Tourists in the West Court building heading toward the sale in the Museum Shop, July 1984. The Indian Tiger (Felisj is 

 to the left. 



who comes into the building and why, but they have 

 not revealed any surprises. Most persons visit either 

 because they have an interest in natural history or be- 

 cause they want to see all the tourist attractions in Wash- 

 ington. Annual reports repeat the obvious: "Most of 

 these visitors come to the Museum to be entertained, 

 or to learn. All expect to see on display objects they 

 have encountered at home or abroad, or heard about, 

 or seen in the movies or on television, or read about 

 in a book. Among the objects they come to see are many 

 unique national treasures."^ 



In 1969 one person came deliberately to do harm 



and decapitated the snakes in two exhibits, using a hatchet 

 to break the cases and a butcher knife on the speci- 

 mens.' Afterward he told the guards that one of the 

 snakes had borrowed $20,000 from him the year be- 

 fore. In May 1984, some vandal decided that he needed 

 to have the head of a tree sloth, and so destroyed a 

 specimen in Hall 6, robbing all future visitors of the 

 opportunity to see it. Still, the number of tourists each 

 year is so large and the amount of damage done to 

 specimens on exhibit is so small, that one must be im- 

 pressed with the good sense and good manners of the 

 visitors. ^ 



The Visitors 



177 



