of the Main Building to the western extreme of Machinery Hall, the eye swept along an almost unbroken front line more than seventytwo hundredths of a mile in length! The principal materials used in the construction of Machinery Hall were iron and glass. The piers of the foundation were of stone, and the supporting columns, for the most part, of wood. The main cornice without was forty feet from the ground, and the general height within was seventy feet. The building was painted in a pleasing tint of purplish blue, relieved by various hues of contrasted colors. At the four corners and over the main side-entrances stood the towers, a hundred feet in height, breaking up in some measure the otherwise monotonous outline of the building. In the north-east tower was hung the famous chime of bells, thirteen in number, weighing twenty-one thousand pounds,-many-tongued and clamorous with the silver music which they flung out upon the air in honor of the Old Thirteen States. Over the central gallery a royal bald-eagle looked down upon the great clock which calmly marked the hours of the Centennial summer.

Machinery Hall could hardly be called a thing of beauty: it was too long and low for that;-but if adaptability to the purposes for which it was designed be a criterion, the structure was by no means wanting in taste. American civilization is the civilization of utility, invention, and mechanism. The engine is the emblem, and Quæ Prosunt Omnibus the motto, over the doorway of our temple. On the porches and architrave of what great structure might the emblem and the motto be more appropriately set than on the arches of Machinery Hall? For here Invention was queen, and Utility her minister of state. Here was the realm where Thought had the mastery over Matter-the empire of wheels and pistons, where Steam was the Mother of Motion.-All this and more was foreshadowed and provided for in the grand structure designed by the Centennial Commission for the display of machinery.

The fourth principal building of the Exposition grounds was Agricultural Hall, situated on the eastern side of Belmont Avenue, and beyond the valley of the same name. The ground-plan of the edifice presented a central nave eight hundred and twenty feet in length, and one hundred and twenty-five feet wide. This principal aisle was crossed at right angles by a main and two subordinate transepts-the former one hundred feet, and the latter eighty feet, in width. The projections of these transepts formed two courts on either side of the main structure, which, together with the four spaces similarly formed at the corners of the building, were enclosed with fronts and roofs,

whereby the edifice was extended into an immense parallelogram eight hundred and twenty feet long, and five hundred and forty feet in width. The entire area thus embraced in the ground-floor was ten and three-tenths acres.

As to its style, Agricultural Hall had a touch of Gothicismsuggested by the Howe truss-arches of the nave and transepts-in its construction. Over the bisection of the central avenue and the main transept, rose an elegant cupola surmounted by a weather-vane. The entrances were ornamental, and at each side were handsome turrets. The roofs were pointed, stained a greenish tint, and flecked with skylights. The body of the building was composed of wood, iron, and glass, and was painted brown. The general effect was pleasing, and a bird's-eye view revealed in the edifice and its surroundings a picturesqueness hardly discoverable in any other of the Exposition structures. This building, being devoted to the general purposes of an agricultural display, had the necessary concomitant of yards for the exhibition of all the domestic fowls and animals. The entire cost of Agricultural Hall was nearly two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. The building was a temporary structure, and at the close of the Exposition was taken down and removed from the Park.

In the erection of Horticultural Hall-fifth and smallest of the main Exhibition edifices-the Centennial committees displayed their liking for the Moors. For the building is Arabesque in its architecture. The twelfth century furnishes the model, and the nineteenth does the work. As to situation, Horticultural Hall stands on the Lansdowne Terrace, north of the valley, overlooking the Schuylkill. As to materials,-iron, glass, and wood. As to dimensions,-three hundred and eighty-three feet long, one hundred and ninety-three feet broad, and sixty-nine feet to the top of the lantern. As to cost,-three hundred thousand dollars. As to purpose, a temple of flowers. As to destiny,-a permanent ornament of Fairmount Park. For the city of Philadelphia contributed the funds for the building, and decided that it should stand in spite of the general demolition and temple-crushing which prevailed at the close of the Exposition.

Next among the notable structures of the Exhibition grounds was that building provided for by the Congressional act of March 3d, 1875, and called the United States Government Building. It stood on Belmont Avenue, northward from Machinery Hall. The groundplan was a cross, with the main stem four hundred and eighty feet, and the transept three hundred and forty feet, in length. In the central part, the building was two stories in height. Over the bisection

of the nave and transept rose an octagonal dome, surmounted by a flag-staff. The edifice was elegantly painted, the prevailing color being brown. The roof was black, the dome in imitation of wood, and all the ceilings blue. The walls within were divided into panels, in each of which was laid off a diamond-shaped space containing in its center an emblem representing some department or function of the Government. The general effect of the building was that of airiness and ease-hardly to have beeen expected in an edifice so strongly and heavily built.

The Woman's Pavilion, already mentioned, was located at the western end of the Horticultural section of the grounds, and was one of the most beautiful of the Centennial buildings. The structure was of wood and glass. Here again the ground-plan was a cross, each of the arms being a hundred and ninety-two feet long, and sixty-four feet in width. The end of each transept was adorned with an elegant porch; and the spaces in the corners-formed by the four projections of the building-were converted into four minor pavilions, and made an integral part of the main hall. Within, there were in all only four columns of support, the roof resting mainly upon the outside walls. The whole interior was painted in delicate tints of blue, the color without being gray. The central part of the building, surmounted by a lantern bearing a cupola, rose to the height of ninety feet. The ground-floor embraced an area of nearly seven-tenths of an acre.

The British Government Building, generally called "St. George's House," stood on George's Hill, and was the head-quarters of the British commissioners. The edifice, embracing in the ground-plan an area of twenty-two hundred and fifty square feet, was in the style of architecture prevalent in the times of Queen Elizabeth. The roof was composed of red tiles; and the fixtures, furniture, and decorations were all after models which were fashionable at the close of the sixteenth century. The building, which was two stories high, was very handsomeeven elegant—in its general appearance, recalling forcibly to mind the most brilliant and romantic period in English history. St. George's House was designed for the accommodation not only of the commissioners from the home empire of Great Britain, but also for the use and comfort of the agents from the British colonial possessions in different parts of the world.

The Building of the French Government was located eastward from Memorial Hall. The ground-plan was a parallelogram sixty feet long by forty feet in width. The structure was composed of brick, iron, and glass, and in its general aspect was not unworthy to express

the