Report ef the President 17 



During the past year also the valuable precedent was 

 established of providing by tax levy the sum of $15,657 for 

 1916, to complete certain very necessary repairs and altera- 

 tions in the building, which, because of insufficient funds, 

 have been deferred from year to year, this upon the "pay-as- 

 you-go " principle recently adopted by the City, which takes 

 the place of the previous uneconomic practice of meeting the 

 expense of repairs partly out of special revenue bonds. Inas- 

 much as the legal maintenance expenditures of the Museum 

 exceed by more than $57,000 the amount of $200,000 which 

 has been appropriated annually for the past three years, a bill 

 was introduced into the Legislature, in joint action with the 

 Metropolitan Museum of Art, removing the limitation to the 

 amount of maintenance and leaving to the discretion of the 

 Board of Estimate and Apportionment the maximum sum that 

 might be appropriated.* For the year 1916 the Trustees 

 recommended a maintenance appropriation of $225,000, and 

 after a searching examination of the business administration 

 of the Museum by representatives of the Board of Estimate, 

 an appropriation of $212,999 was made, which includes the 

 $15,657 allowed for repairs mentioned above. 



It is very difficult to plan the ideal museum building, to 



meet all the modern requirements of lighting adequate for 



_, .. .. „. exhibition and yet non-destructive of the deli- 



Building rlans , , . r , . , ., , 



cate hues and tints of the animals exhibited; of 



heating and air circulation which avoid the extremes of 

 humidity and desiccation fatal to specimens of many kinds; 

 of ventilation adequate for large numbers of visitors and yet 

 free from dust; of casing and installation which shall protect 

 and yet be unobtrusive; of arrangement which shall educate 

 and be easy of comprehension. To meet all these require- 

 ments in the new buildings which shall be erected in the near 

 or remote future, the President, the Director and the Archi- 

 tects have been continuously engaged on studies for the entire 

 unfinished portions of the southern half of the Museum which 



*Laws of New York, 1915, Chapter 312 : "An Act to amend chapter two hundred and 

 ninety-two of the laws of nineteen hundred and five, entitled 'An act to authorize a further 

 appropriation for the maintenance of the American museum of natural history in the 

 Central park of the city of New York,' generally." Became a law April 14, 1915, with the 

 approval of the Governor. See page 155. 



