48 DIRECTORY OF AMERICAN MUSEUMS 



Among important early sources of collections may be mentioned 

 the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838 to 1842, the Perry 

 Expedition to Japan, the North Pacific Exploring Expedition of the 

 Navy, the railroad and wagon road surveys by the Army in connection 

 with the opening up of the far west , the Canadian and Mexican boundary 

 surveys, certain geological explorations, and the work of the Coast 

 Survey in Alaskan w r aters, besides many expeditions organized or 

 assisted by the Smithsonian Institution. Of more recent date are the 

 investigations of the Bureau of Fisheries, the Geological Survey, the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology, and the Bureaus of Plant Industry, 

 Entomology, and Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture. 

 Of private donors, some of whom have made gifts of great extent and 

 value, the list is very long. 



FINANCIAL SUPPORT. By congressional appropriations, that for 

 the fiscal year ending June 30, 1909, amounting to $318,080. For the 

 fiscal year ending in 1910, the appropriation amounts to $565,500, the 

 increased amount being called for by the approaching occupancy of 

 the new building. 



BUILDINGS. The Smithsonian building, completed in 1857, at an 

 expense of over $300,000, and designed in part for the museum, was, 

 as early as 1872, turned over entirely to museum purposes, with the 

 exception of the east wing, retained for the use of the institution proper. 

 A separate building of brick, called for by the increase of the collections 

 and having a main floor area of 103,000 square feet, was finished in 

 1 88 1, at an initial cost of $250,000. There is now nearly completed, 

 and in small part already occupied, a third building of granite, having 

 a frontage of 560 feet and a floor area of about 10 acres, which has cost 

 $3,500,000. It is intended for the departments of natural history, and 

 will also temporarily house the National Gallery of Art, while the older 

 buildings will be used for the collections of arts and industries. These 

 buildings are all located on the Mall, between 9th and i2th streets. 



ADMINISTRATION. The governing body of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution, and consequently of the National Museum, is a board of regents, 

 comprising the vice-president and the chief-justice of the United States 

 as ex officio members, three members of the United States Senate, three 

 members of the House of Representatives, and six citizens at large. 

 The authority of the board is exercised through its executive officer, 

 the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



SCOPE. The museum is charged with three principal obligations, 

 namely, the care and preservation of the national collections, research 

 work in naming and classifying the specimens, and the promotion of 



