18 REPORT OF THE SECRET AEY. 



brick arches for the floors, a lining of brick, laid in cement, has been 

 constructed from the bottom to the top. The inner lining of the 

 walls of the upper story of the main building, which was exposed to 

 the fire, has also been entirely renewed with similar materials. The 

 "masonry of the whole building is now completed, and it is expected 

 during the next season to finish all the rooms except the main hall 

 over the museum. The future use of this room, which is 200 feet 

 long by 50 feet wide, has not yet been settled. It will not be wan- 

 ted for the uses of the Institution, and unless devoted to a National 

 Museum or to some other purpose, it will probably remain for an in- 

 definite time, unfinished. The reconstruction of the building, exclu- 

 sive of this room, will cost about $150,000, and if to this be added 

 the sum previously expended on the erection of the building, we shall 

 have a total of $475, 000, of which, at least, $400, 000 might have been 

 added to the principal, or expended in the promotion of knowledge. 

 The superintendence of the work is still under the direction of the 

 architect, Mr. Adolf Cluss, and every part of the construction and 

 all the plans have been critically examined and discussed by General 

 Delafield, chairman of the building committee, who has taken great 

 interest, since his appointment, not only in the restoration of the 

 building, but in all the operations of the Institution. 



Publications. — The amount expended for printing during 1866 has 

 been fully equal to that in any preVious year, although the number 

 of new works which have been issued is less. This has been occa- 

 sioned by the high price of paper and printing, and by the necessity 

 of issuing new editions of works for which the demand was more 

 pressing. 



The following is a list of the works in quarto, forming part of the 

 series entitled "Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," published 

 during the year 1866: 



1. An Investigation of the Orbit of Neptune, with general tables of 

 its motion, by Professor - Simon Newcomb, U. S. navy, pp. 110. 

 (Published January, 1866.) 



2. Geological Researches in China, Mongolia, and Japan during 

 the years 1862 to 1865, by Raphael Pumpelly, esq., pp. 161, 9 plates, 

 18 wood-cuts. (Published August, 1866.) 



3. On the Fresh-water Glacial Drift of the Northwestern States, 

 by Charles Whittlesey, esq., pp. 32, 2 maps, 11 wood-cuts. (Pub- 

 lished December, 1866.) 



Of other quarto works in press the following are nearly ready for 

 distribution: 



