14 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



unsuitod to the piirpo.s(\ unci where a threat deal of work has to be car- 

 ried on. The other workrooms and storerooms in the Smithsonian 

 building, I)esides two or three small ones on the main floor, are in the 

 north tower, which is utilized for these purposes up to the lieight of 

 the seventh story. It is scarcel}^ necessar}- to explain that man}- of 

 these rooms, all of which are ver}' small, are inconvenient of access, 

 and that specimens can be carried to and from them only with 

 difficulty. 



Many of the activities of the Museum and much the greater part of 

 its storage have, for a long period, had to be provided for in outside 

 buildings, partly on the Mall and partly rented at an anmial expense 

 of over $4,000. The taxidermists are quartered in the upper part of 

 the Smithsonian stable and in a temporary frame structure back of 

 the Smithsonian building. On Armory square, adjoining the Fish 

 Commission building, is an old, dilaj)idated wooden shed filled with 

 specimens. On Ninth street SW. there is under lease a large area of 

 land, covered with wooden sheds containing an immense amount of 

 valuable collections and much other Museum property. The greater 

 part of the so-called Marsh collection of vertel)rate fossils, which has 

 been valued at above $150,000, is still stored in a rented building at 

 Tenth street and Maryland avenue, which also provides space for sev- 

 eral preparators' workshops. Two other rented buildings are likewise 

 used to accommodate the extensive carpenter, paint, and glazing shops 

 which are re(|uirod for the making of furniture and for the repairs 

 upon the main l)uildings. 



In order to carry out the purposes for which it exists, the National 

 Museum requires a greatly increased amount of space, and that any 

 additional space provided l)e better adapted to its wants than that now 

 occupied. 



For the exhibition collections a connecting series of relatiA^el}^ large 

 rooms or halls is needed to permit of the arrangement of the specimens 

 and groups of specimens, many of considerable size, in such manner as 

 will best adapt them to the comprehension of the public and, by the 

 avoidance of crowding, allow them to be viewed effectively-. 



The record collections, commonly known as the reserve or stud}^ series, 

 comprising the bulk of the material in most departments, while demand- 

 ing such a convenient disposition as will insure the read}" examination 

 of specimens, require relatively less space than the exhibition collec- 

 tions, as they can be much more compactl}" arranged in drawers and 

 on shelves. Yet their extent is so great that the question of their 

 accommodation is one of the most important ones for consideration. 

 They have been mainly derived from the Government sui-veys of the 

 past sixty years, and represent a ver}' large expenditure of public 

 money. 



For the activities of the Museum are needed man}^ well-lighted and 

 well-appointed rooms to serve as laboratories for classif3"ing collections 



