REPORT OF NATION-AL MHJSEUM, 1915. 21 



rooms and domestic purposes during the period when the heating 

 boilers are not in operation. Sanitary fountains similar to those 

 placed some time ago in the new building, but of a somewhat simpler 

 design, were installed in the older buildings, and the use of drinking 

 cups by visitors has been discontinued. 



The principal articles of furniture acquired during the year con- 

 sisted of 18 exhibition cases, 193 storage cases and pieces of labora- 

 tory furniture, 58 pieces of ofRce and miscellaneous furniture, 2,158 

 wooden unit drawers, 500 insect drawers and 508 drawers of special 

 construction. These were partly obtained by contract and partly 

 built in the Museum shops. A very important part of the work, 

 mostly done in the Museum shop, consisted in the remodeling of old 

 cases, especially for the art-industrial collections. Repair work was 

 also extensive, as was the construction of exhibition bases and of 

 furnishings and fittings for the interior of cases. A number of arti- 

 cles were condemned and disposed of as of no further use or value, 

 among these having been the exhibition cases erected in 1857 in the 

 main hall of the Smithsonian building, as before mentioned. An in- 

 vehtory of the principal furniture on hand at the close of the year 

 shows 3,483 exhibition cases, 7,018 storage cases and pieces of labora- 

 tory furniture, 3,414 pieces of office and miscellaneous furniture, 

 42,214 unit specimen drawers of wood, 4,712 unit specimen drawers 

 of steel, 8,939 insect drawers, and 17,902 miscellaneous specimen 

 drawers and boxes of various kinds. 



COLLECTIONS. 



The additions to the collections, received in 1,481 accessions, aggre- 

 gated approximately 304,647 specimens, not including loans. These 

 specimens were apportioned among the several branches of the 

 Museum to wdiich they pertained as follows: Anthropology, 15,140; 

 zoology, 101,928; botany, 51,295; geology and mineralogy, 4,003; 

 paleontology, 129,981; textiles and animal and vegetable products, 

 1,511; mineral technology, 607; National Gallery of Art, 122. The 

 divisions most favored by increases in point of numbers were paleon- 

 tology, with nearly 130,000 specimens; marine invertebrates, with 

 over 70,000 specimens; and plants, with over 51,000 specimens; but 

 in other subjects the additions were also large and valuable, the 

 philatelic collection having been enriched by 8,508 stamps, stamped 

 envelopes and postal cards. The loans totaled 1,760 objects, of which 

 125 consisted of paintings and sculptures for the National Gallery 

 of Art ; 200, of laces, embroideries, tapestries, etc., for the art textile 

 collection ; and 176, of articles for the historical costume collection ; 

 the remainder having been accepted for exhibition mainly in the 

 divisions of history, ethnology, the graphic arts and ceramics. 



