The Institution has charge of the National Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the National Collection of Fine Arts, the Freer Gallery of Art, the International Exchange Service, the Bureau of American Ethnology, the National Zoological Park, and the Astrophysical Observatory (with several field stations). The United States National Museum is the depository of the national collections. It is rich in the natural history, geology, paleontology, archeology, and ethnology of America, and has large and important collections illustrating American history, including military and naval material, and also valuable series relating to arts and industries. It is an educational and research museum and issues scientific publications. Its aeronautical collection includes the airplane _The Spirit of St. Louis_, deposited by Col. Charles A. Lindbergh in the spring of 1928. The National Gallery of Art is a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution created by joint resolution of Congress approved March 24, 1937, as a result of the gift of Andrew W. Mellon to the Nation of his art collection of masterpieces valued at $50,000,000 and $10,000,000 to erect a building to house it. The above act accepting Mr. Mellon’s gift provided that the art collections already in possession of the Smithsonian Institution and therefore designated the National Gallery of Art should thereafter be known as the National Collection of Fine Arts. The National Gallery of Art is administered for the Smithsonian Institution, in which title is vested, by a Board of Trustees. The monumental marble building, designed by John Russell Pope, is now under construction on the site on the north side of the Mall between Fourth and Seventh Streets. (See p. 281 for illustration.) The Bureau of American Ethnology is engaged particularly in the collection of information relating to the American Indians. The National Zoological Park has an area of 175 acres and is located adjacent to Rock Creek Park. Its collection comprises about 3,000 animals. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE The Government Printing Office, in which the printing and bookbinding for the various branches of the National Government is executed, is located on North Capitol Street between G and H Streets NW. Covering almost a city block with its eight-story, red-brick building, this plant is the best-equipped and is reputed to be the largest printing office of its kind in the world. Printing for the Government of the United States was first mentioned during the initial session of Congress, in 1789, in the form of a recommendation to that body that proposals be invited for “printing the laws and other proceedings of Congress.” The first specific appropriation for public printing was passed in 1794, when an expenditure of $10,000 was authorized for “firewood, stationery, and printing.”