1722 CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS. 
Smithsonian building accordingly early began to be temporarily 
crowded with many gifts and objects of rare value, and subsequently 
a separate building for a museum was found to be indispensable. 
Patronized as was this collateral enterprise of the Smithsonian by the 
Government, through many of its Executive Departments, and guided 
by the Smithsonian Institution in a scientific and educational direction, 
as well asin the practical diffusion of knowledge, it was sure to become 
an important but inexpensive institution of public education, with a 
constantly increasing collection of important materials worthy to be 
intrusted to the custody of a National Museum, where they might be 
forever preserved and thus increase in value with every succeeding 
generation. 3 
The statistics in relation to the present Museum are interesting, and 
indicate its extensive scope and character. It is not a ‘‘dime museum” 
of grotesque curiosities, but without money and without price it offers 
to visitors more wonderful attractions by its many specimens of rare 
scientific and historic value. The several States are represented by a 
great variety of contributions of special interest, and if they were 
represented by many more, their wealth of materials would be in no 
danger of being exhausted. 
There are now 3,406,920 specimens in the Museum, many of almost 
priceless value, and it is even claimed that a fair appraisal of the value 
of the entire collection would make it amount to several millions of 
dollars. 
A museum has been properly defined as ‘‘a consultation library of - 
objects,” and our National Museum justifies this definition, as it may 
be said to be thronged by an inquisitive people daily asking questions, 
and here seeking proper answers. It is visited by those who are 
students in various branches of science and by those who are not 
students, but all find it an object lesson. It is a free school, the bene- 
fits of which are annually extended to multitudes of visitors from 
almost every State and Territory of the Union. All who pass through 
the door of the old or new building are registered, and the total num- 
ber for the past nine years was 3,474,056, or an average of nearly 
400,000 annually. ; 
This shows the average daily number of those who have found 
pleasure and instruction in visiting the National Museum for the past 
nine years to have been over 1,000 per day, except Sundays. They 
come from distant States as well as from those near by. Those who 
live not far from Niagara are said to be content with its roar and rarely 
visit the great falls. It is the multitude of American travelers from 
distant homes who have most pride in and seek the most profit from 
the National Museum. . 
The correspondence of the Museum amounts to 20,000 letters 
