10 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



building of 100 by 50 ifeet in the grounds. This, of course, will be re- 

 moved as soon as it can be dispensed with ; but it has furnished an im- 

 portant aid in the general work of the Institution for the year. 



Brick worlc-shop. — The vacating of several rooms by the transfer of 

 Major Powell's photographic department to its new quarters on F street 

 has permitted a much more satisfactory arrangement to be made of the 

 taxidermical service, Mr. Henry Marshall, in charge of the mounting of 

 birds, having moved upstairs and left the lower floor to Mr. Joseph 

 Palmer, the superintendent of the division of modeling in plaster and 

 papier-mache. The building has also been used to unpack a large col- 

 lection of corals, which was made by Dr. Edward Palmer for exhibition 

 at New Orleans. 



Armory Building. — This building has received some necessary repairs 

 to its roof and has been painted inside, so as greatly to increase the 

 neatness of its appearance. The two oval spaces referred to in the pre- 

 ceding report as having been left in the concreting of the yard have now 

 been converted into fish-ponds, in which carp and other fish are kept 

 pending their distribution by the United States Fish Commission. 



An extension of the car-shed has also been built, under which four 

 cars of the Fish Commission can be accommodated. 



As has already been stated, a side-track from the Baltimore and Po- 

 tomac deiiot runs into the grounds of the Armory and under the sheds, 

 and the whole establishment has been of very great service for loading 

 the exhibits prepared by the Smithsonian Institution, the Fish Commis- 

 sion, the Interior Dei^artment, the Treasury Department, «&c., for the 

 three great expositions already referred to. 



Additional Museum Building. — The need of an additional Museum 

 building was fully detailed in the last report, the demand for it being 

 very much greater now than before, in view of the immense additions 

 made by the regular sources of supply. Very many objects of great 

 interest and requiring a large space for their accommodation have been 

 promised by exhibitors at New Orleans, and it is a serious problem to 

 know where these can even be stored, aside from the possibility of prop- 

 erly displaying them. The full details in regard to the necessity of this 

 building will be found in the report of 1883. 



Building for the Alcoholic Collections. — The presence of alcoholic speci- 

 mens in large numbers, so important in a scientific point of view, greatly 

 endangers the safety of museum buildings and their contents, and most 

 of the establishments in Europe have lately taken the precaution to 

 construct separate buildings peculiarly adairted for the purpose. An 

 application was made at the last session of Congress for an appropria- 

 tion to put up a similar building in the grounds of the Institution, but 

 it was not acted upon favorably. This item has been renewe(l in the 

 estimates for the coming- fiscal year, 



