inner court, and notable
decorative features and embellishments, including bronze doors by D.C.
French, a statue of Sir Henry Vane by Macmonnies, a fine staircase in
Siena marble, some characteristic decorative panels by Puvis de
Chavannes (illustrating the history of science and literature), and
other notable decorative paintings by John S. Sargent (on the history of
religion), Edwin A. Abbey (on the quest of the Holy Grail). The old
Museum of Fine Arts (1876) is a red brick edifice in modern Gothic
style, with trimmings of light stone and terra-cotta. The new Old South
(the successor of the Old South, which is now a museum) is a handsome
structure of Italian Gothic style, with a fine campanile. The dignified
buildings of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are near. In
Huntington Avenue, at its junction with Massachusetts Avenue, is another
group of handsome new buildings, including Horticultural Hall, Symphony
Hall (1900) and the New England Conservatory of Music. In the Back Bay
Fens, reclaimed swamps laid out by F.L. Olmsted, still other groups
have formed--among others those of the marble buildings of the Harvard
medical school; Fenway Court, a building in the style, internally, of a
Venetian palace, that houses the art treasures of Mrs. J.L. Gardner,
and Simmons College. Here, too, is the new building (1908) of the Museum
of Fine Arts. Throughout the Fens excellently effective use is being
made of monumental buildings grouped in ample grounds.

Boston compares favourably with other American cities in the character
of its public and private architecture. The height of buildings in the
business section is limited to 125 ft., and in some places to 90 ft.

One of the great public works of Boston is its subway for electric
trams, about 3 m. long, in part with four tracks and in part with two,
constructed since 1895 at a cost of about $7,500,000 up to 1905. The
branch to East Boston (1900-1904) passes beneath the harbour bed and
extends from Scollay Square, Boston, to Maverick Square, East Boston; it
was the first all-cement tunnel (diameter, 23.6 ft.) in the world. The
subway was built by the city, but leased and operated by a private
company on such terms as to repay its cost in forty years. Another
tunnel has been added to the system, under Washington Street. The narrow
streets and the traffic congestion of the business district presented
difficult problems of urban transit, but the system is of exceptional