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GENERAL REPORT OF THE JUDGES OF GROUP XXVI. jj Centennial. This absence is especially to be remarked upon, so much attention having been paid to this subject, particularly since the Paris Exhibition of 1867, when the French Emperor received a special medal for his well-merited and successful efforts in this direction. Holland and Switzerland alone furnish projects of this class, and these are very incomplete and unsatisfactory. That such buildings can be made a practical success is proved by the report of the “ Improved Industrial Dwelling Company” of London, which states that no less than 10,000 persons occupied dwellings under their control in January, 1876, while their available capital was then £1,000,000. To the untiring zeal displayed during the past fourteen years by Sir Sidney H. Water- low, chairman of the association, is due in a great measure the success of this enterprise. BUILDING-MATERIALS. BY RICHARD M. HUNT. The display of building-materials at the Centennial Exhibition was remarkable rather for extent and variety than for novelty. The great natural wealth of the United States was in this respect well repre sented. American labor-saving machinery, too, in building appliances compared most favorably with that of other nations. The scientific and artistic resources of European manufacturers, on the other hand, assured to their exhibits a very high standard. In this brief review attention will be confined more particularly to the improved building-materials used in the construction of dwelling- houses and buildings. It might be well, however, to preface any remarks on this subject by alluding to some of the various natural products of this class in the Exhibition. A full and comprehensive report on their comparative merits may be found elsewhere. The variety of woods was almost endless, nearly every climate and country being represented. Great ingenuity and taste were displayed in these exhibits; that made by Japan being especially thorough and complete in every detail, the various specimens being shown with and without the bark and leaves, and in sections crosswise and length wise, both polished and unpolished. The exhibit of building-stone, though quite extensive, was less com plete, excepting that made by the United States, which was exceed ingly rich in granites, marbles, and sandstones of every texture and color. Yellow, olive, and red sandstones from Ohio, New Brunswick, Maryland, New Jersey, and Lake Superior, offered an extensive col-