126 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. V., No. 106. 



quarter most readily reached from the suburbs, 

 where most of the members reside. Apart 

 from Cambridge, the members are far more 

 largely distributed, than elsewhere, along the 

 lines of the two railwaj's which have their 

 stations in the ' Back- Bay ' district ; and this 

 region will be directly entered by the new 

 bridge which is to connect Cambridge with 

 Boston. The Massachusetts institute of tech- 

 nology with its Societj' of arts, the Boston 

 society of natural history, and the Medical 

 school of Harvard college, are alreadj r there. 

 Here, too, is the Museum of fine arts ; and, 

 most important of all, to it will shortly be 

 removed the Public library. The square con- 

 taining the Medical school and the site secured 

 for the Public library has remaining upon it a 

 vacant lot large enough for a building answer- 

 ing all probable needs, and seemingly reserved 

 for this ver} 7 purpose. It is not, however, the 

 only available place. 



Here, then, let us construct a fire-proof 

 building of fair proportions and creditable 

 aspect, having one long side, removed from 

 the street, devoted to a well-lighted book- 

 stack, and the rest to larger and smaller halls 

 and offices. Each floor could be devoted to a 

 single institution, with its portion of the book- 

 stack to itself; or it might be shared bj T two 

 or more smaller societies, which could choose 

 whether they would economize their resources, 

 — perhaps by placing their libraries under one 

 administration, perhaps by occupying on suc- 

 cessive evenings the same meeting-room, — or 

 whether the} 7 would remain as independent as 

 if in a separate building of their own. B} r 

 relegating the larger part of its library to its 

 share of the stack, each societ} T , with its choicer 

 books and its special appurtenances, could make 

 its own apartment doubly as attractive as now. 

 If feasible, a common periodical room could 

 attract the readers of all the societies. Each 

 story should be quickl} T accessible by an eleva- 

 tor. The rooms should be heated by steam, 

 and every assembling-room have, in addition, 

 an open fireplace. 



Under this hospitable roof should be gath- 

 ered, first of all, the American academy of arts 



and sciences. With its more than twent} T 

 thousand volumes, it has altogether outgrown 

 its present illy ventilated gloomy quarters, 

 and must, perforce, soon take its flight to 

 roomier parts. Next, the Massachusetts his- 

 torical society, the aged members of which 

 have now to climb three flights of spiral stair- 

 case to attend a meeting, or consult a book, 

 in a building soon likely to be taken from them 

 by the city, and where its precious collections 

 of some thirty thousand volumes are endan- 

 gered by the immediate proximity of a theatre. 

 Next, the collections of the Boston medical 

 library association (fifteen thousand volumes) , 

 now including the library of the medical 

 school, where nearness to this school would 

 advantage all parties. Next, the library 

 of the Boston society of natural history 

 (some twent3 T -five thousand volumes), which 

 has outgrown its present quarters, and which 

 would be more useful in closer proximity to 

 other libraries than in immediate relation to its 

 museum : this, however, being already in that 

 general vicinity, is less important for the plan. 

 Finally, this building should accommodate, for 

 meeting-room at least, if not also for their 

 smaller libraries, other societies of kindred 

 aim, some already quartered, others in search 

 of an abiding-place, — the Society of arts, the 

 Appalachian mountain club, the Boston society 

 of architects, the American society for psy- 

 chical research, the Boston branch of the 

 Archaeological institute of America, the New- 

 England meteorological societj', etc. 



Then there is a nameless unorganized scien- 

 tific club in the city, which has monthly dinners 

 here and there, and whose members come 

 together merely to meet or to honor a guest 

 from a distance. Could this be enlarged, or- 

 ganize, and have its headquarters in this build- 

 ing, it would give additional reason for adding 

 a restaurant to the attractions of the place, 

 where, from among the frequenters of these 

 associated (but not amalgamated) libraries, 

 from those who visit the Public library for 

 research, from among the out-of-town instruc- 

 tors of the medical school and the technological 

 institute, one would daily meet at luncheon or 



