EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 49 



portation; another hall, marine transportation; and another hall, 

 metrology and mechanical transmission of intelligence. 



NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART. 



The National Gallery of Art — the department of fine arts of the 

 Museum — continued in charge of Dr. W. H. Holmes, as curator, the 

 collections occupying mainly the central skylighted hall on the first 

 floor of the north wing of the Natural History Building. The addi- 

 tions while not numerous comprised works and objects of very con- 

 siderable museum value, not, however, comparable in importance 

 with the accessions of the year before. Of the works of painting and 

 sculpture added, the most noteworthy, perhaps, was a statue in white 

 marble of the Earl of Chatham (William Pitt), by Francis Derwent 

 Wood, R. A., the gift of the Duchess of Marlborough and other 

 American women in Great Britain. 



During the year four paintings were purchased from the Henry W. 

 Banger fund, two of which, Grey Day, by W. Granville- Smith, N. A., 

 and Evening Tide, California, by William Ritschel, N. A., are now 

 on view in the gallery ; the others are The Eapids, by W. E. Schofield, 

 N. A., deposited in the Brooklyn Museum, and the Orange Bowl, by 

 Anna Fisher, the assignment of which has not yet been announced. 

 It is gratifying to know that by this bequest the gallery is assured 

 of a number of worthy additions each year. 



During the year the Rev. Alfred Duane Pell continued to add to 

 his collection of art objects presented and lent to the Museum and 

 installed in the long room at the north end of the gallery. The in- 

 stallation was not complete at the close of the year. 



The preparation of a catalogue of the gallery bringing the record 

 up to date was carried to practical completion. The last issue of the 

 catalogue, prepared by Assistant Secretary Rathbun, is dated 1916, 

 and it is regarded as important that a new edition be printed as soon 

 as practicable. 



It is a matter of particular felicitation that in June Congress 

 granted a fund sufficient to permit the organization of the Gallery as 

 a separate unit of the Smithsonian foundation and to provide a 

 modest curatorial staff, thus relieving the Museum of a rapidly grow- 

 ing burden and at the same time affording the long-delayed oppor- 

 tunity of laying the foundation requisite to a reasonable and sym- 

 metric development of the Nation's Gallery of Art. 



FREER COLLECTIONS. 



The death of Mr. Freer this year is a great loss to the art interests 

 of the country. In presenting his collections of American and orien- 

 tal art to the Smithsonian Institution in 1906, Mr. Freer stipulated 

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