86 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1918. 



other rooms on the same floor devoted to storage were also relin- 

 quished. 



As elsewhere stated, the natural history building is under normal 

 conditions greatly overcrowded with the collections of its three de- 

 partments, Biology, Geology, Anthropology, and of «the Art Gal- 

 lery. To-day nearly one-fourth of the available space is given over 

 to art in its various forms. The need of considering the erection of 

 a building exclusively for the National Gallery of Art is pressing, 

 and should receive attention at the earliest possible moment. The 

 Gallery has already failed to acquire many rich gifts of art works 

 because of the impossibility of caring for them in the present build- 

 ings of the Smithsonian group, and other cities are being enriched at 

 its expense. Treasures of art worth millions of dollars in value, well 

 within its reach, have gone elsewhere because of its unpreparedness. 

 To the national city is due reasonable attention to these matters on 

 the part of the legislators of the Nation ; it is apparent, however, that 

 until the close of the war with Germany little can be hoped for in 

 this direction. 



Art works more than any other national possession typify ad- 

 vanced civilization, and the public demands means of acquiring and 

 keeping and facilities for utilizing them. Most modern nations have 

 made their capital cities principal centers of art development and art 

 accumulation, and progress in this respect may well be regarded as 

 an index of the degree of advancement of the people toward higher 

 standards of enlightenment. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

 VISITORS. 



The number of visitors to the natural history building during the 

 year aggregated 306,003 for week days and on Sundays 95,097, being 

 a daily average of 977 for the former and 1,828 for the latter. At 

 the arts and industries building and the Smithsonian building, which 

 are opened only on week days, the total attendance was 161,298 for 

 the former and 67,224 for the latter, with a daily average of 515 and 

 214, respectively. The following tables show the attendance of visi- 

 tors during each month of the past year and for each year since 

 1881, when the building now devoted to the arts and industries was 

 first opened to the public : 



