The next exhibition of importance was that held in Dublin in 1865, which was origi nated by a company, whose object was to establish the principle of decennial exhibi tions, and, if possible, make this one pay the expense of erecting the magnificent build ing in which it was held, and thereby form a permanent home for such exhibitions and other useful purposes in future. This building was of brick, covered with stucco, and the roof of glass and iron, light but commodious galleries running entirely round the interior. The whole surface occupied by the structure was 5,700 sq. yards. It was, in every respect, well adapted for the purposes for which it was raised, and had an exten sive pleasure-garden nearly surrounding it. The exhibition was successful in everything but its pecuniary results. It was amply patronized both by foreign exhibiters and visit ors, and like that of 1862 in London, and the previous ones of Dublin and Paris, it combined fine arts with the manufactures, mining, and other industries.—The year 1867 witnessed, in Paris, the greatest, up to that time, of all international exhibitions, both with respect to its extent, and to the scope of its plan. Its site was on the Champ de-Mars, the great military parade-ground of Paris, and it occupied the enormous space of 37 acres. It consisted of a large building of an elliptical form, arranged in twelve concentric circles, with a small open central garden. The outer circle was much more lofty and broader than any of the others, was roofed with corrugated iron, and lighted with clerestory windows, and was devoted to machinery, of all kinds, and to the pro cesses of manufacture in various branches of industry. Outside this circle were placed practical illustrations of the food department, in the form of restaurants of all nations —the exhibition of specimens of food substances being in small courts within the outer wall, or back to back with the restaurants. The first circle within that for machinery was for metallurgy, chemistry, dyeing, etc. ; then followed textile materials, clothing, household furniture, personal ornaments, plate, porcelain, etc. ; then matters relating to genera] and special education. Then came the gallery of fine arts, in which the paintings, sculpture, and other fine-art works of all nations were exhibited; and within this circle, again, was another, in which an archmological collection from each country was displayed, for the purpose of showing the rise and protr•ess of industrial art in every country. This was a novel and most valuable addition, admirably conceived and carried out. Another most important feature in the Paris exhibition was the park, or out-of-door portion, which occupied by far the larger part of the whole space. In this were shown actual examples of the styles of domestic and palatial architecture of most countries, and even the tents of some of the nomad tribes, such as the Kirghis Tartars, and Samoyeds of the Russian empire, the Bedouin Arabs, etc. The beasts of burden of different nations, such as horses, camels, etc., were also shown, and all kinds of civil and military erections of general importance. The exhibition had great and deserved success; it was visited by most of the prin cipal monarchs of the world, and vast multitudes of people. Pecuniarily, however, it did not succeed.
Since the Paris exhibition of 1867, there have been important ones held in Sweden (1868) and in Denmark (1872); at Moscow (1872); Vienna (1873); Philadelphia (1876); Paris (1878). And the English colonies of New South Wales and Victoria showed their enterprise and confidence in their resources by resolving on exhibitions at Sydney in 1879 and Melbourne in 1880.
The quasi-international Moscow exhibition of 1872 was organized by the Moscow polytechnic society, and merely patronized by the government. It was, however, on a. large scale and admirably managed—its various buildings, etc., completely occupied the Alexandra gardens round two sides of the Kremlin, a length of over two English m., and the great riding-school. In its arrangement the greatest skill was shown, and its classification was the best and most scientific which has ever yet been attempted. Each
special group of objects had separate buildings. Thus, for instance, medical science, which was fully represented, had a series of buildings, three model hospitals, besides those in the military department—all fully furnished—dispensaries, a pharmacien's shop, and a garden in which all the medicinal plants were growing; an exhibition of all kinds of surgical instruments and appliances, and a great variety of other matters appertaining to medicine and surgery; a dentist's establishment, with everything apper taining to dentistry, whether to the treatment of natural teeth, or the manufacture of arti ficial ones; and so on. Should ever a great international exhibition be carried out on the same grandly conceived plan, it will be the greatest educational effort possible.
The two Scandinavian ones in magnitude exceeded those held in Dublin; they were very interesting, and were under good Management successful in all respects.
The Vienna exhibition of 1873 far exceeded in magnitude any previous one, and although unfortunate in many respects, was, upon the whole, an event of which Austria has good cause to be proud; and its ultimate results, there is every reason to hope, may show great commercial benefits, as it brought every civilized nation to Vienna,. and doubtless will be the means of extending Austrian commerce, by making the general excellence and great variety of Austrian and Hungarian manufactures better known. The main building, which still remains, was the largest that had been constructed, being nearly four times the size of that in which the Paris exhibition of 1867 was held it consists of a vast gallery or nave, 2,980 ft: in length, in the exact center of which is placed a great central hall, 426 ft. in diameter, covered with a conical iron roof and lantern rising to the height of 160 feet. At each extremity of the main avenue, another gallery, 660 ft. in length, is placed transversely to the chief one, and another of similar length crosses the nave at a distance of 114 ft. from each of these tetminal transepts, whilst each of these pairs have their extremities connected by ranges of offices. Sixty-six ft. from the central rotunda on each side is a similar transept connected by two others parallel to the line of the main avenue, and thus forming a square inclosing the rotunda. Ten other transepts cross the main avenue; the height of all the galleries being about 50 feet. Vast as this structure was, it was found insufficient; and numerous halls and other annexes had to be built. The entire extent under roof is said to have exceeded 60 acres. A severe outbreak of cholera, and a deplorable monetary crisis occurring during the exhibition, marred its success.
The next great international exhibition was that of the United States of America, which was held in Philadelphia in 1876, in honor of the centenary anniversary of American independence. The main building was 1876 ft. long, and 464 ft. broad. The machinery-hall was 1400 ft. long, and in all no less than 190 buildings were erected for the purposes of the exhibition. The work of preparation and building occupied 21 months. Between the 10th of May, when the exhibition was inaugurated with elaborate ceremonies, till Nov., it was estimated that no fewer than 8,000,000 paid for admission. Both commercially and in other respects, this memorable enterprise was very suc cessful.
The French nation gave a remarkable illustration of the elasticity of its energy and the wealth of its resources, by undertaking an international exhibition at Paris in 1878, but it few years after national calamities unparalleled in recent history. And the enterprise met with success greater than could have been anticipated. Opened on the 1st May, by the president, marshal MacMalion, it was visited ere its close in Oct., by multitudes from all civilized lands. The huge building erected for the display in the Champ de Mars, was called the Palace du Trocadero, and is designed to be permanent. The close was marked by a lottery on a very large scale, the innumerable prizes being selected chiefly from among the exhibits.