SECRETARY'S REPORT 103 



Sections of the terrazzo floors in Galleries 13 and 17 were laid or 

 reground and polished. A vinyl tile floor was installed in the techni- 

 cal laboratory. 



The work of making exhibition cases for the galleries continued 

 in the cabinet shop, and miscellaneous odd jobs related to storage, 

 exhibition, restoration, crating, and maintenance of office and Gallery 

 equipment were carried on as usual. Much time was given to various 

 jobs arising as air conditioning of the building progressed, such as 

 dustproofing all grills throughout the entire gallery floor, offices, and 

 storage rooms. 



In the court all plantings appear to be doing well. A few replace- 

 ments were made in the azalea bed, and one American boxwood and 

 one Ligustrum were set out to fill in the southeast corner of the court. 

 The fountain was drained, cleaned, repointed, and waterproofed, and 

 drainage around the fountain was corrected. To provide adequate 

 watering, four 20-foot sprinklers were installed in the four corners of 

 the court. 



ATTENDANCE 



The Gallery was open to the public from 9 to 4 :30 every day except 

 Christmas Day. The total number of visitors to come in the main 

 entrance was 112,443. The highest monthly attendance was in April, 

 14,452, and the lowest was in January, 4,124. 



Even while undergoing a major building change of air-conditioning, 

 the office handled 1,948 visitors for the following purposes : 



General information 861 



To submit objects for examination 370 



To see staff members 173 



To take photographs in court or exhibition galleries 121 



To study in library 252 



To see building and installations 25 



To examine or borrow slides 12 



To sketch in galleries 21 



To use Herzfeld Archive 1 



To see objects in storage : 



American art 19 



Armenian, Byzantine, Greek MSS., etc 3 



Christian art (Washington MSS.) 18 



Far Eastern jade, lacquer, wood, ivory, textiles, etc 11 



Far Eastern metalwork 12 



Far Eastern paintings 83 



Far Eastern pottery 48 



Near Eastern glass, bookbindings, etc 13 



Near Eastern metalwork 8 



Near Eastern paintings 21 



Near Eastern pottery 9 



451800—58- 



