498 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



mcnts, membership fees, and contributions. In the capitals of 

 Europe, museum buildings are generously provided for. 



The National Museum building was erected with the view of 

 covering the largest amount of space with the least outlay of money. 

 In this respect it may be considered a success. It is, in fact, scarcely 

 more than the shadow of such a massive, dignified, and well-finished 

 building as should be the home of the great national collections. 

 There is needed at once a spacious, absolutely fireproof building of 

 several stories, constructed of durable materials, well lighted, mod- 

 ern in equipment, and on such a plan that it can be added to as 

 occasion arises in the future. The site for such a building is al- 

 ready owned by the Government; only the building needs to be pro- 

 vided for. What the Capitol building is to the nation, the library 

 building to the iS^ational Library, the Smithsonian building to the 

 Smithsonian Institution, the new museum building should be to 

 the IS^ational ^luscum. There should be available: 



Sq. ft. 



Department of biology 1 90,000 



Department of geology 83,000 



Special laboratories for students 5,000 



Kough storage, workshops, etc 20,000 



Lecture hall 6,000 



Total 304,000 



Present museum space to be devoted to the department 



of anthropology 96,000 



Grand total 400,000 



Future Development. — With suitable buildings provided, the 

 immediate development of the National Museum naturally lies in 

 four directions: (1) The occupation of the present building by the 

 arithro])ological collections; (2) the housing, developing, and in- 

 stalling of the large biological collections; (3) the development of 

 a great museum of practical geology; and (4) the development of 

 the scientific side of a National University. 



1. The collections in anthropology, as they stand to-day, cover 

 a wide field in a broken and disconnected way. It is difllcult to use 

 them effectively to illustrate the great features of this branch of 

 science. They do not present a connected story of the peoples and 

 cultures of the world. This arises from the gaps in the collections 

 and the absence of suitable laboratory and exhibition space. This 

 department should have adequate representations of the American 

 peoi)les and their culture, not only of our own country, but of the 

 whole American continent. Our nation is the only one in America 

 that can reasonably be expected to do anything of importance to- 

 ward the preservation of the materials necessary for the illustration 



