Having recently been compelled to write several brief historical sketches of the Institute, the writer became interested in its early history. In prepar ing these narratives he found the official publica tions giving the characteristics of the School at the time Of its foundation to have become very rare. In fact, very few of them antedating 1840 are known to be in existence. For these reasons he determined to expand the sketches and publish a short history of the Institution which should con sist largely of a description of the development of its curriculums.