46 Report of the President 



one of the needs of the Museum is provided for. It is im- 

 portant that the entire south front of the Museum grounds 

 should be protected by an iron fence six feet high 

 the e Museum to P revent damage to the grass, trees and shrubs. 

 This area is now unprotected and is used as a 

 playground by children, who wear off the grass and break the 

 trees and shrubs, with the result that this portion of the 

 grounds is in an unsightly condition, instead of forming, as it 

 should, an appropriate setting for the Museum building. 

 Those who advocate unrestricted use of the parks for play- 

 grounds forget that grown-ups are entitled to some considera- 

 tion and that a piece of property costing over five million dol- 

 lars and visited yearly by three quarters of a million persons 

 from all parts of the country should be properly cared for. 



The crying need is still for a new wing, in order to provide 

 exhibition, storage and work rooms. The present space is 

 taxed to the utmost, and the second floor of the central pavilion 

 is in especially bad shape, containing, besides the exhibit of 

 reptiles, a heterogeneous assemblage of birds and mammals, 

 some of which are placed on top of the cases. It is not a ques- 

 tion of finding suitable room, but of finding any room. 



The need of a hall for special and temporary exhibitions is 

 greater than ever, and the Museum loses many opportunities 

 to cooperate with other institutions and societies simply for 

 lack of space. The proposed Southwest Court Building would 

 provide for this as well as for workrooms, studios, and storage 

 for molds and casts now scattered in various places, some 

 almost inaccessible. 



