28 EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



income of the Smithsonian fund, has been devoted during the past year 

 to this purpose. 



With a view to the ultimate separation of the operations of the 

 Smithsonian Institution from the National Museum, arrangements have 

 been made for appropriating the east wing and range to the business 

 which may be considered as belonging exclusively to the essential 

 objects of the Institution, and devoting the main building, west wing, 

 and towers to the museum. For this purpose the large room on the 

 first floor of the east wing, which was formerly used as a museum- 

 laboratory and store-room, has been fitted up with bins and conven- 

 iences for assorting and packing the literary and scientific exchanges to 

 be sent to foreign countries. Preparation has also been made for re- 

 moving the chemical laboratory from the first floor of the east range to 

 the space immediately below it in the basement, and for applying the 

 whole of the first floor of this part of the building to the business offices 

 of the Secretary and his assistants in the line of what are called the 

 active operations. 



For the special accommodation of the museum the large room in the 

 west wing, formerly occupied by the library, has been prepared for the 

 reception of cases for mineralogical and geological specimens ; while the 

 great hall, 200 feet by 50, in the second story of the main building, has 

 been completed and is now ready to receive the cases for the anthro- 

 pological and other specimens. 



Estimates are now before Congress for fitting up these rooms with 

 cases for the reception and display of the Government collections ; and 

 it is hoped that, in the next report, we shall be able to chronicle the com- 

 mencement, if not the completion, of the work. 



The changes consequent upon the extension of the museum mentioned 

 made a re-arrangement necessary of the greater part of the basement so 

 as to obtain additional security against fire, and greater convenience for the 

 storage of fuel, packing-boxes, and specimens. A floor was laid through 

 the basement, and new passage-ways opened, furnishing better access 

 from one extreme of the building to the other. In introducing the fire- 

 proof floor into the west wing, advantage was taken of the opportunity 

 to increase the height of the room below it, and to convert it and the 

 adjoining rooms in the west range into laboratories and store-rooms for 

 natural history. 



Furthermore, for better security, the fire-proofing of the floors of the 

 four towers on the corners of the main building has been commenced. 

 The rooms in the towers furnish studies and dormitories for the inves- 

 tigators in the line of natural history who resort to the Institution, 

 especially during the winter, to enjoy the use of the library and the 

 collections for special researches. ' 



The Norman style of architecture adopted for the Smithsonian build- 

 ing produces a picturesque effect, and, on this account, the edifice has 

 been much admired. It is, however, as I have frequently before 



