174 REPORT OF THE BUILDING COMMISSION. i 



priation thus increased, tlie work was promptly begun and successfully 

 carried to completion under the direction of the engineer of the District 

 of Columbia, Lieutenant Hoxie, who is entitled to the thanks of the 

 Board for this service. 



Early in the year an appropriation of $26,000 was granted to defray 

 the expense of a tile floor for the naves and rotunda, and on its becom- 

 ing available, plans for the work were prepared by the architects, from 

 which a selection was made by the Commission and copies sent to various 

 parties, with a request for proposals for executing the same. A number 

 of proposals were received and opened on the 16th of April, the succes- 

 ful bidders being Mr. Emil Fritsch, of New York, for the marble tiles, 

 and the United States Encaustic Tile Company, of Indianapolis, for the 

 encaustic tiles for the rotunda. Both» these x)arties have faithfully ful- 

 filled their contracts ; and with wood flooring on the halls that remained 

 unfinished at the close of 1880, the two and a quarter acres of interior 

 ground space of the building now presents a smooth and durable walk- 

 ing surface. In addition, the north front platform has been floored in 

 a neat pattern of marble tiles, the inner vestibi^les of the four main 

 entrances in encaustic tiles, and the outer vestibules laid in cement. 



Owing to its insecure condition, the plaster covering was, during the 

 summer, removed from all ceilings of the low, flat roofs. These, it will 

 be remembered, consist of gratings of wood fastened between the iron 

 girders and filled with mortar composed of plaster of Paris and ashes, 

 a form of ceiling suggested by the consulting engineer. General 

 Meigs. The surface exposed by removal of the plaster has been calci- 

 miued in subdued tints. In one of the outer halls thus treated a sup- 

 plementary corrugated iron ceiling has been put in place, which, with 

 the ceiling of gratings above, incloses an air space, serving to prevent 

 the scape of heat in winter and renders the building cooler than formerly 

 in summer. 



In this connection it may be proper to state that the patentee of an 

 apparatus for moistening air by means of a system of aspirators, where- 

 by it is claimed that in hot weather a reduction of temperature of eight 

 or ten degrees can be accomplished, and that the air is rendered more 

 wholesome at all times, has offered to apply his invention to the new 

 building for $7,000. This apparatus is in use in certain cotton mills in 

 New England for the purpose of improving the facilities of cotton spin- 

 ning ; but the question of its employment for the Museum is, of course, 

 one for determination in the future. 



An octagonal fountain basin, of twenty feet diameter, composed of 

 a rim of molded polished granite and cement floor, has been erected in 

 the rotunda. This, while a pleasing feature in an aesthetic point of 

 view, materially lessened the expense for encaustic tiling by reducing the 

 sijace to be floored. 



The radiators remaining unfinished at the close of last year are no^v 

 all bronzed and the steam-pipes covered with asbestos. The heating 



