REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 43 
BUILDINGS. 
At the beginning of the last fiscal year, work on the new building for the 
Museum had progressed to the extent of completing the basement walls and 
piers and the steel framework and brick arches resting upon them, except at 
the south and north pavilions. The court walls of the main story had also been 
started. From that time onward the construction of the building would have 
advanced more rapidly but for delays in the delivery of the granite. Instead, 
therefore, of being ready for the roofs at the end of the fiscal year, as had been 
expected, the outer walls have been carried only to the height of the lintels at 
the top of the second story on the eastern section of the building, and not so high 
on the western section. The two entrance pavilions have only reached the top 
of the basement floor, but the steel work and arches of the second floor are in 
place and the basement lecture hall has been inclosed and partly vaulted and 
tiled. With the receipt of the final shipment of the white Bethel granite all 
troubles in the matter of construction should be ended, as there have been no 
delays in the fulfillment of all other contracts for supplies, and the stone for the 
upper story has been on hand for several months. 
The retardation in the erection of this building has rendered difficult the 
administration of the Museum, since the overcrowding of the present buildings 
and outside rented quarters by the immense and invaluable collections has 
introduced several elements of danger which can only be obviated by the 
occupancy of the new structure. 
The rebuilding of the roofs of the present Museum building, without serious 
derangement of the collections, was successfully continued. Contracts have been 
made for the replacement of four additional roofs during the new year, leaving 
only the roof of the central rotunda to be provided for thereafter. 
Progress was also made in the isolation of the several exhibition halls with 
the view of obtaining greater fire protection, this work consisting in the filling 
in of the large arched openings between the halls with fireproof materials, a 
plan which should be continued each year to the extent possible with the funds 
available. 
ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTION. 
The number of accessions received during the year, not including the subject 
of the fine arts, was 1,398, comprising a total of about 250,000 specimens, of 
which nearly 4,000 were anthropological, 145,000 biological, and over 100,000 
geological and paleontological. 
The principal additions in ethnology came from the Congo region of Africa 
and the Philippine Islands. Among the more notable smaller ones were baskets 
and lace of Malacca workmanship, rare Chilcootin baskets, and examples of 
rich old embroideries. The most important accessions in prehistoric archeology 
comprised several hundred implements, vessels, examples of fabrics and basket 
work, and skeletal remains, obtained during excavations at Casa Grande, Ari- 
zona, under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, and a large number 
of earthenware and stone objects of various kinds and uses from Panama, Costa 
Nica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the State of Tennessee. Of Huropean 
origin were stone implements and fragments of Romano-British urns from near 
Norfolk, England, and flint implements from La Quina, France. Examples of 
Greco-Egyptian papyri and other interesting objects were secured for the di- 
vision of historic archeology. The additions in physical anthropology consisted 
chiefly of a large series illustrating the principal types of normal variations in 
the human skeleton, a number of skulls of the extinct Huron Indians, and many 
specimens of the brains of various animals prepared for comparative purposes. 
