Building and Grounds 259 



The west wing was occupied as a library and was suffi- 

 ciently large to accommodate all the books that were received 

 during the ten years following its completion. 



The principal towers were divided into stories, and thus 

 furnished a large number of rooms of different sizes, which 

 came in time into use in the varied operations of the Institu- 

 tion. A large room in the main south tower was appro- 

 priated to the meetings of the Establishment and the Board 

 of Regents ; three rooms in one range, in the main front 

 towers, were used as offices ; and two rooms below, in the 

 same towers, were used for drawing, engraving, and work- 

 shops. There were in the whole building, of all sizes, ninety 

 different apartments, of which eight were of a large size, and 

 were intended for public exhibitions. 



In order that the principal of the Smithsonian fund should 

 not be encroached upon for building purposes, it was neces- 

 sary, as has been shown, to proceed slowly, and this proved 

 of further advantage, for, to quote Secretary Henry: 



" The delay in finishing the building has not only been 

 attended with advantage in husbanding the funds, but also 

 in allowing a more complete adaptation of the interior to 

 the purposes of the Institution. It is surely better, in the 

 construction of such an edifice, to imitate the example of 

 the mollusk, who, in fashioning his shell, adapts it to the 

 form and dimensions of his body, rather than that of an- 

 other animal who forces himself into a house intended for 

 a different occupant. The first point to be settled, in com- 

 mencing a building, is the uses to which it is to be applied. 

 This, however, could not be definitely ascertained at the 

 beginning of the Institution, and hence the next wisest step 

 to that of not commencing to build immediately was to 

 defer the completion of the structure until the plan of 

 operations and the wants of the Establishment were more 

 precisely known." 



