REPORT OF NATIONAL. MUSEUM, 1924 19 



tory building, and that amount was soon subscribed. The Board of 

 Regents of the Institution accordingly on February 14, 1924, selected 

 Charles A. Piatt, of New York City, who had been recommended by 

 the Commission, as the architect to prepare preliminary plans for the 

 proposed building. It will be recalled that Mr. Piatt was the archi- 

 tect of the Freer Gallery of Art. Senator H. C. Lodge proposed an 

 amendment to the second deficiency bill on April 17, 1924, appro- 

 priating $2,500,000 to begin the construction of the building the 

 total cost of which was limited to $7,000,000. While this failed to 

 become the law, it is hoped that favorable action will be had at the 

 next session of Congress. A building for the art and history collec- 

 tions would release space in the older buildings that should provide 

 for the growth of the collections for years to come. 



Building repairs and alterations. — In the Natural History Build- 

 ing a 40- foot square gallery was constructed in the west end of the 

 east north range, second floor, for the use of the National Gallery of 

 Art. The partitioning off of the south end of the platform at the west 

 entrance to the building provided an additional storeroom for the 

 property clerk. The minor repairs include the resetting of a consid- 

 erable number of loose marble floor tiles in the exhibition halls ; the 

 repainting of a number of rooms in the northwest and west range, 

 ground floor, and in the east range, third floor; washing with a pat- 

 ented solution the painted plaster walls in the auditorium; install- 

 ing picture molding in one of the geological exhibition halls ; remov- 

 ing from a number of third-floor office rooms the old radiators and 

 substituting others that were more efficient; and repairing the two 

 freight elevators. The wooden frames of all the windows on the 

 ground floor were painted on the exterior, as were also the sills of all 

 third-floor windows. A skylight was constructed over the north end 

 of the taxidermist shop in the east court, similar to the one over the 

 south side. Temporary repairs were also made to several bad sec- 

 tions of the adjoining east roadway. 



The keystones in the four arches supporting the walls under the 

 dome of the Natural History Building have been subject to periodical 

 inspection, and recent measurements of the east arch indicate a 

 further lessening of the downward movement. 



The Arts and Industries Building required more repairs. The 

 spaces immediately to the right and left of the main entrance to 

 the building were remodeled and better accommodations were 

 afforded for the checking of umbrellas, cameras, etc.; also the in- 

 stallation of a public pay-station telephone booth and quarters for 

 the watch service. By this rearrangement two adjacent small rooms 

 previously occupied by the watch force became available for office 

 use and were assigned to the Loeb collection of chemical types. The 



