REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 39 



to examine the building, reported that the exterior walls were well 

 built, both in regard to construction and materials, but that the plan 

 of finishing the interior in wood and stucco was improper for an edifice 

 intended to contain valuable articles; it was therefore recommended 

 that fire-proof materials should be employed for the portions of the 

 work which remained to be constructed. In conformity with this 

 recommendation the interior of the main building was completed in 

 iron, stone, and brick, with the exception of the roof, which, being 

 covered with slate and not supposed to be exposed to danger from 

 fire, was suffered to remain. It was this change, in the mode of con- 

 structing a portion of the edifice, which, during the late fire, saved 

 the contents of the whole from destruction. It, however, increased 

 the cost of the building to upwards of $300,000, leaving the remain- 

 ing parts of the interior of the structure in perishable materials. 



It was hoped that, through the adoption of the compromise propo- 

 sitions, the importance of the active operations would speedily 

 become apparent, and that the plan of erecting an expensive 

 building would be abandoned before more than one of the wings 

 had been completed ; but, though the construction of the edifice 

 was, in accordance with the agreement, extended over a number of 

 years, yet in anticipation of such an interference with its ultimate 

 completion, so large a portion of the lower story of the whole struc- 

 ture was commenced in the first two years that it was apparent no 

 successful opposition could be made to its further progress. Nor 

 can Congress be absolved of the charge of having indirectly con- 

 tributed to encumber the bequest with the cost and maintenance of 

 so extensive a building and so numerous a retinue : with more 

 justice, therefore, may it be invoked to relieve the Institution, in 

 due time, from the burden imposed upon it. It should, however, be 

 remembered, on the other hand, that by repeated enactments Con- 

 gress has sanctioned the prominence which has been given to the 

 active operations, and acquiesced in the adoption of the special 

 character which has been impressed on the library and museum. It 

 has relieved the Institution from the care of the grounds, also of 

 the copyright books which were intended to swell the number of 

 volumes, and, so far from still considering the museum of the ex- 

 ploring expedition a desirable gift, it has granted for several years 

 past four thousand dollars annually to assist in bearing the expenses 

 of preserving and exhibiting the specimens. 



It is to be regretted that Congress directed that provision should be 

 made on a large scale for a library and museum, since each tends to 

 cripple the other, and the whole to diminish the efficiency of the active 



