248 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



In lii.s report for 1880 he says: 



1 now have the pleasure of stating that the work liaa been in the greater part 

 completed during the j^ear 1880 and that a portion of the building is already occu- 

 l)ied for its legitimate objects. 



The details of progress and completion will be given in full in the report of the 

 building committee and of the architect, to which I would refer. It will be suffi- 

 cient to say here that the work has all been done within the estimates and that it 

 promises to be even more suitable to its purpose than was anticipated. All the 

 requirements in regard to liglit and heat are fully met, and in this respect and in 

 that of its slight cost in proportion to the space obtained, the building is believed to 

 have no parallel in the country. Including the l)uilding i^roper, the steam heating 

 a])paratus, the gas and water fixtures, and- all their accessories, the cost has 

 amounted to less than $3 per square foot of ground floor and to about 6 cents per 

 cul)ic foot of entire capacity. 



The first use of the building was for the inaugural reception to 

 President Garfield on March 4, 1881, which was granted in accordance 

 with the following resolution of the Regents at a meeting held on 

 December 8, 1880: 



Whereas the new Museum building is unfinished and not ready for occupancy of 

 the Government collections, and whereas such a contingency will not again occur, 

 and that no precedent is to be given for the use of the building for other purposes: 



Remlred, That the use of the new National Museum building be granted for the 

 inaugural reception of the President of the United States on the 4th of March, 1881, 

 and that the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution be authorized to make all 

 necessary arrangements for this purpose. 



In 1881 Professor Baird stated that the building might then be con- 

 sidered as completed and ready for its final occupation by the various 

 departments which have been assigned to it. Some small additions and 

 alterations were still required to be made, but they did not interfere 

 with the general use of the structure. In the beginning certain oflice 

 and lal)oratorv quarters were granted to the United States Geological 

 Survey, especially in the northeast pavilion, and they continued to be 

 so used for several years. 



It was soon recognized that the building was too small topix)vide all 

 the necessary accommodations, even though the Museum continued in 

 possession of the same space in the Smithsonian building as before, 

 and the inconvenience from this source increased rapidly with time. It 

 thus also resulted that not all of the halls could be used for exhi))ition 

 purposes as intended, and until lately some of them have always been 

 closed to the public, that they might be employed for storage, for 

 unpacking, or for workrooms. 



There have been from the beginning many changes in the assign- 

 ment of space to the different dejxirtments, but transfers from one 

 building to the other have been few since the occupation of the newer 

 structure. The clearing up of the exhibition halls, which were never 

 in as good condition as now, has ])een mainly accomplished by the 

 heroic method of sending large (juantities of specimens to outside stor- 



