space could be reserved in the center for a platform, and 

 the building could be used for monster concerts. Twenty thousand 

 persons could be easily admitted to the exhibitions at one time. 



Mr. Lindsay has kindly furnished me with interior and exterior 

 sketches of the proposed building, which have been photographed on 

 glass, and which I will now project upon the screen, with the aid of 

 the magic lantern. He estimates that the total expense of adapting 

 the reservoir to the wants of the Institute would not exceed half a 

 million of dollars, a sum which is trifling when the importance of 

 the object is considered, and which, I am sure, we can readily secure. 



Even should it be desirable to continue to use the reservoir for the 

 purpose for which it was constructed, this plan could still be carried 

 out, as a substantial floor of iron could be laid above the water-level. 



This is, perhaps, a crude project ; but there is still considerable 

 plausibility in the idea of converting the old, useless reservoir into a 

 great, permanent school for the instruction of the public in all branches 

 of applied science, chemistry and the mechanic arts. Perhaps, embold- 

 ened by your patient attention to-night, I may some day venture to 

 lecture to an audience of twenty thousand in the Industrial Palace of 

 the American Institute, on Fifth avenue. 



