14 EEPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM^ 1914. 



ranges, which, in conjunction with the former, inclose four covered 

 courts. After the rotunda the naves have the greatest height, the 

 courts coming next and the ranges last, in this respect. The ranges 

 are lighted by large windows in the cuter walls, as are also the outer 

 ends of the naves. The naves otherwise and the rotunda and courts 

 entirely receive their light from an abundance of clerestory windows. 

 The illumination is therefore excellent, except for some interference 

 on the floors through the introduction of galleries subsequent to the 

 original construction. 



This building stands southeast of the Smithsonian building, from 

 which it is separated by an interspace of only about 50 feet, and its 

 front or north face is about on the same line as the south face of 

 the other. It covers a total ground area of 97,786 square feet, or 

 about 21 acres. The towers and pavilions, which are three stories 

 high and used for laboratories and offices, furnish 40,293 square feet 

 of floor space; while the rotunda, naves, ranges, and courts, with 

 such galleries as they contain, supply 103,195 square feet, or a little 

 more than 2^ acres, of space adapted to exhibition purposes. The 

 towers were arranged so that each might furnish an entrance into 

 the building, but only two have been so utilized — the north tower for 

 the public and the east tower for official purposes. 



The several subdivisions of the interior of the main part of the 

 building are marked by rows of large brick piers, having' a structural 

 purjDose in that they help to support the roofs, separated by wide 

 openings terminating above in arched heads. As constructed, there- 

 fore, this interior was of the nature of a single room of exceptionally 

 large dimensions. Exhibition cases placed between the piers have 

 helped to fill in the interspaces, but with the object of securing better 

 fire protection a large number of the openings have been built in 

 with appropriate wall material, and this work is being further ad- 

 vanced from time to time. 



The plan of the building is shown in the accompanying diagram, 

 on which the subdivisions are designated in accordance with cus- 

 tomary usage. The naves are called halls, but otherwise the archi- 

 tectural names are retained. The four halls — north, south, east and 

 west — are much the largest of the subdivisions, and each measures 

 about 102 feet 4 inches long by 62 feet 5 inches wide. The diameter 

 of the rotunda corresponds approximately with this width. The 

 northern and southern ranges are somewhat longer than the eastern 

 and western, owing to interior extensions from the pavilions on the 

 east and west sides of the building. The former measure about 89 

 feet 4 inches long and the latter about 63 feet 2 inches, the width of 

 all averaging about 49 feet 9 inches. The courts average 63 feet 

 square. 



