REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 21 



isaiy to overhaul the entire heatino- plant and to make new and more 

 ample connections with the Smithsonian building. The boilers for- 

 merly used in the latter building will be retained in place to guard 

 against emergencies, and the employment of one set instead of two is 

 expected to result in the econom}' of both fuel and labor. 



The installation of a complete system of electric-light wiring and 

 fixtures extending to all the exhibition halls as well as to the offices, labo- 

 ratories, and storerooms, Ijcgun the previous year, was finished satis- 

 factorily. Should it be decided to open the building at night, how- 

 ever, an increased appropriation will be required to cover the cost of 

 extra current and the pay of several additional attendants. 



The quarters allotted to the purposes of a lunch room have been 

 somewhat extended and improved, but this very desirable nniseum 

 adjunct must always remain poorly provided for in the present building. 



The sundry civil appropriation act for 1903, passed just at the close 

 of the year, contains an item of $5,000 for the preparation of prelim- 

 inary plans for an additional fireproof ])uilding for the National 

 Museum, to cost not over 11,500,000. 



ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTIONS. 



The number of accessions received during the jqhv was 1,10!), con- 

 taining an aggregate of 418,872 specimens, two and one-half times as 

 man}^ as were added in 1001, and increasing- the total numljer of spec- 

 imens in the national collections to 5,118,281, as shown b}^ the records. 

 This figure is, however, below the actual one, as the contents of many 

 packages filled with very small objects are estimated at a nominal 

 figure. 



The most constant and important sources of accessions are certain 

 bureaus of the Government whose collections are, by law, transferred 

 to the custody of the IMuseum as soon as their study has been com- 

 pleted. Among these bureaus are the Geological Survey, the Fish 

 Commission, the Biological Survey, and the Divisions of Entomology 

 and Plants of the Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of 

 Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution. Large quantities of valu- 

 able material are received from individuals and private establishments 

 through donation and exchange, and many interesting features are 

 added to the exhibition series through loans or deposits. Lack of 

 funds has prevented the carrying on of field explorations ly meml)ers 

 of the Museum stafl' except to a very limited extent, but scarcely a 

 3'ear passes without some good returns through this means. 



"With a maximum annual appropriation of $10,000 for the purchase 

 of specimens, not much can be done toward filling the iniuxmerable 

 gapswhich occur throughout the collections, though many important 

 desiderata are thus supplied from year to j^ear. 



