266 REroRr of national museum, l9on. 



!iii udditioHiil Imildiiiu' for the iis(» of the Musntiii and the Geological 

 Survev, whereupon the loIlowinL;" resolution was adopted: 



Eesvlved, That the Board of Regentss of the Smithsonian Institution recommend to 

 Congress to enlarge the National Museum, so as jn'opt'rly to cxiiihit the mineral, 

 geological, and other eoUeetions already on hand and increasing each year, by the 

 erection of a fireproof building on the southwest corner of the .Smithsonian reserva- 

 tion, similar in style to the present N tional Museum; and they request an appro- 

 priation of $;500,000 therefor, to be expended under the direction of the Regents of 

 the Institution. 



It was also resolved — 



That the chancellor, General Sherman, and the Secretary be, and they are hereby, 

 authorized and empowered to act fo and in the name of the Board of Regents in 

 carrying into effect the provisions of any act of Congress which may be passed pro- 

 viding for the erection of an additional building for the Nat'onal ^luseum. 



Further strong- reasons for the erection of an additional ])uilding 

 were given iji the report of Secretary' Baird for 1SS8, in which he 

 says : 



No better illustration can be hail of the increase in the collections of the National 

 Museum than the fact that an additional l)uildiug is urgently required for their 

 proper accommodation, as explained in the last report (1882). 



In 1875 the collections then in i-harge of the Smithsonian Institution were comfort- 

 ably acconnnodated within the limits of the Smithsonian building, in rooms having 

 an aggregate area of oO,000 s(juare feet. They consisted prini'i pally of specimens of 

 natural history and etlmology; contini-d almost entirely to North America, with the 

 exception of objects of Polynesian juanufacture, forming ])art of the "Wilkes collec- 

 tion. 



In 1875 an appropriation was made by Congress to enable the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution and the Fish Commission to i)rei)are an exhibit of oljjects illustrating the 

 resources of the United States, as derived from the animal and mineral kingdoms, 

 and, with tlie assistance of a special appropriation to the Indian Bureau, of a collec- 

 tion of No)-th American anthrcjpology. A large sum of money was expended in the 

 preparation of this exhibit, which was forwarded to Philadelphia in 1876, and (!on- 

 stituted a part of the Government disjjlay which attracted much attention. 



At the close of the Philadelphia exliibition veiy large donations were made to the 

 United States by foreign I'ountries, including both the official commissioners and 

 individual exhibitors. Many objects of much interest were contributed on the same 

 occasion from American dis])lays. These collections, tilling some fifty freight cars, 

 were brought to Washington and were stored for a time in the Armory Building, 

 assigned l)y (-ongress for their reception. 



After several fruitless efforts, an appi'opriation of $250,000 was obtained for the 

 purpose of ])utting up an ini'xpensive edifice for the storage of the.se articles, and 

 their transfer was liegun in the autumn of 1881, but little more than two years ago. 



Since then large nundjcrs of collections of very great importance have come to 

 hand, chief among them being the gatherings of the U. S. Geological Survey and of 

 the Ethnological Bureau, made on a scale of unexampled magnitude and well 

 befitting the operations of a nation like the United States. The many scientific 

 explorations, ma<le either separately by the Smithsonian Institution or conjointly 

 with the ITnited States Signal Service or other bureaus or bodies, the work of the 

 Fish Commission, and the enormous aggregate of many smaller collections, have 

 tended largely to increase the material to Ije provided for. 



