10 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



needed is a series of spacious fireproof basements for the less perish- 

 able objects, the collections preserved in alcohol, and the ordinary- 

 stores and tools, and equally spacious dry lofts and rooms for those 

 collections and stores wliich require protection from dampness. 



ExliibiUon space. — The present Museum building, though large in 

 extent, is overcrowded. It was built with the cheapest materials and 

 under the cheapest system of construction. Its lack of architectural 

 dignity and the indifferent character of the materials of which it is 

 constructed give it the appearance of a temporary structure and tend 

 to cheapen the eftect of the really good cases and the very valuable 

 collections which it contains. The visitor is everywhere confronted 

 with rough walls, unfinished ceilings, and obtrusive trusses and sup- 

 ports. It should also be remembered that a considerable i^ortion of the 

 collections are still in the Smithsonian building, where the crowding 

 is scarcely less than in the Museum building. 



INCREASE IN THE SCIENTIFIC STAFF. 



The head curators, curators, assistant curators, and aids, constituting 

 the scientific staff of the National Museum, number in all 63 persons, 

 divided among sixteen divisions. Of these, 26 are compensated for 

 their services and the remainder serve gratuitously, being for the most 

 part connected with other bureaus of the Government. The system of 

 honorary curatorship, while admirable within restricted limits, is a dis- 

 advantage when carried to the present extent. Such a system has a 

 disintegrating effect upon the organization, as the men are not entirely 

 at the command of the administrative officers and are not obliged to 

 serve at definite hours or under the ordinary restrictions of the paid 

 curators. The number of honorary oflicers should be reduced by the 

 substitution of a larger number of salaried officers. 



The total number of scientific assistants should be very considerably 

 increased, as nearly all of the divisions are short-handed and many of 

 the collections do not receive the care they should have. At present 

 there are not enough assistants who can serve as acting officers in a 

 higher grade when the regular occupants of those offices are ill or 

 necessarily detailed for service outside of Washington. Moreover, a 

 museum can not be successfully carried on with intermittent service, 

 and it is extremely desirable that there should always be a consider- 

 able number of young men learning the duties of scientific assistants, 

 and thus making themselves capable of taking the places of the older 

 men when the latter become incapacitated. There are now only four 

 or five such young men in the Museum service. 



PUROHASINGr AND COLLECTINO FUND. 



The ISIatioual Museum has at present no regular fund for the acqui- 

 sition of collections and special objects, and can only make purchases 

 from a contingent fund which rarely exceeds $3,000 or $4,000, and which 

 is likely at any time to be required for other necessary expenditures. 

 For this reason, every year valuable collections which should be in the 



