SWEET, Elnathan, civil engineer, born in Cheshire, Massachusetts, 20 November, 1837. He was graduated in the scientific Course at Union college in 1859, and became a civil engineer, making a specialty of con-strutting bridges and other engineering work by contract. In 1876-'80 he was division engineer of New York state canals, and he was elected state engineer in 1883, which office he held for four years from 1 January, 1884. Mr. Sweet's principal contribution to engineering science consists in the determination of the laws that govern the propulsion of vessels in narrow channels, an account of which he published in 1880 in the "Transactions" of the American society of civil engineers, of which organization he was elected a member in 1878. His writings include annual reports that he issued from Albany during the years he held office, and various technical papers.