284 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



it may l)e expected that another and (grander building in the rear of the Smithsonian, 

 facing (in south B street and ct)nnecting the two wings, will l)e required to mark and 

 illustrate the age. 



Oil April '25, ISl^O, in tlio absence of Senator Morrill, Senator Georoe 

 (irray, also a Smitlisonian Reoent, moved the amendment to the sundry 

 (•i\ il hill, saying- in support of the measure that — 



The Senator from ^"ernlont is one of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 

 I also liave the honor to be one of that body, and I know something in that w'ay of 

 the necessities for the building provided for in this amendment. There is a large 

 amount of exceedingly valuable scientific material which is housed there in temporary 

 wooden sheds, exposed to the peril of conflagration, and which would entail if it were 

 destroyed incalculable loss, not only upon the Government of the United States, but 

 upon the scientific world. There are matters there now thus insecurely housed that 

 could not be replaced. We all know what a credit the Smithsonian Institution is to 

 the ccjuntry and to the science of the country. There is no department of tlie Gov- 

 ernment tliat is bettei- conducted, more conscientiously administered in all of its 

 branches, and from which there are so many benefits, direct and indirect, diffusing 

 themselves among all the people of the country. 



The amendment was then agreed to by the Senate, but the House 

 disagreed, and on May 21 the Senate receded from its amendment. 

 Although the bill was again introduced in the Senate at the beginning 

 of the second session of the Fifty-fourth Congress (January 28, 1897), 

 "the subject obtained no further consideration. 



In 1897 several expedients were suggested for the relief of the 

 national collections, none of which had relation to the contemplated 

 new building. In Januaiy of that year inquiries made by the House 

 Committee on Appropriations were replied to by Secretary Langley 

 as follows: 



I have delayed this reply till I could consult a trustworthy architect as to whether 

 the walls of the Museum Ijuiiding would bear the additional strain if otiier stories 

 were added. It appears to l)e his opinion that the cost of enlarging the present 

 stru("ture by additional height would not be warranted l)y the result, and that the 

 gain in exhibition space would be largely offset by its loss below from the interfer- 

 ence with light. 



As regards your inquiry about the building known as the Army Medical Museum, 

 I have to say that this is located at the corner of Seventh and B streeets southwest, 

 and covers about 21,000 square feet of ground. The center building on B street is 

 112 feet in length and 54 feet 8 inches in width, exclusive of ornamental and other 

 projections. It has a 1)asement, and is three full stories in height. A fourth story 

 is over the main entrance on B street. The structure is flanked by two wings on 

 each side, 60 by 131 feet, with basement. The heights of the stories are as follows: 

 Basement, 11 feet; first story, 15 feet; second story, center Ijuilding, 14 feet, wings, 

 32 feet; third story, center building, 13 feet; fourth story, center building, extends 

 to the roof. The total floor space, if the floor were completed at the thinl story, 

 would be nearly 90,000 square feet, including the basement, and though all the 

 building as now arranged is not adapted to museum exhibition purposes, it could 

 be used so as to be a very great help. 



At a meeting of the Regents on January 27, 1897, the Secretarj'^ 

 announced that he had been asked by the Joint Connuittee on the 



