382 Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



from it by a clerestory, covering a space 40 feet in Avidth on 

 all sides of the building. Viewed from any direction, the 

 edifice will present the following profile : — A wall 20 feet 

 high, broken by numerous broad triple windows ; next a slope 

 of roof covering the exterior cloister-like range, and rising 

 towards the centre to a height of 30 feet ; then the wall of 

 the middle range, and beyond an expanse of roof, broken by 

 a low clerestory, and studded with windows stretching up to 

 the wall of the dome, which in the centre is lifted 80 feet 

 above the floor. The plan is diversified by a square two-story 

 building at each corner, by the imposing fa9ade of the main 

 entrance in the centre of each side of the structure, and by 

 various other features. 



" The ground-plan, as now sketched out, shows a central 

 hall about 50 feet square, from which extend four halls, 54 

 feet wide and 110 feet long, stretching away to the four main 

 entrances. These throughout are as high as the middle range, 

 with arched roofs 40 feet or more from the floor. In the four 

 angles of this lofty cruciform figure are four large halls, 81 

 feet square and 45 feet high, each with a corner touching the 

 central hall. Outside of these are eight rooms in the outer 

 range, with roofs 25 feet to 30 feet high. These rooms are 

 40 feet Avide ; four of them are 81 feet long, and four 120 feet, 

 though the latter have each one corner occupied by a portion 

 of one of the corner towers. 



" Everything will be on one floor, without stairways oi 

 second story, no ceiling or fire-proof upper floors being re- 

 quired. The single floor will be of concrete, the walls of 

 brick, the rafters and framework of iron, the roof of concrete 

 and slate. It is expected that the building Avill be a model 

 of cheapness and durability. In the ordinary style of archi- 

 tecture for public buildings in Washington, a house of the 

 same capacity would cost several millions of dollars." 



To this building, when complete, will be transferred the 

 whole of the collections made by the various U.S. Exploring 

 and Surveying Expeditions, at home and abroad, including 

 those of Wilkes, Sitgreaves, Ilerndon, Gilliss, Rodgers, and 

 other names well known to ornithologists, besides those 



