Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 57.djvu/273

Rh a building erected in 1892, 58 by 68 feet on the ground, and now forming part of the Engineering Building. Adjoining this is the Henry L. Pierce Building, erected in 1898, and measuring 58 by 160 feet. In addition to these buildings are the workshops, about a quarter of a mile distant, covering 24,000 square feet, and a gymnasium and drill hall.



The first laboratory to be established at the institute was that of chemistry, and this leads us to speak first of the department of chemistry. The laboratory of general chemistry was opened in 1876 under the direction of Professors Eliot and Storer, and is believed to be the first laboratory where instruction was given in general chemistry to classes of considerable size. From small beginnings, this department has rapidly grown under the able direction of such men as James M. Crafts, (since 1897 president of the Institute), William Kipley Nichols, Charles H. Wing, Lewis M. Norton and Thomas M. Drown, until now the instructing force consists of five professors, thirteen instructors and six assistants, a total teaching force of twenty-four, in addition to seven or eight lecturers on chemical subjects. The department occupies the two upper floors in the Walker Building, together with about half of one floor in the Henry L. Pierce Building, devoted to industrial chemistry. The laboratories, which are said to be the