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storage." The Surgeon General earnestly recommended an appropriation for a building which should be "absolutely fireproof, but no expenditure for mere architectural display is required."

Pursuant to The Surgeon General's recommendation, President Rutherford B. Hayes, in his last annual message to Congress, urged such an appropriation. "The collection of books, specimens, and records constituting the Army Medical Museum and Library are of national importance," the President said. " * * * Their destruction would be an irreparable loss not only to the United States but to the world * * *. These valuable collections are now in a building which is peculiarly exposed to the danger of destruction by fire. It is therefore earnestly recommended that an appropriation be made for a new