130 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1920. 



of the material for the War Museum, which has necessarily increased 

 the crowded condition of all of the halls. 



The museum quarters in the Smithsonian Building are also con- 

 gested. The laboratory space of the division of plants, the National 

 Herbarium, has become so inadequate that it will be necessary to 

 ask for the erection of a new gallery. This, however, would only 

 provide for its normal growth for possibly five years. 



In 1917 the Congressional Public Buildings Commission was in- 

 formed that the museum would require two new buildings to properly 

 accommodate its collections, and that the prompt erection of one 

 for immediate needs was urgently necessary. Conditions have ma- 

 terially changed since then, making additional housing still more 

 imperative. The close of the war, the attendant revival of the in- 

 dustries and the arts, and particularly the development of the war 

 collections, have all brought to the museum greatly increased collec- 

 tions of vital interest and value. 



Square feet 

 exhibition. 



The National Gallery of Art now needs 90,000 



To care for its reasonable growth for next 10 years not less than 150, 000 



The historical collections now need ,.- 100,000 



To care for their reasonable growth for next 10 years not less than 200, 000 



The National Gallery of Art received in 1919 one collection valued 

 at $400,000. With the present inadequate facilities, gifts and loans 

 are being rejected because we have absolutely no space for exhibiting 

 these objects, nor can we properly care for such gifts in storage. 

 This condition of affairs is so thoroughly understood throughout 

 the country that those who would present their art treasures to the 

 National Gallery of Art are forced to place them in civic and private 

 institutions. 



The following floor space is now occupied by the museum in the 

 three buildings: ' f 



Square feet. 



Natural History Building 468,118 



Arts and Industries Building 143,488 



Smithsonian Building (portion used by the museum) 34,236 



Total 645,842 



The war collection. — During the period which has elapsed since 

 July 1, 1919, the collection of material designed to illustrate the his- 

 tory of the recent war and known as the Museum War Collection has 

 received many very large and notable additions. Of particular in- 

 terest are the following: A 37 -millimeter infantry field gun, a 75- 

 millimeter American made French gun representing the type of 

 ordnance most used by the Allies during the war, three types of 

 trench mortars, namely, a 3-inch, 6-inch, and 9.45-inch, with mounts 

 and accessories. There have also been added to the ordnance ma- 



