84 REPORTS OF COMMITTEES. 



REPORT or THE BUILDING COMMITTEE. 



The Building Committee of the Smithsonian Institution present the 

 following report of their operations and expenditures during the year 

 1856. 



At tlie date of the last report of the committee, the building was 

 considered finished, hut it has been thought best, during the past 

 year, to make a series of additional drains from the principal windows 

 and doors of the basement to the main sewer, which passes under 

 ground from the extreme east end of the building along the middle 

 of the cellar to the west end of the principal edifice, and thence 

 through the grounds to another sewer emptying ifito the canal. The 

 length of these additional drains in the aggregate amounts to about 

 jseven hundred and thirty-three feet. They were necessary to carry 

 oiF the water which descends through the spouts from the roof, and 

 ;the rain which falls into the sunken spaces exterior to the windows 

 and doors of the basement. They are constructed of brick, and sup- 

 plied in each case with a traj) to prevent the escape of offensive 

 .efiluvia. 



During the last summer, according to the statement of the Secretary, 

 a very disagreeable odor was perceived in the east wing of the build- 

 ing, which was readily traced to the main sewer. It was observed to 

 be more intense at certain times than at others, and after considerable 

 examination was found to depend on the tide wave of the Potomac, 

 which enters the extreme mouth of the sewer, condenses the con- 

 tained air, and forces it back to the extremity of the drains, where it 

 escapes through the minute crevices of the encasing brick-work. The 

 cause of the difficulty having been discovered, a remedy was readily 

 suggested. This consisted in tapping the main drain before it reached 

 the building, and erecting over the opening a chimney communicating 

 •with the exterior atmosphere. Through this the condensed air 

 escapes, the internal pressure is relieved, and the disagreeable efilu- 

 wium is no longer forced into the building. 



The attention of the Building Committee has also been directed by 

 llie Secretary to the fact that, in the original plan of the edifice, it 

 was intended to provide for the drainage in a manner differing from 

 the present mode. For this purpose, three large cylindrical excava- 

 tions were made in the ground, two on the front, and one in the rear 

 of the building. They are each about nine feet in diameter, thirty 

 feet deep, cased with brick, and covered with planks and earth. Fear 

 has been expressed that the wooden coverings of these wells may de- 

 cay, and that accidents may occur from the breaking through of car- 

 riages. The committee would, therefore, recommend that the.y be 

 either filled up, or permanently secured by a dome of brick over each 

 The latter plan is preferred, both on account of cheapness and the 



