It is to Charles Pratt, who took so important a part in bringing Adelphi Academy to its present position, that Brooklyn is indebted for the school which, more than any other educational institution within its borders, is distinctively original and of a national fame. Pratt Institute is frequently compared with Cooper Institute in New York. The comparison between the wise beneficence of Cooper and that of Pratt is, indeed, interestingly close; but the likeness between the two great schools is less perfect. Pratt Institute's remarkable characteristics are the result of a wise idea logically worked out. The buildings on Ryerson Street and Grand Avenue contain a unique combination of departments under a form of management that has proved to be eminently practical and progressive. Its educational plan illustrates manual and industrial training, as well as education in high-school and artistic branches. The methods of teaching domestic art, as well as political, economic, and natural science, have excited the admiration of students of education throughout the country. The large free library is one of many features of the institution. The kindergarten idea in Brooklyn has had its leading exponent in Froebel Academy on Tompkins Square. Among other private educational institutions are St. John's College, the most prominent of the Roman Catholic schools, situated on Lewis Avenue, between Willoughby Avenue and Hart Street; St. Francis College, Bedford Academy, St. Joseph's Institute, Brooklyn Heights Seminary, Long Island Business College, Brooklyn Latin School, Bryant & Stratton's Business College, Miss Rounds's School for Girls, Kissick's Business College, and Browne's Business College. In special education the Long Island College Hospital and the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy occupy an important place. The Long Island College Hospital and Training School for Nurses was chartered in 1858. Its history as a hospital and as a college has been notable. The graduates in 1893 numbered 60, bringing the total list of graduates nearly to 1500. It frequently has been lamented that Brooklyn has no great free library, and the deficiency is one for which the city deserves a mark of discredit. But it is due to Brooklyn to observe that she is by no means without excellent opportunities for those who wish to read. The Brooklyn Library, which succeeded the old Mercantile Library, is not free to the public, but the subscription rate is so low in comparison with the privileges that the institution is in many respects to be regarded as a great public library. The building on Montague Street was finished in 1868 at a cost of $227,000, and its beautiful Gothic front forms one of the genuine ornaments of the city.