56 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1920. 



The number of visitors to the Natural History Building aggregated 

 321,568 for week days and 101,416 for Sundays. At the Arts and 

 Industries Building, which is open only during the week, the total 

 attendance was 250,982. The Smithsonian Building is ordinarily 

 only open to visitors on week days, but an exception was made for 

 a few Sundays in March and April, 1920, when there was on exhibi- 

 tion a series of exquisite water color paintings by Mrs. C. D. Wal- 

 cott of wild flowers, the attendance being 84,223 on week days and 

 1,790 on the five Sundays. 



The most pressing needs of the Museum are those for additional 

 space for the ever-increasing collections and additional funds for 

 their classification and maintenance. Another year has only made 

 more acute these needs. Preliminary steps are being taken looking 

 to securing the erection of another building to house the great his- 

 torical collections of the Museum and the collections of the National 

 Gallery of Art. It will nevertheless be some years before relief can 

 be hoped for in this direction, even under the most favorable circum- 

 stances. The appropriations for the maintenance of the Museum for 

 1921 remain practically the same as those for 1920. Never were there 

 so many openings for advancement in industrial as well as scientific 

 lines, but under existing conditions the Museum is helpless. It is 

 not only prevented from developing collections in the various direc- 

 tions now offering exceptional opportunities, but it carries forward 

 existing work only by exercising the strictest economy. 



Respectfully submitted. 



W. deC. Ravenel, 

 Administrative Assistant to the Secretary, 

 In charge United States National Museum. 



Dr. Charles D. Walcott, 



Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 



