260 The Smithsonian Institution 



In 1857 the building committee reported that the object for 

 which they had been appointed might be considered accom- 

 plished, although a large portion of the interior of the edifice 

 was still unfinished. Thereafter the building was carried on 

 very slowly, and for some time only a very few workmen were 

 employed on its construction. 



The expenses for furnishing the interior, including the 

 alcoves and galleries for books in the library, as well as the 

 cases for the specimens in the museum, were defrayed by a 

 special appropriation from Congress. The building com- 

 mittee was continued in charge of such matters, although no 

 formal report was made between 1857 and 1866. 



On January 4, 1865, a fire occurred in the Smithsonian 

 building which destroyed the roof and all of the interior of the 

 upper story of the main portion of the edifice, the interior of 

 the two large north towers and also of the large south tower. 

 Fortunately, the loss to the Institution was not very great, 

 although the burning of the roof of the main building caused 

 the destruction of the contents of the second-story rooms 

 immediately beneath it, and also those of the three principal 

 towers adjacent. Besides the official correspondence and other 

 papers, and the duplicate copies of published documents, the 

 personal effects of Smithson, including numerous manuscripts 

 written by himself, were almost entirely destroyed. The 

 apparatus presented by Doctor Robert Hare, the lens used 

 by Priestley in the evolution of oxygen, and many other pieces 

 of apparatus in the collection were seriously damaged, but not 

 sufficiently to prevent their restoration. The most important 

 loss was the destruction of a large collection of paintings be- 

 longing to Mr. J. M. Stanley, but as these were his personal 

 property and not insured, the loss fell on him. 



The first steps toward the reconstruction of the building 

 was to secure the services of a competent person as architect 



