ADDRESS OF PROF. S. NEWCOMB. 473 



of art; but experience has abundantly proved that any one of the 

 specified objects, if properly sustained, would soon absorb all the 

 income of the bequest, and vindicated the policy of transferring the 

 support of them to other funds. In accordance with this. Congress 

 was first induced to take charge of the grounds and take the steps 

 necessary for their improvement. It next took charge of the books 

 which had been collected and incorporated them with the national 

 library, giving the Institution and its collaborators the free use of 

 the books of both collections. By this transfer the Institution is 

 saved, in the expense of binding, cataloguing, and attendance/ 

 nearly $10,000 annually, while it has the same use of its books 

 as before the arrangement was made. Again, the Agricultural 

 Department has taken charge of the plants of the Institution, and 

 the osteological specimens have been transferred to the Army Med- 

 ical Museum. Furthermore, a wealthy citizen of Washington has 

 made a large appropriation of money to establish and support a 

 gallery of art, and it is proposed to transfer to this the articles 

 which the Institution has accumulated in the line of art. The 

 object of this policy is to establish at Washington a collection of 

 objects of nature and art, without trenching on the Smithsonian 

 fund, which shall be worthy the capital of the nation. As a step 

 tov/ards this desirable end, Congress, at its present session, has 

 . appropriated $10,000 towards the support of the museum, under 

 the care of the Institution, and also $10,000 for the commencement 

 of the fitting up of the upper story of the Smithson building for 

 the better display of the collections. The $10,000 for the care of 

 the museum will, for the present, be an annual appropriation." 



Q. "What does the building itself represent?" A. "Externally 

 a Norman castle, and it has cost a very large sum. Unfortunatelyj 

 architecture is frequently in antagonism with science, and, too often, 

 when an architect gets his hand into the purse of an establishment 

 everything else must stand aside. Much trouble has resulted from 

 this building; it has been a source of constant anxiety and ex- 

 pense, — the cost having greatly exceeded the original estimate." 



Q. "What was the original object of the building?" A. "It 

 was intended to accommodate a library, a museum, and a gallery 

 of art; but, inasmuch as the Institution has turned over the library 

 and the gallery of art to other establishments, the building will now 

 be devoted entirely to the museum. The upper part of it was burnt, 

 and it remains unfinished ; and if Congress would accept the build- 

 ing as a gift, allowing one of the wings for the use of the Institu- 

 tion, and devoting the main portion to the museum, it would be a 

 gain to the Institution." 



