40 ANNUAL, REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 10 30 



In August members of the Maryland Geological Survey brought 

 to the Museum's attention the discovery of a large whalebone whale 

 skull located in Miocene deposits in the vicinity of Governors Run, 

 Md. Dr. Remington Kellogg, with the assistance of Mr. A. J, Poole 

 and members of the Maryland Survey staff, were successful in collect- 

 ing it, the specimen being one of the first of this type discovered. 



Late in the fiscal year Mr. C. W. Gilmore was detailed to head an 

 expedition into the Eocene of the Bridger Basin in southwestern 

 Wyoming, and Dr. J. "W. Gidle}'^ returned to the scene of his 1929 

 collections in Idaho. As both expeditions will continue well into 

 next year, detailed accounts will go over until the next annual report. 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 



The usual routine repairs have kept the buildings of the National 

 Museum in proper condition. At. the beginning of the year the 

 work of safeguarding the dome of the Natural History Building 

 had just been finished. Before opening the rotunda to the public 

 the walls were steam-cleaned, the plastered surfaces repainted, and 

 the floor repolished. The rotunda was opened finally on October 

 23, 1929, after having been closed to visitors for nearly two years. 

 Walls and ceilings in the north entrance to the Natural History 

 Building, as well as various exhibition, office, and laboratory rooms, 

 were repainted. The roadways on the east and west sides of the 

 buildings were closed by gates to prevent their use as thoroughfares 

 by unauthorized vehicles ; this step was taken because of several acci- 

 dents that had taken place there. With the assistance of the office 

 of Public Buildings and Public Parks, a steel gallery was erected 

 in the storage rooms of the division of vertebrate paleontology to 

 provide additional space for the storing of fossils. 



In the Arts and Industries Building the fountain in the center 

 rotunda was removed because in recent months several visitors 

 intent on other matters had stumbled over the coping and fallen 

 into the water. Roofs and exterior woodwork were repainted, and 

 various rooms and offices were redecorated. Work in enlarging the 

 women's rest room was begun, a special item of $3,500 toward this 

 project being included in the second deficiency act approved after 

 the close of the year. 



The power plant was in operation from September 27, 1929, to 

 May 28, 1930. The consumption of coal was 3,502 tons, an amount 

 in excess of that burned during the previous fiscal year. The aver- 

 age cost was $5.65 per ton. The Steamboat Inspection Service 

 examined the boilers during the year and made certain suggestions 

 as to their condition. The elevators have been regularly inspected 

 by the District of Columbia inspector. The total electric current 

 produced amounted to 655,253 kilowatt-hours, manufactured at a 



