APPENDIX TO THE SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



Appendix 1. 

 REPORT ON THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Sir: I have the honor to sul:)init the followino; report upon the condition and oper- 

 ations of the National Museum durinj^ the year ending June 30, 1904. 



Ground wasbroiien on June 15, 1904, for the new Museum building authorized by 

 Congress in 1903, the first sod being turned by the Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution in the presence of the architects, the superintendent of construction, and 

 the officers and employees of the Institution and its Bureaus. The excavation for 

 the foundation and basement was well under way at the close of the fiscal year, and 

 it is hoped that nothing will arise to interfere with the speedy construction of the 

 building. This additional home for the National Collections will be about 551 

 feet long and 318 feet wide, exclusive of projections, thus exceeding in these dimen- 

 sions all other buildings in the city of Washington except the Capitol. Its faces will 

 be of light-colored granite, and its four stories will afford a floor area of about 9h 

 acres. 



It is gratifying to be able to state that notwithstanding the great pressure of work 

 in the scientific departments, caused by the preparation of exhibits for the Louisiana 

 Purchase Exposition, very satisfactory progress has been made in all of the operations 

 of the Museum. 



The number of accessions received during the year was 1,703, or 60 more than in 

 1903, and comprise a total of 241,547 specimens. Profitable exchanges have been 

 ma<le with other institutions and with private collectors, the number of duplicate 

 specimens utilized for this purpose exceeding 9,000. 



Tlie mimber of jJublications issued has been somewhat larger than usual, and their 

 distribution, together with a large inc-rease in the extent of the correspondence, has 

 taxed to the utmost the office charged with these matters. 



The reserve or study collections have been extensively used by investigators and 

 students both in Washington and elsewhere, and more than 20,000 specimens have 

 been sent to specialists for examination and report. The number of lots of speci- 

 mens received for identification has been 975. 



Buildings. — The roofs on the Museum building, and especially those covered with 

 slate, have for a long period l)een in a very unsatisfactory condition, resulting mainly 

 from the fact that they were constructed too cheaply in the beginning, and there- 

 fore not as substantially as they should have been. Through the contraction and 

 expansion of the iron supports by changes in temperature, the slate coverings have 

 never been kept tight, and in other parts there has been greater or less trouble in 

 regard to leakage, which has caused a constant defacement of the inner walls and 

 some injury to the contents of the building. It is now realized that the only proper 

 remedy would be to substitute a new roof for the present one, but as this can not be 

 done at present, an effort is being made to institute more substantial repairs than 

 heretofore, though at the best they can only be considered as temporary. The tin 



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