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April 13, 1863. 

 The president, John Y. L. Pruyn in the chair. 



A. Yon Steinwehr read a paper on the History of Chris- 

 tian Architecture. He showed the importance of architec- 

 ture as elucidating the progress of society, and pointed out 

 why an acquaintance with its history is essential to an 

 accurate judgment upon the true character of any period. 

 Like literature, architecture is one of the ways in which the 

 public taste and individual cultivation make themselves 

 apparent. Indeed, at a period when literature was com- 

 paratively neglected, the very greatest minds gave expres- 

 sion to their aspirations for beauty and grandeur in the 

 forms of architecture. An age can not, therefore, be justly 

 estimated, nor its position in the scale of civilization be 

 properly determined, until we have studied the monuments 

 which it has left of itself in architectural forms. 



M. Y on Steinwehr treated in detail the origin of Christian 

 churches, taking their beginning from the Roman basilicas, 

 then of the Byzantine style of architecture, then of the 

 Romanesque, and finally of the Gothic. More particularly 

 he treated of the Romanesque style, explaining its charac- 

 teristics as developed in Italy, France, Lombardy, Germany 

 and England. In regard to Gothic architecture, he pro- 

 mised a fuller and more complete exposition at some future 

 meeting. 



Richard Y. DeWitt then read a paper on the Economical 

 Applications of Steam. He narrated a series of experi- 

 ments tried by him on Cayuga lake, in regard to the 

 economy of different kinds of boilers. From these experi- 

 ments, and from the record of the running of his boat for 

 several years, and the amount of fuel consumed, he had 

 derived the conclusion that the Helix boiler, introduced by 

 himself, had decided advantages over all other boilers 

 which he had tried. Gen. De Witt explained, with the aid 

 of diagrams, the form and construction of the Helix boiler, 

 and illustrated its economy of heat by the statement that 



