EEPOKT OF THE SECRETARY. 15 



the second story is, therefore, very desirable, but as this room is wanted 

 for the accommodation of the National Museum, and not for the uses of 

 the Institution, it would be highly improper to finish it by a further en- 

 croachment upon the capital of the Smithson fund. 



We have mentioned in a previous report that the architecture of the 

 large room, in which the specimens are at present exhibited, is not well 

 adapted to an advantageous display of many of the articles, since a 

 considerable portion of the space is occupied by two rows of colossal 

 columns, between which and the walls the cases* forming alcoves, are 

 placed. The ceiling, however, of the hall in the second story is to be 

 attached to the long, iron girders which span the space from wall to 

 wall, and it will not, therefore, require the introduction of columns. It 

 is hoped that in the finishing of this room the primary object of its use 

 will be kept in view, namely, the exhibition of specimens. There is 

 pleasure in perfect adaptation as well as in sesthetical effect ; the two, 

 however, are not incompatible, and a proper conception of the true 

 spirit of architecture will never sacrifice the former to obtain the latter. 



Since the date of the last report the museum has been increased by 

 specimens in every branch of natural history and ethnology, especially 

 in those of ornithology and the products of the explorations of mounds. 

 An unusual amount of labor has also been expended on the specimens 

 during the same period. The large number of birds in the drawers, as 

 well as those on exhibition, have been re-poisoned to prevent the attack 

 of insects, while those in the cases have been furnished with new stands, 

 and their plumage brightened by washing them with benzine. The cases 

 themselves have been repaired and painted. The mounting of the 

 archaeological collections on boards, and the repairing of the articles of 

 pottery, have been continued, and are now nearly completed. The speci- 

 mens of quadrupeds belonging to the older collections of the govern- 

 ment present rather an unsightly appearance, through injury by insects 

 before they were brought from the Patent Office, and because they were 

 not well prepared. Many of them, however, are very rare, and should 

 be kept until better specimens can be obtained. 



No small amount of labor is required, in a large museum, to keep up 

 a descriptive catalogue of the various articles it receives, and to this 

 work alone the entire time of a clerk might properly be devoted. The 

 whole number of entries in the catalogue of the National Museum is 

 now 158,662 ; and of these 16,265 were made during the last year, while 

 of the specimens of the general collection of which no types have been 

 selected for exhibition many thousands of entries yet remain to be in- 

 serted. 



By the co-operation previously alluded to in this report, the Army 

 Medical Museum, the Museum of the Agricultural Department, and the 

 National Museum are rendered supplementary to each other, each col- 

 lecting and preserving articles that are not contained in the others. 

 The Commissioner of Agriculture, General Capron, has shown much 



