APPENDIX TO THE SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



Appendix 1. 

 REPORT ON THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report npon the condition and oper- 

 ations of the National Museum ilurin>;c the year ending June 30, 1904. 



Ground wa8 l)roken on June 15, 1904, for the new Museum building authorized by 

 Congress in 1903, the first sod being turned by the Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution in the presence of the architects, the superintendent of construction, and 

 the othcera and employees of the Institution and its Bureaus. The ex(;avation for 

 the foundation and basement was well under way at the close of the fiscal year, and 

 it is hoped that nothing will arise to interfere with the speedy construction of the 

 building. This additional home for the National Collections will be about 551 

 feet long and 318 feet wide, exclusive of projections, thus exceeding in these dimen- 

 sions all other buildings in the city of Washington except the Capitol. Its faces will 

 be of light-colored granite, and its four stories will afford a floor area of about 9^ 

 acres. 



It is gratifying to be able to state that notwithstanding the great pressure of work 

 in the scientiiic departments, caused by the preparation of exhibits for the Louisiana 

 Purchase Exposition, very satisfactory progress has been made in all of the operations 

 of the Museum. 



The number of accessions received during the year was 1,703, or 60 more than in 

 1903, and comprise a total of 241,547 specimens. Profitable exchanges have been 

 made with other institutions and with private collectors, the number of duplicate 

 specimens utilized for this purpose exceeding 9,000. 



The number of publications issued has been somewhat larger than usual, and their 

 distri])ution, together with a large increase in the extent of the correspondence, Jias 

 taxed to the utmost the otHce charged with these matters. 



The reserve or study collections have been extensively used by investigators and 

 students both in Washington and elsewhere, and more than 20,000 specimens have 

 been sent to specialists for examination and report. The number of lots of speci- 

 mens received for identification has been 975. 



Buildings. — The roofs on the Museum building, and especially those covered with 

 slate, have for a long period been in a very unsatisfactory condition, resulting mainly 

 from the fact that they were constructed to<j cheaply in the beginning, and there- 

 fore not as substantially as they should have been. Through the contraction and 

 expansion of the iron supports by changes in temperature, the slate coverings have 

 never been kept tight, and in other i)arts there has been greater or less trouble in 

 regard to leakage, which has caused a constant defacement of the inner walls and 

 some injury to the contents of the l)uilding. It is now realized that the only proper 

 remedy would be to substitute a new roof for the present one, but as this can not be 

 done at present, an effort is being made to institute more substantial repairs than 

 heretofore, though at the best they can only be considered as temporary. The tin 



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