o. It
was said that the experts could not as yet determine
whether the subject of the cracked and dingy old
canvas was a Madonna or a Bull Fight, but that,
nevertheless, they did not hesitate to declare that it
was a great acquisition to art. Now, that is the
trouble with most associations of architects; if the
subject for discussion is only old, cracked and dingy
enough, they are happy. Nothing delights them more
than to spend all their time and energies in
discussing Etruscan or other antique architectures, or
the exact differentiations between the many styles of
architecture. Now, while we value the history of an
art, and shall give it all due attention, we propose
to remember that the modern architect, besides being
an artist, must be one of the most practical and
executive of business men.

We admit that our ancestors in the profession designed
beautiful castles, magnificent cathedrals and lovely
chateaux, but we remember that these castles, these
cathedrals, these chateaux were planned without any
comfort; that they had no plumbing devices, no methods
for cooking, no systems of heating or ventilation, and
no way of getting light but the miserable taper; while
to-day the architect, besides being a thorough artist,
who knows how to design and to color, besides being
thoroughly up in the history of his art, must know how
to plan for comfort, to construct for strength and
stability; must understand all the details of boilers,
machinery, dynamos, electric-wiring, heating and
ventilating systems, plumbing and sanitation, and
lastly must be able to manage the complicated finances
of large undertakings.

Now, to carry out these ideas in our work, we shall,
in the first place, establish a museum and library, to
which we shall welcome all gifts of books, pictures,
models, casts, etc., whether illustrating the
artistic, or the practical side of the profession.
Then we shall have a course of monthly, public
lectures by competent authorities, the subjects of
which will probably be very largely chosen from the
artistic side of the profession. We also propose to
have stated meetings of the Department monthly, at
which some carefully selected papers will be read by