REPORT OF ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 13 



It is estimated that 05,000 square feet of exhibition space will be 

 needed in the Department of Geology and 18,000 square feet for its 

 offices and laboratories. 



In addition to the laboratories for biology and geology there should 

 also be provided 5,000 square feet of laboratory space for the use of 

 post-graduate and special students who come to Washington to avail 

 themselves of the exceptional opportunities for study offered by the 

 materials brought together in the National Museum and by the inves- 

 tigations carried on in the various scientific bureaus. 



There will also be needed a considerable portion of the basement of a 

 building for rough storage, preparators' sho^js, taxidermists' rooms, etc. 



Lecture hall. — The need of a suitable lecture hall is imperative. The 

 lecture hall of the American Museum of Natural History has 13,500 

 square feet of floor space and that of the Field Columbian Museum 

 4,250 square feet. A suitable hall for the National Museum should 

 include at least 6,000 square feet, and there should also be one or two 

 smaller rooms that could be used for lectures on special topics, when a 

 small audience only is ex^^ected. 



Summary of space needed hy the National Museum. 



Square feet. 



Department of Biology 190,000 



Department of Geology 83, 000 



Special laboratories for students 5, 000 



Rough storage, workshops, etc 20, 000 



Lecture hall 6, 000 



304, 000 

 Present Museum space, to be devoted to the Department of Anthropology.. 96, 000 



Total 400, 000 



The American Museum of Natural History, which has 294,000 square 

 feet of space, has so planned its buildings that additions can be made 

 to them as rapidly as funds are available and the increase of the col- 

 lections demand the space. Less than one-fourth of the structure as 

 originally i3lanned is completed. 



FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



With suitable buildings provided, the immediate development of 

 the National Museum naturally lies in three directions. First, the 

 occupation of the present building by the anthropological collections; 

 second, the housing, developing, and installing of the great biological 

 collections, and third, the development of a great museum of practical 

 geology. 



First. — The collections in anthropology, as they stand to-day, cover 

 a wide field in a broken and disconnected way. It is difficult to use 

 them effectually to illustrate the great features of this branch of sci- 

 ence. They do not present a connected story of the peoples and cul- 

 tures of the world. This arises from the gaps in the collections and 

 the absence of suitable laboratory and exhibition space. This depart- 



