being 10 feet in front, on each side, with a breadth
of 67 feet. The exterior of the building is purely
Grecian Doric, not an exact copy from any an-
cient model, but an adaptation to suit the pur-
poses of the structure, which is characteristically
Grecian in all its parts. It consists of a portico
on each side, of six fluted columns, and an order
of slightly engaged columns round the entire
walls, 20 in number, resting on a high stylobite
or basement. The columns are 5 feet 4 inches in
diameter, and 32 feet high; the shaft being in
one piece, and each weighing about 42 tons.
Upon these rest a full entablature, and pediments
above the porticoes. The top of the dome is 95
feet from the ground. The interior arrangement
is adapted with great perfection to the purposes
of the- building. The grand cross-shaped rotun-
da, in the centre, for the transaction of the gen-
eral- business of the collector's department, is a
splendid room, 63 feet in its greatest length, 59
feet wide, and 62 feet high to the skylight. The
ceiling of the dome is supported by 12 marble
columns, 3 feet in diameter, and 29 feet high,
ornamented with highly-wrought Corinthian cap-
itals. The numerous other compartments, from
the cellar to the attic story, are constructed and
arranged with such convenience for the facilities
of business as can hardly be surpassed. The
building was designed by A. B. Young, A. M.,
architect, of Boston, and erected under his super-
vision throughout.

The new City Prison, near the foot of Cam-
bridge Street presents an imposing appearance
on approaching the city over Cambridge Bridge.
It consists of a centre octagonal building, with
four wings radiating from the centre. Three of
these wings enclose the cells of the prison, which
is constructed upon the Auburn plan. The west
wing is appropriated to the jailer's family, his
office, and those of the other officers, the hospital
and chapel; and the centre to the great kitchen,
scullery, laundry, ward room, and other general
purposes of the'establishment. The exterior is
entirely of Quincy granite, formed with split
ashlar, in courses, having the cornices and other
projecting portions hammered or dressed ; the
whole design, in a successful manner, combining
symmetry with strength.

The Masonic Temple, on Tremont Street,
fronting the Common, is also a beautiful build-
ing, completed in 1832. It is 80^ feet in length,
60 feet in width, and 52 feet in height. The
towers upon the two front corners rise 90 feet
from the ground.

The Boston Museum, on Tremont, near Court
Street, and the Howard Athenaeum, on Howard
Street, are also beautiful specimens of architec-
tural taste. These are both occupied, in part,
for dramatic performances.

The Massachusetts Horticultural Society have
a beautiful hall in School Street, opposite the
City Hall, in which weekly exhibitions of fruits
and' flowers, of great luxuriance, are held, during
the appropriate season.

The Tremont Temple, opposite the Tremont
House, burnt down in. 1852, but since rebuilt,
has four stores in front, and in the rear two
rooms, each 16 by 32 feet, and a vestry 32
by 73 feet, 13 feet high, well lighted and venti-
lated.

Still farther in the rear is a hall or chapel, 53
by 73 feet, and 25 feet high, capable of seating
from 800 to 900 persons, the entrance to which
is an easy descending grade, of only three quar-
ters of an inch, to a foot, by a seven feet pas-
sage on the northerly side of the building.

There is another passage, of about the same
width, on the southerly side, from, and on a level
with, Tremont Street; also a centre passage,
twelve and a half feet wide, designed as the prin-
cipal entrance, but all to be thrown open, when
required, for outlets to the main hall, which is in
the upper story, and is about 73 by 130 feet, and
45 feet high, with galleries on three sides, with
eight distinct flights of stairs, (four on each side,)
at different points, together with independent
flights of stairs from the anterooms to the lower
floor, making in all over 50 feet in width of stair-
way downward from the floor of the hall.

In a recess at the end of the hall, concealed by
a wire gauze screen, painted in imitation of pan-
el work, stands the largest organ in America,
built by E- & G. G. Hook, of Boston. It has
four sets of keys, and two octaves and two notes
of pedals. .The sw'ell organ extends through
the entire compass from C C up to A, 58 notes.
It is enclosed in a double box, 11 feet high, 9
feet deep, and 12 feet wide, and contains 15 stops
and 834 pipes. The great organ contains 15
$tops, including a metal double open diapason
to 16 feet C, five unison stops, two principals, 13
ranks of chorus, and two reeds, making 1334
pipes. The choir organ contains 10 stops and
568 pipes. The solo, or fourth manual, contains
six stops and 276 pipes. There are eight pedal
stops, among them a 32 feet tone, and a 16 feet
reed, making 216 pipes. There are also nine coup-
ling stops, and four composition pedals. Ex-
t 'eme height of the organ, 45 feet; width, 36 feet.
Total number of pipes, 3010; stops, 70, two only
of which are divided.

Between the main hall and the lower floor in
the second story, there are thirteen rooms, aver-
aging about 16 feet in width, and from 32 to 38
feet in length. The walls throughout, from
openings under the basement floor to the attic, are
vaulted for purposes of ventilation, and plas-
tered directly upon the brick, thus preventing the
dampness usual in solid brick walls, and the
usual danger of fire spreading from one apart-
ment to another, behind the furring, at the same
time improving the halls for sound.

The Boston Music Hall, completed in 1852,
has one front entrance on Winter Street, and an-
other in Bumstead Place. The interior of the hall
is 130 feet long, 80 feet wide, and 65 feet high.
It has a gallery at one end, and two rows of bal-
conies on either side. A series of Corinthian
pilasters, rising from above the upper balcony,
support a groined cove, in which are the semi-
circular windows which light the hall. The ceil-
ing within the coving is divided into diamond-
shaped panels. The front of tbe galleries is of
light cast-iron work. The gas lights are arranged
along the top of the main cornice, with supple-
mentary gas lights on the front of the galleries.
The hall will contain 3000 persons, and has cor-
ridors on either side, with 42 doors communicat-
ing with the hall. The architect was Mr. George
Snell, of Boston.

The literary, charitable, and humane institu-
tions of Boston are numerous and well endowed ;
and the buildings with which many of them are
furnished, are among the handsomest ornaments
of the city. The Boston Athenaeum, incorpo-
rated in 1807, has a library of about 50,000 vol-