NATIONAL MUSEUM BUILDINGS. 247 



were noted. The roofs were liiii.shed in April, 1880, and the phister- 

 ing- by the latter part of July. In the interest of economy in heati^ig 

 all outside windows were furnished with two panes of g'lass. Wooden 

 floors were laid in 1880 in all the halls, exeept the four courts, the 

 four main halls or naves, and the rotunda. Congress was asked for 

 an appropriation to def ra}^ the expense of a marble or tile floor for the 

 naves and rotunda, and $26,000 was allowed for this purpose, becoming 

 available in the summer of 1881. The rotunda was then supplied with 

 a floor of encaustic tiles and the main halls with floors of marble tiles. 

 The approaches to the building were constructed out of the original 

 appropriation. 



The final report of the commission, dated Januar}' 2, 1882, closes as 

 follows: 



In closing this its third annual report, the National Museum building commission 

 congratulates the Regents that the new l)uilding for the National Museum is so far 

 completed as to be ready for occupancy, and in now asking the Board to take charge 

 of the edifice the commission begs to refer to the important fact that, while a build- 

 ing is presented equal in every respect to what was anticipated in case provision 

 should be made for additional quarters for the national collections intrusted to the 

 care of the Smithsonian Institution, instead of incurring a deficiency, the fund has 

 been so yianaged as to have to its credit at the present moment an availal)le l)alance 

 of some thousands of dollars. 



Having fulfilled the duties with which it was charged by your resolution of Janu- 

 ary 17, 1879, the commission would respectfully ask to be discharged and to be author- 

 ized to turn over to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution the building itself, 

 and to the United States Treasury w'hatever balance of money may remain after 

 liquidating the last liability on account of the construction of the edifice. 



The appropriations which had been made for the building- were as 

 follows: 



Building $250, 000 



Steam heating apparatus 25, 000 



Water, gas, and electric apparatus 12, 500 



Marble and tile flooring 26, 000 



Special sewer connection 1, i)00 



Total 315, 400 



The subjects intended to be represented in the new building were 

 stated by Secretary Baird, in his report for 1879, to be as follows: 



The period of complete installation of collet^tions on hand and the opening of tlie 

 building to the public will depend upim the amount of the appropriation and the 

 rajiidity with which the contractors may complete their work. The new building 

 will l)e devoted more particularly to industrial exhibits, intended to show the 

 animal and mineral resources of the United States and their practical ai>pli(ations 

 to the wants or luxuries of iiiuu. Tiie department of anthr()[)()i()gy will also be 

 largely represented. How far natural history can find a place in the building will 

 depend upon the space required for the collei'tions mentioned. It is confidently 

 expected that this l)uilding when finished will be one of the most attractive objects 

 of the kind extant and but little inferior to the celebrated museums of foreign 

 countries. 



