DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PRINCIPAL GYMNASIA.

THE PRATT GYMNASIUM AT AMHERST COLLEGE.

The new gymnasium at Amherst College, which was completed during the summer of 1884, is styled the Pratt Gymnasium, in honor of C. M. Pratt, of Brooklyn, N. Y., a graduate of the college in 1879, who contributed nearly $40,000 for its erection. The building, which faces westerly, is situated within the college precincts, on, or rather in, a sidehill sloping toward the south. The structure, which is 120 feet by 80 in the clear, is of brick, has a slated roof, and comprises two stories and a basement. E. L. Roberts, 46 Broadway, New York City, was its architect. Through the kindness of Dr. E. Hitchcock, its director, we are

enabled to give the floor plans of the Pratt Gymnasium and a view of the building, and to furnish an itemized statement of its cost. The rooms on the first floor, besides the front and side entrance halls, are 6 in number: main hall and annex, 80 feet by 64; dressing room, 38 feet by 40, with 270 heated and ventilated lockers; a tepidarium, or dryrub room, 15 feet by 12; a shower room, 14 feet by 12, opening from the tepidarium, and containing 6 shower baths; the professor's room, 20 feet by 18, fitted as a study and office; and a statistics room, 18 feet by 12, for the physical examination of students.

On the second floor are: the billiard room, 48 feet by 24, containing 3 billiard tables; a small professor's room, 14 feet by 9; the resort, or club-room, 25 feet by 14, for the headquarters of the Student (the col

lege journal) and reading room; 2 rooms, respectively 16 feet by 10, and 32 feet by 16, for the custodians of the building to live in; a furniture room, 20 feet by 10; a spacious visitors' gallery; and a running

track, 207 feet long, extending around the main hall at an elevation of 11 feet from its floor.

In the basement, which is high-studded and lighted by windows on all sides, there are 7 rooms, viz.: the bowling room, 76 feet by 21, with

3 alleys 70 feet in length; a sparring room, 23 feet by 13; a "cage,” or room for base-ball and tennis practice, 76 feet by 21; a bath-room, 58 feet by 12, containing 6 tub and 6 sponge baths; a room, 16 feet by 13, containing 2 water-closets and 3 urinals; a store-room, 38 feet by 9; a fuel cellar, 28 feet by 24; and a boiler room, 24 feet by 24.

In the Barrett Gymnasium all provision for lighting after dark was deliberately omitted; but the Pratt Gymnasium has been abundantly supplied with gas fixtures. The main hall of the new gymnasium, which is ceiled with yellow pine, is 40 feet high in the central part, and is lighted by means of a large skylight in the roof, besides numerous side and end windows. The fixed apparatus and Sargent developing appliances, with which this gymnasium is liberally furnished, are placed in the main hall under the visitors' gallery and that formed by the running track. The open floor space of the main hall is amply sufficient, when cleared of the portable gymnastic machines, for one hundred men to engage in class exercise, which, as has been remarked already, is a peculiar feature of the Amherst régime. The gymnasium is open in term time from 8.15 A.M. to 10 P.M.

Those who wish to inform themselves fully as to the details of the Amherst system will do well to consult "A Manual of the Gymnastic Exercises as practiced by the Junior Class in Amherst College. Prepared under the Direction of Dr. Edward Hitchcock, Professor of Physical Education and Hygiene. Boston: Ginn, Heath & Co. 1884." The following itemized statement concerning the cost of building and furnishing the Pratt Gymnasium is of interest:

The following account of the gymnasium at Cornell University and of its method of working, was kindly furnished by Lieut. Walter S. Schuy ler, U. S. A., Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the university, in the absence of the professor of physical culture.