of development since President Rogers outlined his plan. Originally
confined to one building, the growing needs of the school have led to
the erection of five others, in addition to a gymnasium. The original
building, completed in 1865, is now known as the Rogers Building, after
the founder of the school; while the one next erected, in 1883, is
named after the third president, the late General Francis A. Walker.
These two buildings each measure about 90 by 150 feet, and in addition
to a building occupied by the Boston Society of Natural History,
occupy one entire square nearly in the heart of the city, and in
close proximity to the Public Library and the Art Museum. Three other
buildings, which adjoin each other and now form one structure, are
situated about six hundred feet distant and form the front and part of
one side of what will some day be one large quadrangle. The first of
these buildings to be erected was the Engineering Building, built in
1889, measuring 52 by 148 feet on the ground, adjoining which is 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.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE CHEMICAL LABORATORIES.]
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[B] 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
Ripley 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 largest and best equipped in the United States, are known as the
Kidder chemical laboratories, having been so named in recognition of
the generosity of the late Jerome S. Kidder. They comprise twenty-two
separate laboratories, three lecture-rooms, a reading-room and library,
two balance-rooms, offices and supply-rooms, making forty rooms in
all, with accommodation for seven hundred students. Besides the large
laboratories for general chemistry and analytical chemistry, there are
smaller laboratories for volumetric analysis, for organic chemistry,
for sanitary chemistry with special reference to the analysis of
water and air, for oil and gas analysis, for the optical and chemical
examination of sugars, starches, etc., for the determination of
molecular weights, and so on. In the industrial laboratories, the
students are taught how to manufacture chemicals with due regard to
economy of material, space and time. There is also a special laboratory
for textile coloring, with printing machines and all the necessary
equipment of baths, dryers, etc., for experimental dyeing and coloring.
In this laboratory the preparation and use of coloring matters are
taught with the object of fitting young men for positions in dye works.
A course of lectures in textile coloring was first introduced in 1888
and the laboratory course in 1889.
[B] Now President Eliot of Harvard.
A large amount of original work is accomplished each year in these
laboratories, both by students and professors. During the year 1897-98,
for instance, four books and sixteen articles on chemical subjects came
from them. In the development of sanitary chemistry the Institute has
been particularly prominent. Beginning with the careful and thorough
investigations made by Professor Nichols for the State Board of Health,
the reputation of the institute in this direction has been still
further increased by the recent extensive investigations of Professor
Drown and Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, made for the same board in connection
with the examination of the purity of the water supplies of the State,
and the experiments at Lawrence relating to the best methods for
purifying water and disposing of the sewage of inland towns.
An illustration of the policy of the school in separating out a
subject whenever it is found capable of complete theoretical and
practical treatment and putting it into the hands of some assistant
professor for development, is found in the laboratory for gas and oil
analysis, which for some years has been in charge of Dr. Gill. In
this laboratory, investigations are made relating to chimney gases,
as well as questions of fuel, furnaces, gas firing, etc., while oils
are tested and analyzed with reference to specific gravity, viscosity,
friction, flashing and firing points, and liability to spontaneous
combustion. The same policy is further illustrated in the establishment
in 1894 of a well equipped laboratory devoted entirely to physical
chemistry; that is to say, to the relations between chemical changes
and heat, light and electricity. This laboratory, under the charge of
Dr. H. M. Goodwin, occupies a room measuring 28 by 29½ feet, and is
devoted to photographic work, experiments in electrical conductivity,
thermo-chemistry, molecular weight determinations and experiments
in chemical dynamics. More recently still, a complete option in
electro-chemistry has been established, to meet a growing demand.
[Illustration: PART OF THE ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY.]
Still another illustration of the policy of specialization is afforded
by the action of the Institute in establishing new courses of study,
extending through the entire four years, whenever the need is felt
for men trained in a direction not hitherto specially provided for.
Thus, in 1888 a new course was established in chemical engineering.
The chemical engineer is not primarily a chemist, but a mechanical
engineer--one, however, who has given special attention to such
problems as the construction of dye works and bleacheries, sugar
refineries, soap works, paper and pulp manufactories, fertilizer works,
chemical works, and in general all the problems of chemical machinery
and manufacturing. That this new course filled a real want was soon
made evident. The first class, that of ’91, contained seven graduates,
while eighty-eight students in all have now been graduated and are for
the most part engaged in chemical works.
The physical laboratories of the Institute are now known as the Rogers
laboratories. Although they formed perhaps the central feature of
President Rogers’ plan, financial and other exigencies prevented their
being established when the school was opened. In 1869, Prof. Edward
C. Pickering, then in charge of the department of physics, submitted
a scheme to the government of the Institute entitled ‘Plan of the
Physical Laboratory.’ This plan was adopted and carried out in the
autumn of 1869 and has been in use ever since. It is worthy of remark
that the original statement of Professor Rogers with reference to
laboratory instruction in physics contained no mention of electricity,
then a subordinate branch, but one whose development since has caused
it to occupy the leading place in any physical department. In 1882 the
corporation established a course in electrical engineering, setting an
example which has since been followed by almost every large technical
school, and founding a course destined in a few years to become one of
the largest in the Institute.
At present the department of physics and electrical engineering, under
the head of Prof. Charles R. Cross, has an active teaching force of
one professor, four assistant professors, six instructors and three
assistants, a total of fourteen. In addition to these, there are
twelve lecturers on special topics, including many men eminent in
their profession. The Rogers laboratories occupy sixteen rooms in the
Walker Building, including two lecture-rooms and ten laboratories.
As in the case of the chemical department, these laboratories are
highly specialized. There is a laboratory for general physics, one
for electrical measurements, two rooms devoted to a laboratory for
electrical engineering, containing two distinct power plants driven by
steam engines of 100 and 150 horse-power, with a large number of dynamo
machines, transformers and a great variety of other apparatus arranged
for purposes of instruction, the mere enumeration of which would
occupy several pages. Moreover, a lighting and power plant in the new
building on Trinity Place is available for experiments and instruction.
Besides these, there are rooms for photometry, for heat measurements,
for acoustics, for optics and for photography. In fact, probably no
department of the Institute is more fully equipped than this, the
wealth of apparatus being so great that the casual visitor is confused
by the network of wires and machinery which surround him.
The interdependent and harmonious work of the various departments
of the Institute is shown in the development of special lecture
and laboratory courses, and is in marked contrast to the policy of
departmental isolation sometimes practiced. Thus, in 1889, two new
courses of instruction were established by the physical department in
response to the demand of the department of mining; namely, the course
in heat measurements, including measurements of high temperatures,
the determination of the calorific power of fuels, etc., and a course
on the applications of electro-metallurgy to chemical analysis, the
reduction of ores and similar problems. The equipment of calorimeters,
pyrometers, etc., in the heat laboratory is said to be so large as to
permit a more complete examination of the efficiency of fuels than has
hitherto been possible anywhere.
[Illustration: SMELTING FURNACE IN JOHN CUMMINGS LABORATORY OF MINING
AND METALLURGY.]
Perhaps the greatest innovation made by the Institute in the early
days was in establishing a laboratory for the teaching of mining
and metallurgy. Previous to 1871 metallurgical work was done in the
chemical laboratories, but in that year the mining and metallurgical
laboratory was put into operation through the efforts of President
Runkle, Professor Richards and Professor Ordway. Prior to this date,
there were assaying or metallurgical laboratories at the École des
Mines at Paris, the Royal School of Mines in London, the German
Mining Schools at Freiberg and Clausthal and Berlin, and also in
several technical schools in this country. The German mining schools
were situated beside smelting works, but the plants could not often
be used for experiments by professors or students in a way to alter
the usual method of running. In all these laboratories, however, the
apparatus was designed to treat quantities of ore not exceeding a few
ounces for each test. The Institute laboratories were the first in the
world which were designed for the treatment of ores in economical
quantities of from five hundred pounds to three tons, and used entirely
for purposes of instruction. They are now known as the John Cummings
laboratories, in memory of one who for many years was treasurer of
the Institute and one of its most devoted friends. They now occupy
the entire basement of the Rogers Building, and include laboratories
for milling, concentrating and smelting ores, as well as for testing
them by assay and by blowpipe. The development of these laboratories
from the small beginnings of 1871 has been mainly due to the efforts
of Prof. R. H. Richards, past president of the American Institute
of Mining Engineers, whose contributions on methods of ore dressing
are well known to mining engineers. The staff of this department
also includes Prof. H. O. Hofman, well known for his researches in
metallurgy.
[Illustration: THREE STAMP MILL IN MINING LABORATORY.]
Mention should here be made of the department of geology, which is
under the direction of Professors Niles, Crosby and Barton, and
which now occupies commodious quarters comprising the greater part
of a floor in the Henry L. Pierce Building. The collections of this
department number many thousands, and are supplemented by those of
the Society of Natural History, which are available for purposes of
instruction. As would be expected in a school of applied science, the
economic aspects of geology are kept closely in view, and the work
is adapted to the particular object to be attained. The student in
architecture, for instance, receives a course in geology in which the
study of building stones is a prominent feature.
An engineering laboratory formed part of the original scheme of
President Rogers, although he included it under the head of physics
and did not anticipate the importance which has since attached to it.
Such a laboratory, especially devoted to engineering, was established
on a small scale in 1874, through the efforts of Professor Whitaker.
An engine for experimental purposes was presented to the institute
by Mr. G. B. Dixwell, and this, with other apparatus, constituted
what is believed to have been the first engineering laboratory in the
world for the regular instruction of classes. For lack of funds and
space, it was not much developed until 1882, but since that time it
has been brought to a high state of efficiency. To-day the engineering
laboratories, as they are called, which include laboratories of steam
engineering, hydraulics, for the testing of materials and a room
containing cotton machinery, occupy a floor space of 21,380 square
feet on the two lower floors of the Engineering and Pierce Buildings.
In addition to this, there are workshops which will be referred to
again. It would be tedious to enumerate the great variety of apparatus
to be found in these laboratories, but a few important points may be
mentioned. In the steam laboratory a 150 horse-power triple-expansion
Corliss engine, the first of its kind of practical size ever arranged
for experimental purposes, was purchased in 1890 and is regularly used
for testing purposes. A second engine of 225 horse-power was added two
years ago, transferring its power through a rope drive. Besides these
two large engines, there are a number of smaller ones for experimental
purposes and the study of valve setting, and, in addition, there are
gas engines, hot-air engines and other apparatus. There is also a
collection of cotton machinery sufficient to make clear to the student
the mechanism of the various machines.
[Illustration: HORIZONTAL EMERY TESTING MACHINE OF 300,000 POUNDS
CAPACITY IN THE APPLIED MECHANICS LABORATORY.]
The hydraulic laboratory is well equipped for the study of the laws
of flowing water, having a steel tank five feet in diameter and
twenty-seven feet high, with a system of stand-pipes eighty-five feet
high, reaching to the top of the building. This tank is furnished with
gates and other apparatus suitable for experiments on the flow from
orifices, and connected with a system of horizontal pipes by which a
large variety of other investigations may be carried on. Among the
other apparatus of interest may be mentioned two impact water wheels,
placed in housings with glass sides so that the action of the water on
striking the buckets can be observed.
Some experiments have already been made in the laboratory on the flow
of air, the results of which have been communicated by Professor
Peabody to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. It is now
intended to continue the study of the flow of air and its use as a
motive power in great detail, just as the flow of water is studied, and
an air compressor of 100 horse-power, which will produce a pressure of
twenty-five hundred pounds, is now being installed.
[Illustration: THE 100,000 POUND BEAM MACHINE IN THE APPLIED MECHANICS
LABORATORY.]
The laboratory for testing the strength of materials was established in
1881 by Prof. G. Lanza, and has since been extensively developed under
his direction, until it is now one of the most complete in the world.
It is perhaps not too much to say that the experiments made in this
laboratory have in some respects revolutionized the ideas of engineers.
Previous to its establishment, the only tests of timber that had been
made were upon small selected specimens one or two inches square and a
few feet long. The results of these tests had been used for years by
architects and engineers, and they were given in all the engineering
handbooks. In the Institute laboratory there were conducted the first
systematic and extended tests of beams of commercial size. The results
soon showed that the strength of such timber was a great deal less
than previous tests on small beams had indicated, and the practice of
engineers and architects has since that time been completely modified
through the results obtained in this and similar laboratories. In this
way does the work of such a laboratory become of direct and lasting
value to the arts. The central piece of apparatus of the Institute
laboratory is the Emery machine, similar to the great machine at the
Watertown arsenal, with a capacity of three hundred thousand pounds.
But in addition to this machine there are a dozen or more other
machines designed to test beams, columns, rope, wire and, in fact,
materials of every kind and in every form. An interesting machine is
that for testing shafts in torsion, and it is instructive to see it
twist off with apparent ease a steel shaft three inches in diameter,
twisting the fibers before they break till the rod resembles a barber’s
pole. There are also beam-testing machines with capacities up to one
hundred thousand pounds, in which not only beams but wooden trusses
may be tested to the breaking point. Some of the apparatus is of great
delicacy; for instance, one instrument will measure the twist of a
steel shaft two and a half inches in diameter and six feet long so
delicately that the effect of a twist given by one’s hand is distinctly
visible; scientifically speaking, it will measure an angle of twist of
two seconds. There is also a machine designed for testing stone arches,
having a capacity of four hundred thousand pounds and suitable for an
investigation of many questions concerning these uncertain structures;
also machinery for studying the wear of brake shoes and wheel tires,
a subject in regard to which there is room for much investigation.
Finally, mention should be made of machinery for investigating the
interesting subject of the effect of repetition of stress.
[Illustration: FORGE SHOP.]
The tests performed in the engineering laboratory cover almost the
entire range of mechanical science. Sometimes investigations are
carried on through a number of years; for instance, during three
successive years experiments were conducted and formed the subject of
theses on the proper method of counterbalancing the reciprocating parts
of a locomotive. Nor are the tests performed by the Institute students
as a regular part of their instruction confined to these laboratories,
as is made evident by the fifty-hour test of the West End Street
Railway power station and the twenty-four hour test of the pumping
engine at Chestnut Hill, both recently carried out.
In connection with the engineering laboratories, brief mention may be
made of the shops, which form an important adjunct of the laboratories.
They consist of a shop for carpentry, wood-turning and pattern-making,
equipped with forty carpenters’ benches, thirty-six pattern-makers’
benches and a full equipment of saws, planers, lathes, etc.; a foundry
with a cupola furnace for melting iron, thirty-two moulders’ benches,
two brass furnaces and a core-oven; a forge shop with thirty-two
forges, a power hammer, vises, etc.; a machine shop with about forty
lathes, together with drills, planers and all the other necessary
apparatus used in machine tool work.
The magnitude of the Institute laboratories is shown by the following
statements: The total horse-power of steam and other engines is nine
hundred and eighty-three; the total capacity of tension, compression
and transverse testing machines is over eight hundred thousand pounds,
and of torsion testing machines about one hundred and fifty-six
thousand inch pounds; the total horse-power of hydraulic motors is
sixty-two; and the total capacity of pumps is thirty-two hundred
gallons per minute.
The engineering laboratories are used by students of all the
engineering departments, that is to say, by a large majority of the
students in the school. The benefit derived by this actual contact
with materials and with machines of commercial size, under proper
instruction, is believed to be very great.
The department of mechanical engineering, one of the original
departments, is now the largest in the school, having a force of
instruction of five professors and twelve instructors and assistants.
As an offshoot of it, a department of naval architecture was
established in 1893, after a preliminary experience of four years with
an option in this direction. This was the first course of its kind
established in this country. It is somewhat remarkable, considering
the preëminence that America has long enjoyed in the building of ships
and marine engines, that our technical schools should for so long have
failed to offer specialized instruction in these important branches.
Schools devoted to these subjects have long existed abroad. The French
Government School of Naval Architecture was established in 1865 for
the purpose of educating young men for the Government service. To
this school foreigners are admitted under certain restrictions. In
England the first school of naval architecture was opened in 1871,
but no systematic instruction seems to have been provided until 1864.
At present, however, the Royal Naval College, at Greenwich, gives
excellent and thorough instruction to young men desiring to enter
the Government service. There has also been for a number of years an
excellent course of study in naval architecture at the University of
Glasgow. The Institute of Technology established in 1888 an elementary
course in ship construction, and this was followed in 1890 by a
specialized option in naval architecture extending through the four
years. Already forty-one men have graduated from this course.
[Illustration: JOHN D. RUNKLE, PRESIDENT, 1870-1878.]