112 UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



dimensions, and, despite the many structural and elaborative details, 

 the plan is simple and the treatment harmonious and effective. The 

 contrast between the massive piers and the light, open screens is 

 marked but pleasing, the latter, serving as a decorative relief for the 

 plain walls back of them, disclosing the positions of the several 

 stories and the relations of the pavilion to the wings, while the open- 

 ings in the piers locate the stairs and elevators, by which the suc- 

 cessive galleries are reached and the general circulation is directed. 



The total amount of open floor space furnished by the south pa- 

 vilion is 22,327 square feet, of which 9,873 square feet are on the 

 main floor, including the area within the rotunda and the corridor 

 surrounding it. Each of the galleries contains 3,875 square feet, to 

 which in the third gallery should be added the open space of 829 

 square feet adjoining the large semicircular window on the south. 

 Practically all of this space belongs to the public, and to a con- 

 siderable extent it is available for exhibition purposes, but in what 

 manner and for what subjects it may be utilized remains for future 

 consideration. 



Winffs. — Of the three openings from the pavilion into each of the 

 wings on the main floor, one is central and leads into the skylighted 

 area, while the others are lateral and lead into the side aisles. The 

 east and west wings are identical in all respects; the north wing 

 differs from them in being somewhat shorter and in possessing cer- 

 tain features at the outer end which are peculiar to it. 



The width of the skylighted area, measured between the inner 

 faces of the piers of the lateral rows, is the same in all the wings, 

 namely, 49 feet 5 inches. The length of this area, from the face of 

 the pavilion wall to the inner face of the piers of the outer crossrow, 

 is 167 feet 5^ inches in the east and west wings, and a few inches 

 greater in the north wing. The width of the side aisles, including 

 the 2- foot thickness of the piers, is about 33 feet 4 inches on the south 

 side and 33 feet on the court side of the east and west wings, and 33 

 feet 1 inch on both sides of the north wing. 



The space beyond the light well at the outer ends of the east and 

 west wings is much wider than the side aisles, measuring 48 feet Q^ 

 inches from the inner face of the piers of the crossrow to the end 

 wall, in which the window arrangement is the same as on the south 

 front. Along the north side of these wings where they are joined 

 by the ranges, and including the extension of the wings beyond the 

 range fronts, a total distance of over 90 feet, there are no windows, 

 a condition which is repeated in all the stories, but, nevertheless, 

 there is no part of the adjacent area which is not sufficiently well 

 lighted for exhibition purposes. 



In the north wing, the projection beyond the line of the north 

 front of the ranges is occupied on one side by the square stair case 



