44 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



different forms of asphalt occurrence as well as the useful products 

 prepared therefrom, constituted the most striking addition to the 

 exhibits in the division of mineral technology. Next may be men- 

 tioned a complete ore stope removed bodily, ore faces, timbering, 

 chute, manway, and all accessories, from the Copper Queen Mine 

 at Bisbee, Ariz. 



Among other important acquisitions were a model representing 

 the layout of a Portland cement plant and the sequence of operations 

 connected with the manufacture of cement; an industrial series of 

 specimens covering the occurrence and uses of natural graphite, in- 

 cluding a remarkable block of pure graphite weighing 250 pounds; 

 a model reproducing the unique method of mining placer gravel for 

 gold in the frozen north by a system of underground drifting or 

 tunneling bedrock, with the ground thawed out in immediate advance 

 of the tunnel by means of steam ; and a model of a cyanide leaching 

 plant showing admirably the method commonly employed in the 

 extraction of gold from its ores where the metal does not lend itself 

 to simpler and more direct processes for its segregation. 



NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART. 



It is very gratifying to note that early in the year Mr. Charles L. 

 Freer waived the condition attending his munificent gift of American 

 and oriental art to the effect that the collection remain in his pos- 

 session during his life, and expressed a desire that the erection of 

 the building be taken up at the earliest possible moment. The sum 

 required for this purpose, $1,000,000, also a donation from Mr. Freer, 

 was turned over to the Institution in December, and the site and 

 preliminary plans, both satisfactory to the benefactor, received later 

 the approval of the Board of Regents of the Institution, and of the 

 Federal Commission of Fine Arts. The site is the southwestern part 

 of the Smithsonian reservation, at the corner of Twelfth and B 

 Streets, S. W., and approximately two years will be required for the 

 completion of the building, at the end of which time the transfer 

 of the many precious objects to Washington may be expected to take 

 place. The fact that the planning and the execution of the work of 

 construction is in the hands of Mr. Charles A. Piatt, of New York, 

 insures their being carried out in an eminently satisfactory manner. 



Since the last report Mr. Freer has increased the extent of his 

 collection to about 5,346 items by 535 additions, of which 23 are 

 paintings and sculptures by the American artists Tryon, Thayer, 

 Metcalf, Murphy, and Saint-Gaudens ; while the oriental objects, 

 numbering 512, consist mainly of paintings, pottery, bronzes, and 

 jades from China, Korea, and Japan. Mr. Freer announces con- 

 siderable headway in the preparation of the final catalogues, on 

 which a number of experts of wide rej^ut© are at work. 



