108 TJNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



tending through the middle, and one cross partition on each side, 

 all of macite 4 inches thick and reaching from the floor to the ceil- 

 ing, subdivide it into four rooms of unequal size, the subjects to 

 which each, is mainly allotted and their measurements being as 

 follows: Eeptiles and batrachians, 55 feet 9 inches by 26 feet 3^ 

 inches; fishes, 102 feet by 26 feet 3| inches; marine invertebrates 

 generally, 74 feet 2^ inches by 26 feet 3^ inches; and moUusks, 18 

 feet 9 inches by 26 feet 3^ inches. The total available area is there- 

 fore 6,591 square feet and 115,342 cubic feet, the compartment hav- 

 ing been rendered serviceable to a height of 17 feet 6 inches. 



The door openings are typical in size and position, measuring 3 

 feet 6 inches wide by 7 feet high, and occur midway between the piers 

 throughout the length of the side walls and therefore directly oppo- 

 site the openings into the laboratories across the corridors. The end 

 walls, however, are not pierced. The doors are also of the typical 

 pattern, constructed of molded pressed steel, with a cast-iron register 

 of the width of the panel and 6 inches high in the lower rail. These 

 registers constitute the only openings into the rooms when the doors 

 are closed and have therefore a close relationship with the ventilation 

 of the compartment as described in the section on the ventilation of 

 the building. The air is removed near the ceiling through as many 

 outlets as there are doors, each of these outlets communicating with 

 a common duct leading to a vertical flue which terminates at the roof. 

 Through the agency of a fan located at the base of the flue, which 

 operates to withdraw the air, the air of the compartment is expected 

 to be completely changed or renewed once in about every 47 minutes. 



The compartment has been furnished in a manner unique for the 

 purpose, following in a general way the plan of the library book • 

 stack, which offers opportunity for a more compact arrangement and 

 a more complete utilization of the space than is obtainable by any 

 other method. The scheme comprehends tiers of adjustable shelving 

 attached to vertical frames and separated by narrow passageways. 

 The construction is entirely of steel, and in order to take advantage of 

 the entire height of the compartment an intermediate or mezzanine 

 floor has been introduced at a height of 8 feet. 



The stacks may be termed single or double, according to whether 

 they provide for shelving on one or both sides. The single stacks are 

 those built against the walls, all of which are so occupied except the 

 far inner wall in the room used for reptiles and batrachians and such 

 parts of the surface of the outer walls as were specifically required 

 for other purposes. The double stacks extend north and south or 

 crosswise of the rooms, and have passageways on both sides. In the 

 reptile room these stacks abut against the longitudinal macite parti- 

 tion, and the interspaces, measured between the outer edges of the 

 shelves, are 3 ieot wide. In the other rooms, however, only those stacks 



