4
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
BOARD OF REGENTS
OF THE
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
THE OPERATIONS, EXPENDITURES, AND. CONDITION QF THE INSTITUTION
FOR THE
YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1904.
1570 chy ae @ 2 aa bk
OF THE
U. 8. NATIONAL MUSEUM.
one | Cae
WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1906.
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLIC PRINTING AND BINDING, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS.
Approved January 12, 1895.
“Of the Report of the Smithsonian Institution, ten thousand copies; one thousand copies for the Senate, two thousand for the House, five thousand for distribution by the Smithsonian Institution, and two thousand for distribution by the National Museum.”
I
REPORT
OF THE
eee NATIONAL MUSHUM, THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
Lowe Veh Acke, HINOUNG JUNE 30, 1904.
iil
REPORT OF THE U. 8. NATIONAL MUSEUM FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1904.
SUBJECTS:
I. Report of the Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, with Appendices.
II. Papers describing and illustrating Collections in the U. 5. National Museum.
Unitep States Nationat Museum, UNDER DIRECTION OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, October 1, 1904. Str: I have the honor to submit herewith a report upon the present condition of the United States National Museum, and upon the work accomplished in its various departments during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1904. Very respectfully, : RicHarpD RATHBUN, Assistant Secretary, in charge of the U. S. National Museum. Mr. 8S. P. Lane Ley,
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
CO NT EIN aS:
Page
SUHETINGHS 5 SC Sep SORE OR OE Oot Se re eS \
NE REET RM AINS MIS AN om ae ie ee eee as Soe oc Bae VII
(CONTENTS Pee rg ae eerste Lis eS es ae ole Be a se IX
Liste Go INGE RRA IONS SSE ASS 55 eee ae eee a en xe
IRA ile ReEporT OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.
ANS) QNDE OUT OE TACO GO SE Sie Se a, Sg a pl A ele ee eee Ue EP eC U
LABS} D) SMUT OUTSET TO oe Ce ae ee ae 9
ASPANSCCMCAlLOM a ANUS ees: & ae a kee Se eS se boo ees 10
Rieme wes SUIMe UCI ens Rees eo ee eee oka Seen te ca Sones Se oe 12
CromineandemecdstohebhemUseumMios. +2 -22n05 52-22-52. soc eeccaetkcdcceees ile
SUMMARY OF THE OPERATIONS OF THE YEAR.
APDLopMiantons aAmaexpenGigUredac. <5... 5c\cscls lon cice see cee sens oe 252s 21
BiG MTOS). ove Tae os BAS ONS Sa ee ee ee 22
MCONTIONS bOsMe GOllEGhlONS a. seca cect cose fo. Seec oece ne cc as ie nts 25
ScurrdlmOne mon tie COlectlOnss <2... 8...22225.-.22-+--2s0ss5cesee3aeeoes 33
WinerexcMiipiTOnecollechOnsuyosoese see 3S ens cb oe ce ccm e cee ote essences 36
ISSIR AES: ep es eS Re a ae ee 38
ego Lore enrshs La R eee ‘Sy eet at Bae Ee i Re Oy A MG Bt ee ent e at ay EOE 44
Distribution and exchange of specimens.......-..--------------------- oe 46
WHSMROWS Soca se cess He ete ole ER ea a ee 47
MICE HIMES AN OMeCHICS EMRE ete. See ia See nee eee ce eco cee ae eee 48
JUSS ESTE DOG LEVE <a Se ele ea ee Sn Se os 49
ti leanlOn sie ene een Ok ea Ee ee os eee eee 49
we VARDOIT ts ce eR al CE ty 52
Ee raneenie ys irae eee ee Maw se. Soe aie ei So ase oe SOLER See Eee 52
Cooperation of the Executive Departments of the Government. ---...-------- d3
BSTOOSMMOMS 32 SS Gee eS Se ar a ee ee 53
Lihik any OOM Coie eee = Si aaa a 55
Peuriahinmen maustaniee ee Sk a nk ae Se Ce oes eee ce-waceeeeee 55
DeGnn Oey Los eee ee eee 56
Reports oF Heap CurRATORS.
Report on the Department of Anthropology for the year 1903-4 .........---- 61 (Crit Oe UN ph Ee eS aes at OU re Se ee 61 LPtORBOEGSY on ho 2 ee ee ee ec eS Se ee ae 6: VEG OL NOTES ate wc pe Be ea oe RS oS, eee 64 SAM Glencran QelOan sees te ee ace ee ee es Oa oe ie eo es 64 IS DIGTRAOISS S283 5 BS Ba Bee ene OS RACE Smee ie aener ct Roce eae 66
x CONTENTS.
Report on the Department of Anthropology for the year 1903-4—Continued. Care of the collections: =3 2s. 2 ease yee oe ee ee Exhibition and study;seriess = 22 amen ae eee ee eee ee eee Installation: ....22%. 225 oe se oie ais cee ee ne ee
Nodels'and replicas 2.2/5 as eee ae eee a ee See ae
HRESeATCMER (5 Nope Avs nk ae ert Se eee a ee Plans for future:developmient, 22.2 26-22 sees sae ae ee eee Changes: in the, departments - 2.22) ae a eee ae eee Stree Report on the Department of Biology for the year 1908-4 .................-. Pxhibitioncollections 2.22 ss2).504 ose se eee eee eee eee Explorations 522452 ee oc ee ee oe ee ae ee ACCESSIONS! 232 heme ad Lee ee es 8 ee Se ee eee ee Work on-the study series). : 22.8522. 1520 ee ee Cooperation of specialists and loan of collections..................--.--- Distribution.ofsurplus material::s-2 2222s. ec eee eee Laboratory use of the collections by investigators. .......-.-..----------
Scientific researches and investigations ......-.-..-.--.-- ee
Personnéli< fe 526 Soon Soe 2 oe ee ey ee Report on the Department of Geology for the year 1903-4.......-.-...------ ACCESSIONS = oan ote es 5s See ote re eg ae Division. of Geology. -=s2 582 Soran cee aan ee ee eee Division: of Mineralopy),.<2.65 0.25 5) o-oo eee oe eee Invertebrate Paleontolog yee. sess one ae ee ee ee ee eee eee Vertebrate: Paleontology. 22338 ae re a eine Se eae ee Paleobotany 222.0 S528 esas ese ee eee eee eee eee IROUbING ys 25S ss Se ee eae ne ae a oe ee ee
Present: conditioniombhercollectionss=seeese: ose eee eee eee eee Research! ..<....4 82 aoe gee ee eer ns tear: Changes;im personnel. 222. oe eee ee eee eee eee eee
I; ‘The Musewim staff-< 2. 2 252 Sec eee ee eee ee eee IT. List of accessions 2si 2.229236 teins Soe ae ee ee eee LIT; Bibliography 2222-5 s5 48252 sce ese ee ee eee eee ee IV. Report of Charles Schuchert, delegate of the Smithsonian Institution and United States National Museum to the Ninth International Geo- logical Congress, held at Vienna, Austria, August 20-27, 1903.....---.-
AAU lee ole
Papers DESCRIBING AND ILLUSTRATING COLLECTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES NationaL Museum.
Contributions to the history of American geology. By George P. Merrill .-... The. 8. Howland collection of Buddhist-religious art in the National Museum.
By Immanuel M2 Casanowilez ssscco5 se nee ne oe ee eee Flint implements of the Fayum, Egypt. By Heywood Walter Seton-Karr -..
Page. 66 68
“I ~I & oo
Tet “I He bo
189
735 745
a |
12.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PLATES.
CoNTRIBUTIONS TO THE History oF AMERICAN GEOLOGY.
By Gerorce P. MERRILL.
Facing page.
. Maclure’s Geological Map of the United States. Reduced from original
in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, VI, Pt. 2, SU ea ee rene ae ek oe Sel ad aes oak esas < Sele wicle wine Se/nieue
. Portrait of Benjamin Silliman, professor of chemistry, Yale College. From
a steel engraving by W. G. Jackman (D. Appleton & Co.) -.---.------
. Portrait of William Maclure, president of the Philadelphia Academy of
Natural Sciences. (After T. Sully.) Engaved by D. C. Hinman...--. Portrait of Parker Cleaveland, professor of chemistry and mineralogy, Bowdoin College. (After T. Badger.) Engraved by J. C. Buttre..-. Maclure’s Section across the Appalachians (colored). Reduced from original in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 1818- -- Portrait of Amos Eaton, professor of natural science, Rensselaer Polytech- nic Institute. From a wood engraving in Popular Science Monthly, DSSS WUT TUES Osaka ee ee a ee ae eee el oe
Portrait of Ebenezer Emmons, State geologist of North Carolina. From a wood engraving in Popular Science Monthly, XLVIII, 1896.......-- Portrait of Gerard Troost, State geologist of Tennessee. From a wood engraving in Popular Science Monthly, XLV, 1894 ...........-----.---
. Portrait of Samuel George Morton, physician and paleontologist From
SES LCC NC NOT eaViIn Caen ene e ee pea SJ oe stl ials Smee cee eer ae
. Portrait of Charles Thomas Jackson, State geologist of Maine, New Hamp-
shire, and Rhode Island. Redrawn from a woodcut by C. Weber----- Portrait of Lardner Vanuxem, geologist of New York State survey. From a wood engraving in Popular Science Monthly, XLVI, 1895. .......--- Portrait of Edward Hitchcock, professor of geology, Amherst College. From a wood engraving in Popular Science Monthly, XLVII, 1895 .--- Portrait of Henry Darwin Rogers, State geologist of Pennsylvania. From a steel engraving by L.S . Punderson, in Annual ot Scientific Discov ery, Sj eee emia 2k tS. ae ao bce san Shes s sue cin eos cae Portrait of William Williams Mather, geologist of New York State survey. From a wood engraving in Popular Science Monthly, X LIX, 1896_..-.- Portrait of William Barton Rogers, State geologist ot Virginia. From a steel engraving by H. W. Smith, in Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1868 - Portrait of Timothy Abbott Conrad, paleontologist. From a wood engray- inci eopularseence Monthly, XLVEL 1895 ---2.-------- 3-2-2 Portrait of David Dale Owen, geologist. Redrawn from woodcut in Report on Geology of Wisconsin, [owa, and Minnesota -.--.-.---------
. Owen’s Geological Sections (colored). Reduced from original in Report
ot Geological Reconnaissance ot Chippewa Land District ....---------- Portrait of James Hall, State geologist of New York. From a photograph (m@lkem iim WSO =. Jat SaaS GaSe eee sen ae Serr nemen seams Gouoebeoac
. Portrait of James Dwight Dana, professor of geology, Yale College. From
TI OUE WAY es Se a ae ee eee rte ee Sen A Sep River terraces and drift bowlders in Massachusetts. From Hitchcock’s Miltistrationsrolsouriace Geo1orya USO ee cee ama ee a= ae ae eee
. Portrait of John Strong Newberry, professor of geology, Columbia Col-
lege, and State geologist of Ohio. From a steel engrayving..----..-.. --
XII
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Facing page.
24. Portrait of Alexander Winchell, professor of geology and paleontology,
University of Michigan, and State geologist of Michigan. From a steel engraving in Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, III, 1891--.
25. Members of the geological survey of California, 1860. From a paow empl . Portraits of James Richardson, Afexandee Murray, and Sir William Logan.
Krom: photographs:.: = 5. -22.<.2 22 eases ose ee ee
. Portrait of George Hammell Cook, State geologist of New Jersey. From
a photograph taken: about: 1877 <5. ss. fos) 2 Sake eens
. Portrait of Edward Orton, professor of geology, Ohio State University,
and State geologist of Ohio. Froma steel engraving
29. Portrait of Sir William Dawson, principal of McGill University. From a
photograph: ....22..sssi2.aheues DPR esas ee eee eee
. Hayden field party at La Veta Pass, August, 1877. From a photograph. .
Portrait of Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden, director of U. 8. geological sur- vey of the Territories. From a photograph taken about 1876....-.-.--..-
. Portrait of Fielding Bradford Meek, paleontologist. From a howe
by La We Smnillis | oo acc. Se a eee ee a ee
Portrait of Clarence King, director of U. 8. geological explorations of ie tieth parallels Hromiayphotographtss. esse esse es— pee e eee
. Portrait of John Wesley Powell, director of U. 8. geographical and geo-
logical survey of the Rocky Mountain regions. From a photograph - —
5. The Moody Footmark Quarry, South Hadley, Mass. From Hitchcock’s
Tehnolosyfot New: HmelcmaS aS ees aes reer tere
36. The Appleton Cabinet. From Hitchcock’s Ichnology of New England, 1858 . Portrait of Sir William Logan, director of the Geological survey of Canada.
Fromia photograph 23-0 2 < shoe coe ee ee pseee eo ree eee eee
505 515
635
Tue S. 8. Hownanp Co.LLection oF Buppuist REeticious ArT IN THE NATIONAL
Museum.
By Iwmanvuet M. Casanowicz.
Facing page.
1; Atstandine fieure'of Buddihay 22252 Sess aese ss eee eee eee eee 744 2. Buddha sitting msmeditanonaccceseeeere see eee eee eee eee eee eee 744 3. Buddha seated upon a lotus 2.2.52. 2-222. aaa ee ee eee 744 4. Buddha reclining: 22253 son45cs2a- eShe te see eee eee 744 5.. Three figurines of Buddha. .s4:.22 6 S202 2526 eee eee ee eee 744 6) Buddhanwithiattendante injshrines = ==seseseeee ee seeee Eee see 744 7. The shrine closed: 24.24. ecesieee neers soe ee ee 744 8. Two Buddhistsaints\:. 295226522 eee 2 eee 744 9. Buddhist monk..2. 3.12 2.;:5.csce soe oe eee 744 10: Ornamental! beegine bowl aeseseese 2 eee eee ee ee eee 744 1d: Buddhist:sacred book... 22355255 Pea cee ee eee eee ee eee 744 12: Prayer wheel... .2.../:<. 22 S300. 5 tees shee eae eee eee eee 744 13, A pair of temple lamps:.. 253.25. 3-26 ect e eee eee ee eee 744 I4. A temple drum... 22.2 2.050 2es ce) eee ee ee ee eee eee ere ee, 744 15; “Lhe Chinese codlotiwarean. 52s nee see eee Bagi dee eens Eee 744 16. The Chinese god of peace ....------. SRG So ee ere Se 744 17. Two Japanese porcelain figures {2-2 os 44 ae ee eee ree 744
—
Co bo
ha
on
Furnt IMPLEMENTS OF THE Fayum, Eqypr.
By Hreywoop Watrer Seron-K arr.
> Kenives|of fim froma le) Etat yin) yo pee ee . Arrowheads of mew types Bess eh crypts lee er eee .. Arrowheads of varied shape. Hayumi, Mayqtes see seen epee eee
Arrowheads of different forms. Fayum, Egypt.-..--.---..------- 1 Seats
. Objects of worked flint... Fayum, Heypt —2= toe seen oes ee oe eee
=
. Various types of flint implements. Fayum, Egypt . Flintimplements. Fayum, Egypt . Arrow and javelin heads, saws, etc. Fayum, Egypt . Saws and other implements of flint. Fayum, Egypt . Arrowheads of remarkable form. Fayum, Egypt . Scrapers, knives, drills, ete. Fayum, Egypt . Spearheads, sacrificial knives, etc. Fayum, Egypt
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
XIII
Facing page.
TEXT FIGURES. CoNTRIBUTIONS TO THE History oF AMERICAN GEOLOGY.
By Grorce P. MerRRILL.
1. Portrait of Archibald Bruce. From American Journal of Science, I, 1819.
. Portrait of Samuel Luther Dana. From a wood engraving in Popular
SPEC EIIGS Ue Hay BU OSI I 13] Cn
. Portrait of Samuel Latham Mitchill. From a steel engraving by Gimber
savel IOWA: S55 s 5 Sk ce Se ee ae ae a
7 Map tollustrate Mitchill’s theory of barriers. -...........-----.......-- . A geological transverse section, extending from Catskill Mountain to the
Atlantic. From Eaton’s Index to Geology of the Northern States, 1818.
. Portrait of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. From a steel engraving by Illman
OF SWING 565405 6 SSBB CASAS SSE E G5 Ae Pee an I arene re
Map snowing ochoolerait-s route in 1620 2S. 2.0.2 S2c 2k celles e eases i? Pe VaOMmCuOOerAl Ss traAve ID IS2ls...-2s2cccccnc o-5seseceete cece sens . Schoolcraft’s Section of Presque Isle. (Original colored.) From Narrative
VGURMaleotenavel salts a nee ae mee cee ee he ee Ae ee ee ocen
. Map of Long’s expeditions, 1819-20. From an account of an Expedition
inamelitiepure to Nwocky Mountains: .222...2-\.- 7.522 ..52-.ede-eceecs
. Geological Sections from the Allegheny to the Rocky Mountains. (After
Edwin James.) From report of Long’s expedition, 1819-20...........
. Portrait of Horace H. Hayden. From a painting by permission of Mary-
lan Gave OLO mI CHES IEVG vane eee ee oe Sac cn idle ae ett ee ome cee
. Portrait of Thomas Cooper at age of 70. From a steel engraving by
FAM Sea) urcur leet ear ee sk Sse he ee ee ee eo siee
. Supposed human footprints in limestone. (After D. D. Owen.) From
American Journalotscience, XGLIIM, 1842 222.222 2-.- S225 esse ec mee
5. Portrait of Denison Olmsted. From a steel engraving by A. H. Ritchie-- . Map showing Routes of Long’s expedition of 1823. From Narrative of an
Expedigon tothe Source of St. Peters River ...-.---------2-2-+-2-c-s
. Sections of Snake Hill, Saratoga Lake. (After J. H. Steel.) From Amer-
LCADEOUMMADMOMACIENCE S20 ios cecio 245s es ne own cece sec cee eeeeee
. Portrait of Elisha Mitchell. From a steel engraving........-.---------- . Eaton’s Transverse Sections of the Globe. From Geological Text-Book, 1832 . Portrait of George William Featherstonhaugh. From American Geolo-
Gist, Ajomill, ISS. [ose 6s8 eee pee ee eee eee eee ee Beer ee Sonera nonecs
- Portrait of Jacob Green. From a steel engraving..........-.-..----.--- . Folded axes. (After Edward Hitchcock.) From Final Report on Geology
Gi IMlsiseeloninsrey nO LSP ee ea ee ROM ane Ae Seana ence Sts
. Portrait of Isaac Lea. From a steel engraving in the Annual of Scientific
Pore Same ne eae ono 8 SS es uta uc ees ceeees se eeee
. Portrait of Juiius Timoleon Ducatel. From a painting, by permission of
Macuinueecolgsicalisunvey 2. 22002222 2.3452 en Soe aoe eee
. Portrait of James Gates Percival. From an engraving .....------------- . Portrait of Samuel Prescott Hildreth. From a photograph-....--.------ . Page from Mather’s Elements of Geology for the use of schools, 1833.
BU eHREGMCEQlEXACHRIZE)) o222 2.5 sssccltesene a7 e eee eee nee eee
. Portrait of Abraham Gesner. From an engraving in Bulletin XIV, Natu-
ral History Society of New Brunswick, 1896.........-.---------------
Cay SS Or Ot Ol C1 O bo bb Bb bo bo
XIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
. Portrait of Charles Upham Shepard. From a lithograph by Engelbach - - . Portrait of James Curtis Booth. From a photograph taken in 1876 .---. . Portrait of Bela Hubbard. From an engraving in Magazine of Western
History .:3..5- idole 6.22 Se eee cee ee ee eee ee ees aerate
. General section across the Western States. (After D. D. Owen.) From
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 1846.-...------
. Portrait of James Hall. From a daguerreotype taken in 1843..........-- . Profile of the Island of New York. (After Issachar Cozzens.) From Geo-
logical History of Manhattan Island, 1843, (Original colored) ...-..---
. Portrait of Michael Tuomey. From a photograph taken about 1857 --.-- ». Portrait of Charles Baker Adams. From an enlarged engraving in Amer-
LCA GeolO est ENON DI AG 05 ese cel eae ee ee
. Ideal section of the crust of the earth. (After C. B. Adams.) From First
Annual Report Geologist of Vermont, 1845.-.......22...-.-2.e---ees
38. Portrait of Zadock Thompson. From a steel engraving by J. C. Buttre-- . Richmond howlder train. (After E. Hitchcock.) From American Jour-
MaliOL SCIENCE; XoNe NING: NBA es pe yee ne es ee
. Portrait of Frederick Adolphus Wislizenus. From a photograph---..---- . Portrait of James Dwight Dana. From a lithograph by R. Hoffman, 1857- 2. Sketch map of Richmond bowlder train. (After E. R. Benton.) From
Bulletin of Museum of Comparative Zoology, V, 1878 ......-----------
3. Portrait of John Bulkley Perry. From an engraving by H. W. Smith-~--
44. Map showing Stansbury’s routes in 1849-50 ............----..-.----.--- 45. Map of areas surveyed by D. D. Owen in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois in
1839 pand the Chipped andidistrict amy 184: ae ee 46. Owen’s geological sections across Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. From
Report of Geological Exploration of Part of Iowa, Wisconsin, and IIli- MOIS: WSSOs WEN. Se sae oe acs See eee ee oe
7. Trap dikes on Lake Superior. (After D. D. Owen.) From Report of Geo-
logical Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, 1852.........-..-..
3. Map showing area surveyed by Jackson, and Foster and Whitney, 1847-49.
49. Portrait of Louis Agassiz. From a steel engraving by C. H. Jeens in
Nature; Aprils 1879 222-3 eee ce ene See ee ne eae eee eee eee 50. Portrait of John Wells Foster. From a steel engraving -...--..---------- 51. Portrait of Philip Thomas Tyson. From a painting, by permission of
Maryland ceologicall surveyr fea. ss see ee eee eee Portrait of Joseph Granville Norwood, aged 67 years. From a_ photo- eraphy 22.5 ode es ot See ea ee ee ee eee
3. Map showing routes of Marcy and Shumard, 1849-52.-..........-.-.---. . Portrait of Oliver Payson Hubbard. From a photograph ---.-..--------- . Portrait of John Boardman Trask. From a photograph ..--.---..------- . Portrait of Garland Carr Broadhead. From a photograph -.-.--.-.------ . Portrait of Oscar Montgomery Lieber. From a photograph -.-.....----- » Portraitof Jules Marcou: Biromraiphotorrapheessss-s=s2=5 es === =e . Map showing principal routes of exploring parties in connection with
Pacific railroad surveys. «2-2. 4-s5. 8-22 ee oe ae ees eee
. Portrait of William Phipps Blake. From a photograph......----.------ . Portrait of Thomas Antisell. From a photograph --.----.---..---2.. 22 . Portrait of George Gibbs: HKrom'’a photocraphissessse-s-e eee ee . Portrait of James Merrill Safford. From a photograph -..-.....-......- . Section from the Cumberland to eastern base of Lookout Mountain..
(After J. M. Safford.) From a Geological Reconnaissance of Tennessee, 1855
. Paradoxides harlani. From a photograph of one of Green’s casts- - ------ . Portrait of Richard Owen. From a wood engraving in Popular Science
Monthly; Li, 1897 . >. oo5c2 2 eS ee ee eee
7. Map showing routes traversed by Newberry with Lieutenant Ives and
Captain Macomb, 1857-59', ... es. 2 scree. «nee ee eeemies oaeeeeie es ;
Page.
340 349
360
069 B81
385 387
391
392
395
394
398 401
403 405 410
411
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
. Portrait of Eugene Waldemar Hilgard. From a photograph taken Janu-
MY, IRs Jeb 6 Jae es ene ee ae
. Portrait of Benjamin Franklin Shumard. From an engraving in Amer-
ETD (GST CURE DICE ee a ae neers Saas ne eee
. Portraitof Amos Henry Worthen. Froma photograph taken about 1863 . Portrait of Leo Lesquereux. From a photograph taken in May, 1872 --- . Portrait of Henry Engelmann. From a photograph . Portraitof Charles Henry Hitchcock. Froma photograph taken about 1879. . Portrait of Thomas Sterry Hunt. From an engraving in American Geol-
imininpnGle IDO se mre oe one yoccce 2 anaemic sm ecce x ones ose See
. Portrait of Raphael Pumpelly. From a photograph -.........--..----- . Portrait of Benjamin Franklin Mudge. From a photograph -...-.--.---- . Portrait of George Clinton Swallow. From an engraving in American
CaN Desi AGGIE CS i ee are a
. Portrait of Charles Frederick Hartt. From a photograph. -..-..-.------ 79. Portraits of Charles Abiather White, Rush Emery, and Orestes St. John.
Proms PnGloxraph taken in 18695025 26 oso s <a nen ss eee oo
. Portrait of Thomas Brooks Brooks. From a photograph ........-.-.---- . Portrait of Carl Rominger. From a photograph taken about 1879 .----- . Portrait of Charles Whittlesey. From a photograph taken in December,
See Penn Rene tin S tos aos nia Sse oe Soceink ie Seieciec cies S
+ Portrait of Edward Travers Cox. . From a photograph.'............---- . Portrait of Alfred Richard Cecil Selwyn. From a photograph .....---- pePortrait of George: Little. From a photograph --:-.-.-..-.----------+-- . Portrait of John Murrish. From a photograph ..---..- Sopa SGN east . Portrait of Othniel Charles Marsh. Froma photograph ........------- . Portrait of Joseph Le Conte. From a photograph........-..---------- . Portrait of Washington Caruthers Kerr. From a photograph Ete eee . Portrait of Eugene Allen Smith. From a photograph .........-------- . Portrait of John Wesley Powell. From a photograph .....-.------.--- 92.
Ideal cross section of the Black Hills. (After Henry Newton.) From Report of Geology and Resources of the Black Hills of Dakota, 1880- -
. Portrait of Increase Allen Lapham. From a photograph taken in 1866. - . Portrait of Thomas Crowder Chamberlin. From a photograph taken in
S84 eee eee eee ee Sena ah SoS lp anemegece as saniemeceeeG
. Portrait of Roland Duer Irving. From an engraving in American Geolo-
Lig, Umi USO coger ae aes SSS a ae ae ee er ieee
. Portrait of J. Peter Lesley. From a photograph ...-......-.---------- . Maps showing routes of Raynolds’s expedition in 1859-60, and area coy-
GNSS! Diy TE VE te SCA ERIS) oO) Reo ee eee eee ea
. Portrait of Edward Drinker Cope, with a skull of Loxolophodon cornutus.
Hirer aMpbOlorratibee = =...2500 = soes so-oo++ - =e 22 55 222-52 eee = se
. Portrait of Fielding Bradford Meek. From a photograph by Julius Ulke,
B77 s 256560RS sae ae eee ee ABS ee es ciic
. Portrait of Frank Howe Bradley. From a photograph -....--.-------- . Portrait of Joseph Leidy. From an engraving in American Geologist,
TES, TAG eee SS Se ea So nee Ee pang d ta gin, PM ety Sk
. Portrait of Frederic Miller Endlich. From a photograph -.-.---------- . Inverted beds of Jackass Creek. (After A. C. Peale.) From U. 8. Geo-
logical Survey of Montana, 1872........-----------------+----------
. Portrait of Albert Charles Peale. From a photograph taken in 1872... . Portrait of Archibald Robertson Marvine. From a photograph taken in
WED) cco desdcde Goes does COO ea EB Gee OOOO OE nap aae pee SaRee acca
. Sections across the Sierra La Sal. (After A. OC. Peale.) From Report
U. 8. Geological and Geographical Survey, 1875 .....----------------
. Sections across the Sierra El Late. ( After W. H. Hoimes.) From Report
U. 8. Geological and Geographical Survey, 1875 -..------------------
. Portrait of William Henry Holmes. From a photograph taken about 1878.
138. SOF 140.
141.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
9. Showing areas surveyed and mapped by the Hayden Surveys, 1870-78 -. . Portrait of Robert Parr Whitfield. From a photograph...........-.-.--- . Map showing area covered by the Fortieth Parallel Survey --....--..--- . Portraits of Arnold Hague, Clarence King, and Samuel Franklin Emmons.
From a photopraphs 2.1. = cae cao oct ome ace eee eee ee
3. Portrait of Grove Karl Gilbert. From a photograph taken about 1874. - . Section of the Pahranagat range at Silver Canyon. (After G. K. Gilbert. )
From Geological Survey West of One Hundredth Meridian, III, 1875- -
5. Portrait of Edwin Eugene Howell. From a photograph taken about 1875. 5. Portrait of John James Stevenson. From a photograph ........-------- . Map showing area surveyed and mapped by the Powell survey, 1875-80- . Portrait of Clarence Edward Dutton. From a photograph ----..-.----- 9. Laccoliths. (After G. K. Gilbert.) From Geology of Henry Mountains,
Utah; (S77 ..825tecoe sess See ee a eet en ne ee ee ee
Pale kein oot omy tees Sores eater etc ge tre eee ee ee ere . Fossil footprints. (After Edward Hitchcock.) From American Journal
Of Science PLBSGaas.c 4 ene See arte ho Beier ee ee ore een ee ee
7. Portrait ot James’ Deane; Hronia photographs sees see -: eee ee eee . Skeleton of Anchisaurus colarus Marsh. From American Journal of
SCLEM GE: RSLAVG MUR O SG: Beer sae BEDE rae) a a ney eee Spee
. Supposed fossil from Laurentian limestone. (After W. E. Logan.) From Geology ok Canada, dSGa s2 2. 9 aemceeees ae eerie ae eee ee eee
. Small weathered specimens of Hozoon canadense. (After J. W. Dawson. )
Krom: ChainioiMitean) Geologicall Mime esses seen eee eee
. Magnified group of canals in supplemental skeleton of Eozoon. (After
J. W. Dawson.) From Chain of Life in Geological Time-..--...-----
. Portion of Eozoon magnified 100 diameters, showing the original cell
wall, with tubulation. (After W. B. Carpenter in Dawson’s Chain of Lite in:Geolosieal Time)\-: ck ec ccsece sees soem eee eee eee
. Magnified and restored section of a portion of Eozoon canadense. (After
J. W. Dawson.) From Chain of Life in Geological Time..-..-...-.-.-.
9. Diagram of Eozoonal rock at Cote St. Pierre. (After T. G. Bonney.)
From GeolopicalsWacezrie le iS 9 oe ee ere ee
. Map of original Taconic area. (After Ebenezer Emmons)..........---- . Section of Taconic rocks. (After E. Emmons.) From Agriculture of
New Y ork} eee aes ae es ee eee Re ec ee ee ne ee
. Sections explanatory of the Taconic system. (After KE. Emmons.) From
Natoral History: ot New, York, Pt. 4. =<. 5-2. 2o.eee 2 eneee ee a ee
33. Atops trilineatus. (After E. Emmons.) From Agriculture of New York,
I, ph. Vink 222382 abe ae ee ee 2 ee ee ee eee
. Elliptocephala asaphoides. (Atter E. Emmons.) From Agriculture of
New York, Dopltimmseecie tise! ees 02. cece so een ee eee
5. Triarthrus beckii and eatoni. (Atter James Hall.) From American Jour-
nal of Sciences Xxx 1837-388. p. 140 S2e2 ee eee eee
3. Olenus thompson. (After James Hall.) From Tenth Annual Report
Regents of the University of State of New York, 1857 -.-..---...-:-.:
7. Olenus vermontana. (Atter James Hall.) From Tenth Annual Report
Regents of the University of State of New York -.........--.....-.... Portrait of Elkanah Billings. From a photograph...........--+-...---- Portrait of Charles Doolittle Walcott. From a photograph taken in 1891.
Tabular view of Taconic strata as arranged by E. Emmons. (AfterC. D. Walcott.) From American Journal of Science, XX XV, April, 1888 --
Section of Bald Mountain from the south. (After C. D. Walcott.) From American Journal of Science, XeXSXV pisdeias eee ee eee ee ree
FLINT IMPLEMENTS OF THE Fayum, Eaypr. By Heywoop Wa trter Srron-Karr.
Maprof part.of Fayum Desert.2:- os. Jose cee eee ee eee
Page.
604 609 610
612 616
617 618 618 620 621
622 624
Jgveud sd Ris oe
REPORT UPON THE CONDITION AND PROGRESS OF THE U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM DURING THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1904. -
RICHARD RATHBUN,
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, IN CHARGE OF THE U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM.
NAT Mus 1904——1 i
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UPON
THE CONDITION AND PROGRESS OF THE U. 8. NATIONAL MUSEUM DURING THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1904,
. By Ricnarp Rarreun,
Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, in charge of the U.S. National Museum. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.
The United States National Museum had its origin in the act of Congress of 1846 founding the Smithsonian Institution, which made the formation of a museum one of the principal functions of the latter, and provided that— ;
Whenever suitable arrangements can be made from time to time for their recep- tion, all objects of art and of foreign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens belonging to the United States, which may be in the city of Washington, in.whosesoever custody they may be, shall be delivered to such persons as may be authorized by the Board of Regents to receive them, and shall be so arranged and classified in the building erected for the Institution as best to facilitate the examination and study of them; and when- ever new specimens in natural history, geology, or mineralogy are obtained for the museum of the Institution, by exchanges of duplicate specimens, which the Regents may in their discretion make, or by donation, which they may receive, or otherwise, the Regents shall cause such new specimens to be appropriately classed and arranged.
The principal and accrued interest of the Smithsonian fund umounted at that time to about $750,000, a sum considered ample to meet the needs of the various operations in which it was proposed that the Smithsonian Institution should engage. In 1846 probably not more than one or two universities or learned establishments in Amer- ica had so large an endowment, and it was apparently the idea of Congress that the fund was sufficient both for the erection of a build- ing and for the care of the collections which would be turned over to it or acquired by the national surveys, and in other ways. The Museum thus began as an integral part of the Institution, coordinate with its library, and was required by law to provide for the Govern- ment collections which had previously accumulated, a duty which the
3
.
4 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Institution did not see its way clear to fulfill until 1858, when Con- gress began to make small yearly appropriations to aid in this purpose. So inadequate, however, were the sums voted that for many years the slender income of the Institution continued to be drawn upon to insure the maintenance of what was then justly called the Smithsonian Museum, since the building was paid for out of the Smithson fund, a considerable portion of the collections was and still is the property of the Institution, through exploration and gift, and a number of the ofti- cials connected with the Museum were employed at its expense.
The first scientific collection to come into the possession of the Insti- tution—and, in fact, it accompanied the bequest—was the small but valuable mineralogical cabinet of James Smithson, the founder, who was himself a chemist and mineralogist of repute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
The nucleus of the National Museum was, however, virtually acquired by the National Institute, a society organized in Washington about 1840, having for its avowed purpose the direction of the Smithson bequest and the pursuit of objects in consonance with the terms of that foundation. One of these objects was the gathering of historical and natural history specimens from both official and private sources, most prominent among the former having been the United States Exploring Expedition around the world from 1838 to 1842. Rooms in the Patent Office building were secured for the museum of the society, which was practically recognized as the appropriate place of deposit for all Gov- ernment collections retained in Washington. Another important serv- ice rendered by the society was, as the late Dr. G. Brown Goode has said, in the direction of educating public opinion *‘ to consider the establishment of such an institution worthy of the Government of the United States.” Failing, however, to secure the public recognition at which it aimed, it became inactive upon the establishment of the Smith- sonian Institution in 1846, and its charter, which expired in 1861, was not renewed. The Government collections in its possession, which came practically under the care of the Commissioner of Patents, were turned over to the Smithsonian Institution in 1858. Other material directly under the control of the National Institute remained at the Patent Office until 1862, and a part of the historical objects were held there until 1883.
Previous to 1858, however, important materials for a museum were being accumulated at the Smithsonian Institution, at its own cost and through the activities of its assistant secretary, Prof. Spencer F.
saird, beginning even before his appointment to that office in 1850. The personal bent of Professor Baird was toward the collection of natural history specimens for purposes of study. With the approval of Secretary Henry he put into operation plans for the accomplish- ment of this object, which, fostered and encouraged, were soon yield-
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 5
ing regular and abundant returns. Professor Baird’s own vacations were spent in field work. Officers of the Army and Navy and of other branches of the Government service, fishermen, fur traders, private explorers, and such powerful organizations as the Hudson’s Bay Com- pany and the Western Union Telegraph Company, were enlisted in the work and rendered valuable assistance. The influence exerted by these beginnings has been lasting and widespread, as shown in the extensive natural history operations of subsequent National and State surveys, the organization of the Fish Commission and Bureau of Eth- nology, and the support given to scientific collecting by many other bureaus of the Government.
The discussion of plans for the organization of the Smithsonian Institution, which devolved upon the first Board of Regents, led, in January, 1847, to the unanimous adoption of the following resolution expressing approval of the museum feature as one of its important functions:
Resolved, That it is the intention of the act of Congress establishing the Institution, and in accordance with the design of Mr. Smithson, as expressed in his will, that one of the principal modes of executing the act and the trust is the accumulation of collections of specimens and objects of natural history and of elegant art, and the gradual formation of a library of valuable works pertaining to all departments of human knowledge, to the end that a copious storehouse of materials of science, literature, and art may be provided, which shall excite and diffuse the love of learn- ing among men, and shall assist the original investigations and efforts of those who may devote themselves to the pursuit of any branch of knowledge. @
The policy thus announced has prevailed to the present day.
In 1879, when most of the existing Government surveys, whose work included the collecting of specimens in the field, had been estab- lished, Congress deemed it important to practically reenforce the pro- visions of the act founding the Institution, in order that there might be no doubt as to the proper disposition of the material certain to be derived from these various sources, by the following enactment in the sundry civil appropriation act for 1880:
All collections of rocks, minerals, soils, fossils, and objects of natural history, archeology, and ethnolgy, made by the Coast and Interior Survey, the Geological Survey, or by any other parties for the Government of the United States, when no longer needed for investigations in progress shall be deposited in the National Museum.
Although the name ‘** National Museum” was sometimes used in the earlier reports of the Smithsonian Institution, it did not appear in any of the laws of. Congress until 1875. Its general employment may be said to date from the time of the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876, the first exposition in this country in which the Government participated, and the first to make known to vast numbers of the people of the United States the existence of national collections at
« Report of Committee on Organization, p. 20.
6 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Washington, as well as new methods of installing and exhibiting museum materials, differing radically from the older cabinets of col- lege or local museums, which had prevailed up to that period. After its close the Government exhibits brought back to Washington, together with the extensive gifts made to the United States by private persons and foreign governments, rendered necessary the early erec- tion of a new and separate building, devoted entirely to museum purposes. Since that time Congress has mainly provided for the maintenance of the Museum, but its management remains, by the fundamental act, under the authority of the Regents of the Smithso- nian Institution, administered through their Secretary, who is ex officio the keeper—a form of government insuring a consistent and uniform policy and a nonpartisan administration of its affairs. The greater part of the Smithsonian building is still used for museum purposes, and the Institution, as well as most of the scientific bureaus at Wash- ington, cooperate, both through men and material, in enlarging and caring for the national collections.
The scope of the National Museum as defined by law comprises practically all branches of science and of the arts which admit of museum treatment. With exceedingly limited means for making pur- chases, and therefore almost entirely dependent as to the character of its collections upon Government explorations, personal donations, and exchanges, its different departments have had a very unequal growth. The subjects best represented are American ethnology and archeology, geology, zoology, and botany. A fair beginning has been made in the exceedingly important branches of the industrial arts and American history, and scarcely more is required to place these two departments on a proper basis than sufficient room to display the necessary collections, which are certain to be received, in greater part through gratuitous contributions, when it is known that the Museum is prepared to care for them. In the department of the fine arts the collection is still very small, but the subject is one which must sooner or later receive earnest consideration by the Government.
The specimens in all branches are classified in two series; one, com- prising the bulk of the material, being arranged for the purposes of scientific research and reference in laboratories and storerooms, to which students are freely admitted; the other, selected with regard to their general educational value and public interest, and accompanied by descriptive labels, being displayed in glass-covered cases in the public halls. The duplicate specimens not required for exchanges are made up into sets for distribution to schools and colleges, as opportunity offers. Papers descriptive of the coilections, both tech- nical and popular, are published for gratuitous circulation to the extent of three or more volumes yearly, and, finally, the Museum has come to be regarded as a bureau of information in respect to all
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. fi
subjects with which it is even in the remotest degree concerned, the correspondence which this involves now constituting one of its heaviest tasks.
The history of the Museum, as pointed out by the late Doctor Goode, may be divided into three epochs, which he characterized as follows:
First, the period from the foundation of the Smithsonian Institution to 1857, dur- ing which time specimens were collected solely to serve as materials for research. No special effort was made to exhibit them to the public or to utilize them, except as a foundation for scientific description and theory.
Second, the period from 1857, when the Institution assumed the custody of the ‘National Cabinet of Curiosities,’’? to 1876. During this period the Museum became a place of deposit for scientific collections which had already been studied, these col- lections, so far as convenient, being exhibted to the public and, so far as practicable, - made to serve an educational purpose.
Third, the present period (beginning in the year 1876), in which the Museum has undertaken more fully the additional task of gathering collections and exhibiting them on account of their yalue from an educational standpoint.
During the first period the main object of the Museum was scientific research; in the second, the establishment became a museum of record as well as of research, while in the third period has been added the idea of public education. The three ideas—record, research, and education—cooperative and mutually helpful as they are, are essential to the development of every great museum. The National Museum endeayors to promote them all.
In the same connection, Doctor Goode also defined the scope and objects of the Museum in the following concise manner:
It is a museum of record, in which are preserved the material foundations of an enormous amount of scientific knowledge—the types of numerous past investigations. This is especially the case with those materials that have served-as a foundation for the reports upon the resources of the United States.
It isa museum of research, which aims to make its contents serve in the highest degree as a stimulus to inquiry and a foundation for scientific investigation. Research is necessary in order to identify and group the objects in the most philosophical and instructive relations, and its officers are therefore selected for their ability as investi- gators, as well as for their trustworthiness as custodians.
It is an educational museum, through its policy of illustrating by specimens every kind of natural object and every manifestation of human thought and activity, of displaying descriptive labels adapted to the popular mind, and of distributing its publications and its named series of duplicates.
AS A MUSEUM OF RECORD.
In its function as a museum of record the growth of the National Museum has been unprecedented, due mainly to the rapid exploration and development of a rich and extensive country under the liberal and progressive policy of the Government. From scientific institu- tions throughout the world, from foreign governments, and from indi- viduals abundant stores of great value have been received, either as gifts or through the medium of exchange of specimens, and a small appropriation in recent years has permitted of some purchases to supply desiderata.
8 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
The principal sources of the collections may be briefly summarized as follows:
|. The explorations carried on more or less directly under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, or by the Institution in con- nection with educational institutions or commercial establishments, and the efforts, since 1850, of its officers and correspondents toward the accumulation of natural history and anthropological material.
2. The United States Exploring Expedition around the world from 1838 to 1842, the North Pacific, or Perry, Exploring Expedition from 1853 to 1856, and many subsequent naval expeditions down to and including the recent operations in the West Indian and Philippine waters.
3. The activities of members of the United States diplomatic and consular service abroad.
4. The Government surveys at home, such as the Pacific Railroad surveys, the Mexican and Canadian boundary surveys, and the surveys carried on by the Engineer Corps of the U. S. Army; and the activi- ties of officers of the Signal Corps, and other branches of the Army stationed in remote regions.
5. The explorations of the U. S. Geological Survey, the U. S. Fish Commission, the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of American Kthnology of the Smithsonian Institution, and other scientific branches of the Government.
6. Donations and purchases in connection with the several exposi- tions at home and abroad in which the Museum and Fish Commission have participated, among these having been the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876, the International Fisheries Exhibitions at Berlin in 1880 and at London in 1883, the New Orleans Cotton Centennial Exposition in 1884 and 1885, the Cincinnati Exposition of 1888, the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1898, the expositions at Atlanta in 1895, at Nashville in 1897, at Omaha in 1898, the Pan- American [xposition of 1901, and the Charleston Exposition of 1901-02. The returns from the World’s Fair in Philadelphia were of greatest extent, comprising, besides the collections displayed by the United States in illustration of the animal and mineral resources, the fisheries, and the ethnology of the native races of the country, valuable gifts from thirty of the foreign governments which participated, as wellas the industrial collections of numerous manufacturing and com- mercial houses of Europe and America.
7. Exchanges with foreign and domestic museums and with indi- viduals.
Immediately preceding the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, when the collections were entirely provided for in the Smithsonian building, the number of entries of specimens in the Museum record books was
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 9
about 235,000. In 1884, when the additional room afforded by the new building gave opportunity for taking a provisional census of the large accessions received from Philadelphia and from other sources, the number had grown to 1,471,000. At the close of the year covered by this report the total number of recorded specimens was 5,898,493.
While these figures convey no impression of the bulk of the collec- tions, when it is considered that by 1885 all of the space in both build- ings was completely filled, and in fact so overcrowded that a third building was already being asked of Congress, some conception may be had of the conditions now existing. The storerooms are packed to their utmost capacity, making it difficult to gain access to the speci- mens or to provide adequately for their safety. For many years most of the objects received have had to be stored in outside and unsafe structures, where they are mainly piled up in the original packing boxes, and where has already accumulated enough material of great intrinsic and scientific value to fill an additional building as large as that now occupied by the main collections.
AS A MUSEUM OF RESEARCH.
In order to permit of their examination and study, as provided in the act of establishment, the collections of the Museum are, to the extent of its accommodations, arranged systematically and in a manner convenient for reference. Access to the reserve or study series, so called, consisting of the main body of the collections and as complete in all the groups as the accessions have made possible, is given to all properly qualified persons engaged in original research. The oppor- tunities thus afforded are widely availed of, the Museum being visited every year by many investigators, some of world-wide distinction, coming from the scientific centers of Kuropean and other foreign countries, as well as from all parts of the United States. Material is also occasionally sent out to representatives of other institutions hay- ing the means of providing for its safe-keeping, when required in the working up of special subjects, or for comparison in connection with their own collections.
The custodianship of the collections being the first and most impera- tive duty devolving upon the scientific staff of the National Museum, its members find comparatively little time during office hours for advancing knowledge, though they are mostly well qualified for such work, being selected with special reference to their ability to identify and classify the specimens under their charge in accordance with the latest researches. As a matter of fact, however, the staff does pro- duce every year a large number of papers descriptive of the collec- tions, which together constitute an important contribution to scientific literature.
10 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Among the honorary officers having their laboratories at the Museum are a number of assistants employed by other scientific bureaus to con- duct investigations on material kept here in their charge, and in whose results the Museum shares.
Many collections have, from time to time, baa transferred by the Geological Survey, the Fish Commission, the Department of Agricul- ture, and other branches of the Government to the custody of the Museum in advance of their final working up, in order to provide for their safe storage and to secure the better facilities for study here afforded. Under this arrangement the amount of research work car- ried on in the Museum building has been greatly increased.
Though having little means to expend for field work, members of the Museum staff are occasionally given opportunities to participate in the explorations of other Government bureaus or of private expe- ditions, in connection with which special researches may be carried on, though the chief advantage results from the acquisition of new and valuable material and a knowledge of the conditions under which it occurred in nature.
AS AN EDUCATIONAL MUSEUM.
The educational side of the Museum is intended to consist mainly of an exhibition of all the classes of objects which it represents, so mounted, installed, and labeled as to directly interest and instruct the general public. The principal difficulty incident to the proper instal- lation of such a collection, conceding all the space required, lies in the selection of its parts, so that while enough is displayed to convey the amount of information which it is intended to impart, the visitor shall not be overburdened or confused with details. While this policy is being followed in the National Museum, so far as its means permit, the lack of room has always prevented a complete or satisfactory development of the plan, and.every succeeding year the conditions in this respect grow worse instead of better, through the increased crowd- ing of the halls. The advances in recent years have been chiefly in the methods of display, in the character of individual and group mountings, and in the labeling, in all of which directions exceptional progress has been made.
Three years ago it was announced that all of the halls designed for public use were then for the first time permanently open, though none were above addition or improvement, while in some the arrangement was entirely provisional. This was accomplished only by the transter of large quantities of material to outside storage, but it has unfortu- nately been again necessary to shut off one or more of the halls from time to time, in order to furnish increased space for workrooms.
In this connection it seems appropriate to refer to the work of Doctor Goode, than whom no museum administrator ever had a better
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. ey
understanding of the public needs. He labored earnestly and con- scientiously to make this a museum for as well as of the people, and the plans now being carried out are, in all their essential features, of his making. While the assistants might be relied upon to arrange and maintain the study series in a manner acceptable to the specialist, the interests of the public always remained in his immediate charge. He was ever occupied in devising ways for so presenting the features of nature and the activities of mankind that by the very force of his sur- roundings the visitor was bound to receive and carry with him some definite impression, some new bit of knowledge. Doctor Goode’s labors in this field ranged from the planning of the general scheme to the most minute details of case architecture and fittings. His official connection with nearly all the important expositions of the past quar- ter of a century and his exhaustive studies of all the principal museums of Europe and the United States gave him exceptional opportunities for observation and experiment. Though a young man when he died, none other had acquired so ripe an experience and none is more worthy of being followed. .
An incidental, though very popular, educational feature of the Museum, having for its purpose the promotion of scientific teaching throughout the country, has been the distribution to schools and col- leges of its duplicate specimens, properly identified and labeled, and put up in carefully selected sets. Inadequate means have prevented this measure from being carried out on the scale which the resources of the Museum would admit of, but many hundreds of such sets have already been given away.
Searcely a year passes that some exposition, either at home or abroad, is not occupying the attention of the Museum, and through this means its existence and aims are brought constantly and promi- nently before the public. These expositions have of late followed one another so closely, and have required such extensive preparations, as to interfere greatly with the ordinary work of the Museum, but the practice of introducing new and varied features, of showing a fresh series of objects or improved groupings in connection with each one, insures a substantial gain, when the collections are returned to Wash- ington, besides fulfilling the important function of making museum methods known to the people of the United States and stimulating the growth of museums in many quarters.
Though mainly technical and most useful to the investigator, the publications of the Museum can be classed, in a general way, as belonging to its educational side, being the medium through which the nature and extent of its collections are made known. The Annual Report, first printed as a separate volume of the Smithsonian Report in 1884, and now in its twentieth volume, consists, besides the admin- istrative part, mainly of semipopular papers on interesting portions of
12 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
the collections. The Proceedings and Bulletins are almost exclusively technical, the shorter papers being assigned to the former and the larger and more exhaustive works to the latter. Of the Proceedings twerity-four complete volumes have been issued, and of the Bulletins fifty-two numbers. é
THE NEW MUSEUM BUILDING.
As stated in the last report, Congress, in its session of 1903, had authorized the erection of an additional building for the National Museum at a cost not to exceed $3,500,000, and the Board of Regents had appointed a committee to have charge of this important work. The superintendent of construction, Mr. Bernard R. Green, had been designated in the act of Congress, and the architects, Messrs. Horn- blower & Marshall, who prepared the tentative sketches, had been selected by the Regents. .
By the close of that year the architects had begun upon the elabora- tion of their plans, a work of slow progress, since the building is not for an object with which that profession, in any part of the world, has had much to do. There is no fixed pattern to follow, but it is hoped to correct some of the faults shown in buildings heretofore put up for the same purpose; to correct them all is beyond expectation. It has been the task of the Museum expert to explain his needs; it is now for the architect to express them in a definite and practical form. It is expected that this work will be satisfactorily accomplished, and a building produced meeting the requirements of science and the arts, as well as those proposed for architectural improvement at the national capital.
It is still too early to discuss the details of the plans. It may be said, however, that the building will be effective in appearance, sub- stantial, and fireproof. It will have an abundance of light and be well ventilated and well heated. The reserve collections and the labor- atories of each division will be in relatively close proximity to the corresponding exhibition collections, insuring convenience of study and oversight. Several elevators will connect the different stories, and the comfort of visitors will be fully provided for. Congress has called for plans for a central power and heating plant for the buildings on the Mall. The benefits of such a feature can not fail to be appre- ciated, but as some delay must occur in carrying out this measure, it is expected that the new Museum building will need. to have its own separate plant installed in the basement to meet at least its preliminary wants.
By the beginning of the calendar year 1904 tbe plans had been suffi- ciently advanced to fix definitely the main lines, the general dimensions, and the architectural design, though requiring still further study to
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 1183
harmonize the parts and perfect the many details. At this stage they were, on January 27, approved by the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, with the advice and consent of the Chancellor of the Insti- tution and the chairman of the executive committee, as provided by the resolution of the Board of Regents. About this time also the expert personal services of Prof. 5. Homer Woodbridge, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were engaged to plan the mechanical equipment of the building, including the apparatus for its heating, ventilation, and electric lighting.
The excavation for the building, the contract for which had been awarded to the Cranford Paving Company, of Washington, was begun on June 15,1904. The lateness of the season precluded the holding of a formal ceremony on that occasion, but the first spadeful of earth was turned by Secretary Langley in the presence of the superintendent of construction, the architects, and the employees of the Museum and Institution. Addressing the superintendent, Mr. Green, the Secretary, remarked:
On behalf of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, with the consent of the chancellor and of the chairman of the executive committee, I now authorize you, in accordance with the act of Congress, to proceed with the construction of the new building for the United States National Museum, designed to increase and diffuse the knowledge of the arts and sciences among the people.
The site of the building was also inclosed with a high board fence and a small frame structure was erected as the headquarters of super- intendence. Immediately following the excavation, sometime during the summer, the work of building the foundations will be begun.
GROWTH AND NEEDS OF THE MUSEUM.
On preceding pages a brief history and a summary of the objects of the National Museum have been given. Becoming a prominent fea- ture in the early programme of the Institution, the course of the Museum ran smoothly as long as there was room for its development. Its scope, defined by the organizing act of Congress, was as compre- hensive as the sphere of human knowledge in so far as could be com- passed by Museum methods. In the beginning its collections were practically all of natural history. Then appeared ethnology and archeology, and finally the arts and industries as exemplified in the work of modern man. In fact, the Museum building proper was intended mainly for the last-named subjects. So rapid, however, has been the growth of the collections that some confusion has resulted in their arrangement, and their appearance at present is no criterion of the wealth of the Museum or of its scope and anticipations. The Museum has back of it all the Government surveys, whether at home or abroad—a guaranty of the value of at least a large proportion of its
14 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
acquisitions. It has many friends, some the owners of large and important collections, who have come to recognize that in an institu- tion founded by the Government for all time their specimens wili be not only perpetually and securely cared for, but also at the service of every specialist who needs to consult them. Officials of the Govern- ment detailed for duty in the new possessions, rich in novelties of nature and of culture, are giving thought to the wants of their National Museum. By means of the duplicates, set aside as collections are worked over, exchanges are made with other museums, whereby important additions are obtained. The exhibition collections in some branches, notably the historical, owe many of their most attractive features to loans. These are not the property of the Museum and may only remain in its possession for short periods; but the spirit of liber- ality in this direction, long manifested, is growing steadily, until of late it has sometimes been necessary to decline important deposits on account of lack of room. This difficulty will be overcome upon the completion of the new building, whose greater accommodations and improved facilities will, it is hoped, prove an additional incentive to the possessors of collections, large or small, which may be instructive to the people.
In appropriating for the large expositions, of which many have been held in recent years, there has been a general understanding on the part of Congress that from the allotment to the National Museum the Museum shall gain something of permanent value. By judicious management, though the amounts have been small, the Museum has secured many unique specimens which it could not have obtained in any other way at its command. With several of the larger museums, which are well supplied with funds, it is customary to send out exploring expeditions even to distant regions, and some of these investigations are conducted on a very extensive scale. They are an luuportant source of collections as well as of information, but the National Museum has neither the funds nor a sufticiently large staff to engage in such work except on a very small scale, generally in connection with one or other of the Government surveying expedi- tions, and with the object of obtaining material which these surveys do not collect.
There is one method of obtaining collections in which the National Museum has been weak, while by such means all of the larger museums of the world, whether national, municipal, or private, have acquired a large proportion of their treasures. This is in the direct expenditure of money for purchases. The importance of this method is not realized by Congress, though it might be, were the matter given thorough consideration and were the proper relations of the Museum to those bureaus of the Government which are charged by Congress with the investigation of agricultural, mining, fishery, and
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 15
other like problems, better understood. The specimens resulting from all Government surveys and investigations are transferred to the National Museum as soon as the studies upon them are completed. The Museum is, therefore, the depository for all Government collec- tions. Those who wish to consult them, whether in the Government employ or strangers to it, must come to the Museum. It is, there- fore, to be concluded that the National Museum is not a passive body, but one most actively concerned in the development of the welfare of the country. Yet, in a general way, the investigators of practical problems for the Government find here only what they themselves have collected. They need more complete series of objects in order that their studies may be more complete, and at least for the benefit of the industries of the country the gaps in the series should be filled up as opportunity offers. An expert set to work upon a problem of far-reaching economic importance requires to have before him all the material possible, that nothing bearing upon his subject shall escape his observation. It is the province of a large central museum to possess these extended collections, classified and arranged so that they may at all times be accessible.
The curio shop of old has given way to the modern museum, with its definite purpose based upon experience and the advance of knowl- edge during many years. While the purpose may vary in accordance with the character and advantages of a museum, none can doubt that it should be the primary object of a great national museum like the one at Washington to subserve the needs of the Government, to doa large part toward promoting the material interests of the people.
It is in this spirit and with these objects in view that appropriations are asked for the purchase of such specimens as can not be acquired in other ways. To approach perfection in the rounding out of collec- tions is in itself naturally very gratifving, but to do this for the pur- pose of benefiting the practical investigations of the Government. is the chief aim of the National Museum. Private collectors and students have spent their lives in bringing together special collections which are often far more perfect than can be obtained through the means sup- plied by the Government, and rare and unique objects of exceeding value fall into the hands of individuals. The National Museum should have the means of acquiring such of these as are required for the pur- poses of the Government, and all this with the understanding that the Museum is only a part of the system organized by the Government for improving the condition of its people.
The collections are separated into practically two series, the so-called reserve or working series being arranged for the convenience of inves- tigators, while for the instruction and entertainment of the public ample provision is made here as elsewhere, much more room, in fact, having been allotted to. this than to other purposes. There is, of
16 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
course, a limit beyond which any display becomes bewildering and tiresome, but that point has not yet been reached in this Museum. The exhibition collections comprise selections from all the branches represented, and only enough from each to serve the desired purpose. In some branches, however, like history, nearly all the material objects are appropriate for exhibition,and find their most appreciative critics among the general public. In other branches, moreover, there are many large objects which can best be cared for in the exhibition halls, and are, therefore, nearly always seen there.
A third division of the collections, one prepared for general teachers and young students, as suggested by Dr. F. A. Bather, of the British Museum, might readily be arranged when additional room becomes available, but there is less need for such in this country than seems to be the case abroad, since nearly all the schools and colleges throughout the United States have their own collections, especially of natural history, supplied in part from the duplicates in the national collections.
It will thus be seen that the collections which come to the National Museum are being utilized to the fullest extent and in a most liberal manner. The reserve series, comprising the specimens which have already been worked up and are held as records of past investigations, together with those which still remain to be studied, constitute the technically important part of the Museum, and alone justify its exist- ence. The public collections, however, take the greatest amount of space, require the largest expenditure of money, and demand the most ingenuity in their selection and arrangement. There remain the duplicates, only known to be such as the work of classification proceeds, which serve the double purpose of securing valuable returns through exchange and of promoting education by their gratuitous distribution to schools and colleges. The amount of material used for the latter purpose since this practice was established over half a century ago, has been very great.
The greatest discrepancy to-day in the administration of the Museum results, however, from an insufficient staff, not as regards efliciency but numbers. Only one who has had to do with the management of such a large trust can fully appreciate the significance of this state- ment, and those clothed with power to correct this condition have not yet come to thoroughly understand the importance of the matter. The responsibilities in administering upon a national museum of this great and free country are probably much heavier than those in any other land. The policy recognized in every branch of the Govern- ment of the United States, and sanctioned by Congress, is to do for the people whatever is possible. This Government is doing for its people what no other government has ventured to attempt, and the result is a condition of extreme prosperity and contentment. And
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 1¢
is no share of credit for this condition to be given to the National Museum?’ It plays an important part in this great programme of which it is: supremely proud, and while Congress may not yet fully realize what it accomplishes in this respect, the public does, and demands more than it can perform.
For the conduct of its technical work the Museum is able to employ less than 35 persons of all grades. Nearly as many more employees of the Government give as much of their time as can be spared in the interest of the classification of the collections and their supervision. For the proper installation and maintenance of the exhibition collec- tions, in which Congress places much store, further skilled help is required, and a supervision which has long been inadequate. The force of watchmen employed for the safety of the collections, both by day and night, would be scareely equal to the task of protecting, under the same circumstances, even the contents of a large jewelry store. The Museum contains objects whose intrinsic value mounts into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, many of which are so small that several could be carried away in a man’s pocket. In a jewelry estab- lishment the valuables are packed away each evening in large safes. Such a course is impossible in the Museum, owing to the number of its treasures. They must be left in the cases, and yet the appropria- tions permit of so small a force of watchmen that they are kept under great and constant strain to prevent the abstraction of what could never be replaced.
Beginning years ago Congress, in the interest of their constituents, looked to the Museum for the analysis of mining products and for the identification of objects of every kind. These demands have increased rapidly, and their satisfaction has always been regarded as within the legitimate province of the Museum. The fact, however, is not appre- ciated that work of this character requires the attention of trained experts, and the time of the scientific staff is largely occupied in complying with such requests. In preparing the letters of reply, in registering the specimens received, in cataloguing, in taking down the notes of investigators, in arranging and keeping track of the collections, a comparatively large intelligent clerical force is required. In the preparation of duplicate collections, in the shipping and receiy- ing room, in the library, in the making of cases and the installation of specimens, in the keeping clean of all the large halls, there must be help, and at the minimum this is no small item.
The U.S. National Museum is like no other museum in this country, and it has no parallel in the world. Elsewhere, with few exceptions, museums exist solely for what may be termed museum purposes. They promote science and they promote the arts. Many are powerful factors in education and in the improvement of industries: The U.S. National
») a
NAT Mus 1904
18 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Museum attempts to do the same within the limits of its scope, but it has an added function in that it shares a part of the executive work of the Government. The correspondence with members of Congress and with the Executive Departments is very large, but not nearly as extensive as that with the public, and all is supposed to relate to business on which the Museum only is in a position to furnish information. The fre- quent expositions also greatiy increase the burden of work, for, though special appropriations are made for them, it is necessary to call upon the skilled employees of the Museum to a large extent. This means that a proportionately larger force is required than in museums gener- ally, and the increase is as necessary outside as within the scientific staff.
It is not to be expected that a complete staff will ever be within the means of the Museum—that is to say, a staff sufficient to do especially all the classificatory work required. Such a staff has nowhere been assembled. In a proper organization, however, there should be an adequate number of experts, some at least of the highest rank, to con- trol and supervise the several subjects represented. In this respect the National Museum is now far below the standard. The members of its staff, while acting as custodians of the collections, should be competent to assist extensively in their classification, should appre- ciate their value and significance, and should have the faculty of keeping order, so that any specimen in their care can readily be found.
The classification of collections must always be largely done by out- siders, the result of the specialization of study, and this is the course now almost universally pursued as a matter of necessity when large collections are being worked up. In accordance with this plan, the National Museum has now many experts at work on special parts of its collections, most of them-connected with institutions in the United States, but some abroad. In this way the collections are being classi- fied in the most accurate manner possible. When they are returned to Washington they need the same oversight as before, but their value has been enhanced by the fact that the specimens are no longer an uncertain quantity.
Other parts of the business of the Museum can not be carried on in the same way—the administration, the correspondence, the care of the coellections and their installation for reference or exhibition, the watch service, the skilled help m the mechanical departments and in the preparation of specimens, and the labor required to keep the buildings clean, to do the moving and lifting and to assist in every branch of work—the workers in these directions can not be omitted from the staff, nor can their labor be performed by volunteer assistance.
Among other important needs of the Museum are means for main- taining its library on a better basis. The library is purely technical, having no other use than to provide for the working up of the collec-
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 19
tions, but the small annual appropriation given for this purpose is inadequate even to provide the current literature on the necessary subjects, though the freest use be made of the Library of Congress.
There is still another subject to which it is desirable that reference should be made—the extension of the hours of opening the buildings to the public so as to include Sundays and evenings. A change in this direction would be of inestimable value to the working people as well as to visitors to the capital, and the extra expense would be small.
The writer desires to call attention in this connection to the part now being taken by the Museum, in conjunction with the parent insti- tution and its other bureaus, at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The Museum has had a jong experience in matters of this kind, begin- ning with Philadelphia in 1876, and it is therefore to be expected that some improvement would be shown at each succeeding exposition. The display at the St. Louis Fair now in progress is more noteworthy than anything that has preceded it, both in the novelty of the objects exhibited and in the perfection and attractiveness of the installation, which have already elicited much praise-
aah Re ee hg oF: Se,
SUMMARY Om rh OPERATIONS OF THE YHAR.
APPROPRIATIONS AND EXPENDITURES.
The total amount appropriated by Congress for the maintenance of the National Museum during the year ending June 30, 1904, was $269,400, as against $281,400 for the previous year The decrease was at to the omission of the appropriation of $7,000 for publishing the ‘‘ Contributions from the U.S. National Herbarium,” and to the fact that there was no necessity for renewing the item of $5,000 appropriated the previous year for the preparation of preliminary plans for an additional Museum building. A special appropriation of $250,000 was made as the first installment of the cost of this building.
The expenditures up to the close of the year from the appropria- tions for 1903-4 amounted to $254,286.59, leaving a balance of $15,113.41 to meet outstanding liabilities. During the same year $22,479.50 were disbursed from the balance of $23,408.14 of the appropriation for 1902-38, on hand July 1, 1903.
The following tables show the expenditures during the year 1903-04, under each item of appropriation:
Appropriations and expenditures for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1904.
Object. | Appropria- | E oe | Fe | 1904. - a aaa IBTELEny AOU OMeOllecnlOnspes soa soe aoc ase Sores eee ce ees | $180, 000. 00 $173, 860. 01 $6, 139. 99 RTP AID aN AE PEE a 3 ee eee 22,500. 00 19, 068. 02 3, 431.98 Heating and lighting ..... 5 Shhh AES KA ane cle ek Se ea 18,000.00 |° 17,184.42 | 815.58 mieten rar epithe ae wase ces 15,000.00} 12,581.68 2,468.32 Books, pamphlets, and periodicals.........--.------ Soha eat ae 2, 000. 00 | 1, 227. 60 | 772.40 SUE MS@ar ied cee en 10, 000. 00 | 8, 517.73 1, 482. 27 INCU, Oh WOR GINO) Oo) Ge Reo oq aedne Beene ER Ree aoe aE ee ScaeEon 4, 400. 00 4, 399. 92 | 08 Postage. ..... wad acecee tna! Boe eS a ee ae 500. 00 HOON O0R|baeeen< aac Espa iita Seed 0) Clan TIT Coe ee espe yo coe cco jale ce we coins Bie eimele 17, 000. 00 | 16, 997. 21 2.79 DRED ere meet ey he SE tale See 269, 400. 00 254, 286. 59 15, 113. 41
21
22 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Disbursements from unexpended balances of appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903.
Balance | Balance
Object. J ul nO © 30, bependt J ae BreseryationoL collectionssse-ceecece er eee eee eee eee $9, 597. 20 $9, 196. 97 $400. 23 liehasinigeyp ne Olibaniige: EME oom sesac so mno ccs os Seon es SOSDSOSE | 1, 696. 24 | 1, 683. 66 | 12. 58 Heating aud Notting. .2-5.o)-5 ecg eee 1,962.63 | 1,950.77 | 11. 86 Building Trepalrs. o 23 sse,. on eaten eee nase eee eee eee es 1, 528. 97 | 1, 470. 95 | 58. 04 Books spamp hil ets tetcessses eae eee eee 606. 62 556. 86 | 49.76 Purehase of specimens) 5 5.222.622. ssc eae co ale sae eee ce same Se 4, 000. 69 | 3, 690. 51 | 350. 18 RentOf wOrkshops: so ecce as hector eee ee eee ee eer A} s}4l emer sectocic | .08 Publishing contributions from National Herbarium.......... 3, 972. 51 3, 969. 80 | Pay pt Plans for ad ditional pel dim gece eee ane eee se eee ASS 20) \ erste flees 43. 20
Motels qicciuceseeas as caeneoeSe woe ccuteeeeeekeeinecas 23, 408. 14 22,479.50 928. 64
Disbursements from the appropriation for 1901-02 were made as follows: Preservation of collections, $100.52; books, pamphlets, and periodicals, $165.89; purchase of specimens, $20, leaving balances of $58.64, $32.38, and $35.26, respectively. These balances, together with unexpended balances of the appropriation for furniture and fixtures, heating and lighting, building repairs, construction of gal- leries and rent of workshops, pale weet to $161.43, have reverted to the surplus fund of the Treasury.
The regular appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1905, are as follows:
Hurniture and fi xtunesis-< ss ac. cos acs See Saas eee eee See $22, 500 Heating and: lightingss = 2222040 St ee See ae ee ee 18, 000 reservation. of collections». 2220 22s eee oe eee ee eee ee 180, 000 Booksypamphiets and periodicals soem se ese nee ete eee ae eee 2, 000 Buildine repairs. 22s. fe Ae ee eos ee ee eee 15, 000 Rentiola workshops j22--s2n- See So oat eee eee ee eee eee 4, 580 POSt8 GG 22 < = s<osnj2 See SR ewewes see oe oe oe ee ee ee ee 500 Printing and binding. = 2.2222 occ. ee eee ee 5, 000
TLotal-2 2232428 Soe ee ee 267, 580
It will be observed that the item for printing and binding has been increased from $17,000 to $25,000, and that for rent of workshops from $4,400 to $4,580; while the appropriation of $10, 000 for the purchase of specimens ise been omitted. With these exceptions the appropriations are the same as for the fiscal year 1904.
BUILDINGS.
The progress made toward the construction of an additional building for the National Museum has been described in a previous part of this report. The architects’ plans had advanced so far that actual work upon the site was possible by June 15, 1904, on which date the excava-
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 23
tion of the ground was started. The building of the foundations will follow next, and should be completed before winter.
The very unsatisfactory condition of the roof of the present Museum building has been repeatedly referred to, and attention has also been called to the fact that any repairs which can now be made will be essentially temporary, since the supporting iron framework over the main halls lacks sufficient strength, and the slate covering can not be made entirely tight, whereby leaks occur where least expected, damag- ing the walls and at times even defacing the cases. The difficulty with the slate results largely from the contraction and expansion of the frame- work, due to changes in temperature, and heavy falls of snow have also caused parts of the iron structure to buckle.
~The faulty character of the roof is undoubtedly due to the cheap manner in which it was originally constructed. The only remedy seems to be the substitution of a new roof, at least over the large halls, courts, and rotunda. Such an extensive repair is impracticable at this time, or until the new building is finished, as there is no place in which the collections could be stored. In the meantime, however, with the aid of experts, strong efforts are being made to render the roofs effective for a few years longer without the necessity for constant and unavailing attention. The work was started during last year and will be continued during the present one.
The area of tin roofing around the rotunda and over the eight ranges, which had greatly deteriorated, was thoroughly repaired, all imperfect tin being replaced and many seams resoldered. The rotunda root was extended down over the old top gutters and new overhanging gutters, and down spouts were added. The slate roof over the east hall was, as an experiment, covered with a coating of Bermuda asphalt, burlap, and slag, intended to fill the interspaces between the slates and to present an unbroken surface for carrying off the water. Up to the time of writing, this expedient seems to have answered its purpose well, and should it continue to do so, the other slate roofs will be treated in the same way. The work about the roof has also included repairs to the skylights and to clear-story and rotunda windows, the insertion of ventilator frames in many of these, and the addition of skylights over two of the ranges, made necessary by the construction of galleries.
The dilapidated platform in front of the main entrance has been replaced with one of mosaic, consisting of large irregular marble frag- ments, and the steps and side coping have been reset.
The repairs in the interior of the Museum building have been chiefly of a minor character, though in the aggregate extensive. They have related mainly to the floors and to the walls and ceilings. The sten- ciling of the rotunda walls, which had been deferred until the roof of -
24 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
this part of the building had been made more secure, was also in prog- ress at the close of the year. :
Many persistent leaks about the roof of the Smithsonian building, which previous repairs had not corrected, were found to be mainly due to the imperfect condition of the old tin gutters and down spouts, which were reptired during the year, copper being generally substi- cuted where a renewal of material was necessary.
Reference has been made in earlier reports to the unsafe condition of the plastering in Archeological Hall, which began to show innumer- able large cracks several years ago. At times smali pieces of the plaster would fall, but in September, 1902, several such large masses gave way from the ceiling as to damage the cases underneath and emphasize the fact that the hall should he closed to the public. — It was only during the past year that the damage could be repaired, and this necessitated a very considerable undertaking. The entire area of plaster was carefully tested and all loose parts were removed. ‘The bare places were carefully pointed up, but the plaster cornices of the large central panels were replaced by others of galvanized iron, as being the cheaper method. Subsequently the room was painted in water color, the walls green, the ceiling in light tints of green to ivory. This extensive repair greatly disturbed the arrangement of the arche- ological collections, and a considerable period will be required for the renovation of the cases and the reinstallation of their contents.
The number of cases made during the year was 212, the number of specimen drawers 3,378, these having been chiefly required for the storage and arrangement of collections received from Government sur- veys. A large part of the work done under the head of ‘* Furniture and fixtures,” however, has consisted in the repair and renovation of cases; the making and inserting of fittings in the exhibition cases, including the shelving and their supports, and the tablets and other devices on which the specimens are mounted; the more extensive supports for the mounting of large exhibits, such as recent and fossil vertebrates and ethnological and archeological objects; the making of label-holders and the painting of large labels and signs for the cases and halls, and the construction of laboratory and office furniture.
Rearrangements in certain parts of the building have necessitated a few readjustments of the electric-light wiring, and there have been some minor extensions of this system into storerooms and laboratories not previously so provided. A small electric motor has also been installed in the geological workshops in the Emery building.
The high-pressure steam boilers placed in the Museum building in the summer of 1901 have continued to give satisfaction. From this source both of the large buildings, as well as the several smaller ones adjacent, are now heated. There has been the usual amount of repairs in connection with the heating apparatus, and it has been found neces-
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 95
sary to increase the number of radiators in some of the halls. Steam was first raised in the boilers on October 10, le and, with some interruptions, continued to be maintained until May 3, 1904.
The fire apparatus was thoroughly overhauled Fabtne the year and its condition greatly improved. Some of the extinguishers of old pat- tern were replaced by others of more recent make and more effective character.
The amount of labor involved in maintaining the cleanliness of the buildings can scarcely be appreciated except by those who have the matter in charge. Twenty-two exhibition halls, mostly of large size and many containing galleries, and 89 laboratories, office rooms, toilet rooms, ete., require to be swept and dusted every morning, and, for the most part, before 9 o’clock. In this enumeration is not included the outside buildings. The number of regular laborers and cleaners amounts to only 22, and these same men are also fullv occupied throughout the day on other matters. The number of exhibition cases of which the glass has to be kept clean and the woodwork free from dust is over 1,300.
ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTIONS.
The National Museum, as the legally constituted depository for the science and art collections of the Government, has as its most constant and important sources of supply the national surveys and explorations, such as are conducted by the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Fish- eries, the Biological Survey and Bureaus of Entomology and Plant In- dustry of the Department of Agriculture, and the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution. But these are not the only Government branches which conduct explorations. The Departments of War and of the Navy sent out many important expeditions during the early and middle part of the last century, and in connection with the recent acquisition of new territory they have again furnished the oppor- tunity for securing valuable collections. Interesting objects are also sent home from time to time by members of the consular service of the State Department. A large part of the additions to the Museum are, however, received from individuals and private establishments, through donation and exchange, and the exhibition series derives many of its attractive features from loans or deposits. Field collect- ing by members of the Museum staff is almost prohibited by the scarcity of funds, and the acquisition of specimens by purchase 1s seriously restricted because of the small appropriation for that purpose.
Appendix I] of this report contains a complete list of the accessions for the year, and the more noteworthy are described in the reports of the head curators.
The number of separate lots of material received during the yeat was 1,703, as against 1,643 in 1903, aggregating about 241,527 speci-
26 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
mens and thereby increasing the total number of specimens recorded in all of the departments to approximately 5,898,493. Of these, nearly 4,200,000 belong to the Department of Biology, about 975,000 to Anthropology, and about 730,000 to Geology.
The additions in anthropology during 1904 numbered 19,121 speci- mens, of which the more important were many carefully selected objects obtained by Dr. W. L. Abbott among the natives of the Malay Peninsula, northern Sumatra, and the Mentawei Archipelago. These, in conjunction with the previous generous contributions of Doctor Abbott from the same and other parts of southern Asia, con- stitute an exceedingly valuable and unique feature of the ethnological collections, and are now being used as the basis for a monographic report by Professor Mason and Doctor Hough.. The same explorer also sent material bearing upon the physical characteristics of the Moros, and of apes and monkeys.
Dr. E. A. Mearns, U. 8S. Army, who has continued his scientific work while on duty in the Philippine Islands, presented an especially interesting collection made by him personally during a campaign against the Moros of Mindanao. It is rich in weapons, basketry, and tine brass work. Another Moro collection, received as a loan from Dr. R. B. Grubbs, also of the United States Army, consists of edged weapons, spears, armor, costumes, and other specimens of the handi- work of those people. Several native Philippine Island firearms were presented by the President of the United States.
Two totem poles and four house posts of large size and excellent workmanship, taken from a Tlinkit village, were obtained through Dr. George A. Dorsey, of the Field Columbian Museum, and a valu- able lot of art objects from southwestern Alaska, consisting of carved clubs, embroidered blankets, figures, knives, etc., through Lieut. G. T. Emmons, U.S. Navy. Some important additions were made to the already large collections of Indian basketry, musical instruments, and folklore.
The large archeological collection which had belonged to the late Dr. Thomas Wilson, curator of prehistoric archeology, and which remained on deposit in the Museum during his lifetime, was purchased during the year. It consists of over 19,000 pieces, of which somewhat under two-thirds are of European origin, the remainder being from North America. The European material covers a wide range, begin- ning with the roughly shaped flint implements of the river gravels of England and France, and ending with the more highly elaborated objects of the polished stone and bronze ages. The American speci- mens are mainly from Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
The very valuable collection of archeological objects obtained in Porto Rico, Trinidad, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica, Cuba, and other
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 2G
West Indian islands, during the winter of 1903, by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, has been transferred to the keeping of the Museum. It contains a great variety of objects, some of the most noteworthy being especially fine examples of stone collars, tripointed stone zemes, earthenware bowls, carved stone faces, amulets, etc., all of which were secured in the course of a thoroughly systematic investigation of the island region between North and South America. The same Bureau also deposited a large series of stone and bone implements, pieces of pottery and woven work, and fragments of animal and human bones, collected by Mr. E. H. Jacobs in caverns, rock shelters, and village sites in the Ozark region of Missouri and Arkansas.
‘By bequest of the late Mr. I. H. Harris, of Waynesville, Ohio, there was obtained a large and varied collection of stone implements, with some shell beads and carvings and a few copper implements and ornaments, mainly from the Miami Valley of Ohio, and of typical earthenware vessels from mounds near Charlestown, Missouri. Mr. H. W. Seton-Karr, of England, presented an unusually interesting series of Egyptian stone implements, mainly of a type peculiar to the desert of the Fayum district, about 10 miles from the present limits of cultivation. From Mr. Felix F. Outes were secured several earth- enware vessels taken from aboriginal graves in the province of Cata- marca, Argentina.
A number of casts of Assyro-Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greeco- Roman sculptures were obtained by purchase, and several others by donation from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In this collection is a stela engraved with the code of laws of the Babylonian King, Ham- murabi. <A series of heliogravures of Hellenistic portraits was pre- sented by Mr. Theodor Graf, of Vienna, Austria; and knives and flint implements from the Temple of Osiris, Abydos, were received from the Egyptian Exploration Fund.
To the recently established Division of Physical Anthropology there were added more than 2,000 crania and skeletons by transfer from the Army Medical Museum, 14 crania of Wasco Indians from the Fred. Harvey collection, and other desirable specimens.
The additions to the historical collections included a valuable series of relics presented to the Smithsonian Institution by Gen. John Watts de Peyster, who has also made several large contributions of important historical works; the gilt dress sword presented to Gen. Jacob Brown by the State of New York, for services during the war of 1812, donated by his grandson, Mr. Nathan Brown Chase; the sword and epaulets worn by Gen. Alex. McComb, U. 8. Army, deposited by Mrs. F. C. d’Hautville; a fine oil painting of George Catlin by W. H. Fisk, R.A., lent by his daughter, Mrs. Louise Catlin Kinney, and now hung in
28 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
the midst of the famous Catlin collection of Indian portraits, and numerous relics deposited by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The technological exhibits have been materially increased, among the accessions of special and to a great extent also of historical interest being a collection of rifles, muskets, and other firearms, 615 in num- ber, showing the improvements of many years and containing several noteworthy pieces, deposited by the Bureau of Ordnance of the War Department; a collection of sporting rifles of the kinds used in this country prior to about 1850, accompanied by powderhorns, ete., lent by Mr. Herman Hollerith; a finely finished .44-caliber rifle made by Henry Deringer, of Philadelphia, and often used by David Crockett in target practice, lent by Col. Wright Rives; a rare form of flintlock pistol with folding bayonet, presented by Mr. Paul Beckwith; a col- lection of Morse telegraph keys, insulators, and other electrical appa- ‘atus in use about 1850, presented by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company; a telegraph switch invented in 1855 by E. W. Culgan, of Pittsburg, and generally employed down to 1865, donated by Mr. C. 5S. Greer, of Zanesville, Ohio, and a collection illustrating the development of the hand camera, contributed by the Eastman Kodak Company.
The accessions to the Department of Biology embraced 151,273 specimens, or nearly 41,000 more than the previous year. The col- lection of insects was increased by 58,953 specimens and the herba- rium by 48,800, the remaining 48,520 specimens being divided among the other divisions.
The most extensive of the zoological additions in point of number of specimens consisted of about 40,000 insects collected in British Columbia by Dr. Harrison G. Dyar, assisted by Mr. R. P. Currie and Mr. A. N. Caudell. The Bureau of Fisheries transmitted large col- lections of land and fresh-water shells, reptiles, and crustaceans from Indiana and other States; a valuable series of marine mollusks, chiefly from Alaska; the types of recently described fishes from Japan, the Hawaiian Islands, etc.; fishes, crustaceans, and corals secured in con- nection with the Alaskan Salmon Fisheries Investigation of 1903, and 461 plants from Alaska and Oregon.
Especially worthy of mention are important zoological contributions from the Mentawei Archipelago, eastern Sumatra, and the various islands off that coast, obtained and presented by Dr. William L. Abbott. Thirty-one new forms of mammals, including one new genus and two new species of gibbon and several new species of birds, are represented in the collection from the archipelago, while that from eastern Sumatra also contains very valuable material, among which are numerous forms of birds and reptiles not previously represented in the Museum. Several valuable lots of mammals, birds, and mol-
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 29
lusks from Minnesota and the Philippine Islands were donated ‘hy Dr. E. A. Mearns, U.S. Army. A large number of mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes from the Bahama Islands were secured as the result of the expedition sent out by the Baltimore Geographical Society, and of which Mr. B. A. Bean and Mr. J. H. Riley, of the Museum staff, were members. <A valuable collection of birds’ eggs and reptiles from Texas was transmitted by the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture. Other miscellaneous lots consisted of birds, land shells, and insects from the mountains of Venezuela, and of bats and birds from Barbuda and Antigua islands.
Noteworthy among the mammals received were a specimen of a remarkable species of bat, Huderma maculatum, presented by Mr. E. O. Wooton, of Mesilla Park, New Mexico; the first authentic specimen of a jaguar from the United States; a rare mouse-deer, Tragulus stanleyanus, obtained from M. Emile Deschamps; a collee- tion of Old World mammals, from Mr. W. Schliiter; a collection of Japanese mammals, from Mr. T. Tsuchida; some rare forms of bats from the British Museum; a collection of Colombian mammals from the American Museum of Natural History, and a number of bats from Cuba, the gift of Capt. Wirt Robinson, U. S. Army.
An interesting series of birds of the Philippine Islands was secured by exchange with the museum in Manila. Mr. Homer Davenport, of East Orange, New Jersey, donated a number of young pheasants, and Mr. N. C. Brown, of Portland, Maine, a well-prepared series of birds from South Carolina. Four species of birds-of-paradise, new to the collection, were purchased. Dr. W. L. Ralph, of the Museum staff, and Gen. J. W. Barlow made generous contributions to the collection of birds’ eggs, and series of rare Mexican eggs and of the eggs of the hoactzin were purchased.
A collection of Japanese reptiles was presented by Dr. Hugh M. Smith, Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries, and some rare reptiles of southern Florida by Mr. E. J. Brown, of Lemon City, Florida. The Division of Fishes has received a large number of Japanese species from the Leland Stanford Junior University, and a well-prepared series of specimens from Puget Sound, donated by Dr. J. C. Thomp- son, U. S. Navy. A specimen of the Japanese shark, M/tsuhurda owston?, 11 feet long, was purchased.
Hawaiian land shelis and other invertebrates were received from Mr. H. W. Henshaw, of Hilo, Hawaii; Dr. R. E. C. Stearns, associate in zoology, now residing in Los Angeles, California, presented an extensive series of west American shells, and Mr. H. N. Lowe and Mrs. Blanche Trask several lots of Californian shells. Mr. E. J. Court, of Washington City, donated a representative series of the land shells of Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia; Mr. Dwight Blaney, about 300 shells dredged near Mount Desert, Maine,
30 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
and Mr. C. A. Davis, many Bermuda shells, including several cotypes. Among the specimens obtained by purchase was a large collection of Japanese land and marine mollusks, and land shells from the Pacific coast and the islands off California. Rey. L. T, Chamberlain presented a small collection of rare river mussels. |
The division of marine invertebrates received a collection of Mex- ican fresh-water crabs from the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture; crustaceans from Catalina and San Clemente islands, presented by Mr. H. N. Lowe; cotypes of a species of shrimp and of a stomatopod crustacean from the National Museum of Brazil; several beautiful specimens of four species of Japanese precious coral, from Dr. K. Kishinouye, and a collection of sea urchins, chiefly from the Gulf of Siam, from the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen.
The additions to the division of insects were numerous and valu- able. Among those of greatest importance, next to the one already mentioned, may be noted two lots of over 6,000 specimens from. the Department of Agriculture; an extensive collection of Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, etc., made by Mr. E. A. Schwarz in Cuba; several lots of Philippine insects from Rey. W. A. Stanton, of Manila, and one from Mr. Rk. C. McGregor, of the Philippine Museum; a miscellaneous collection from the grounds of the Washington Biologists’ Field Club at Plummers Island; a valuable collection of Lepidoptera, from Mr. EK. M. Anderson, of the Provincial Museum at Victoria, British Colum- bia, and a large collection from Colorado and New Mexico from Prof. T. D. A. Cockerell. From foreign sources the following collections were received as gifts: Indian Hymenoptera from Maj. C. G. Nurse; Indian spiders from Prof. N. Jambunathan; Venezuelan beetles from Mr. Edward A. Klages; Peruvian insects from Mr. M. J. Pusey; Norwegian Lepidoptera from Sir George Hampson, of the British Museum, and Japanese Hymenoptera from Prof. S. Matsumura, of Sapporo.
Of 555 accessions to the division of plants, the most valuable was the deposit made by Dr. E. L. Greene of his very valuable collection of about 60,000 sheets of plants and his entire botanical library, con- sisting of about 3,000 volumes and pamphlets. Next in importance was the gift by Mrs. T. A. Williams, of Memphis, Nebraska, of about 15,000 specimens from various parts of the United States. Mr. C. V. Piper, of Pullman, Washington, presented 658 plants from that State, and Mr. E. W. D. Holway, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, an interesting collection of Mexican plants. Important exchanges were made with the Philippine Bureau of Agriculture, the New York Botanical Gar- den, and the Royal Gardens at Kew, England. Sixty-eight botanical accessions were received from the Department of Agriculture, the most important comprising specimens obtained in Texas by Mr. Arthur Howell, in New Mexico and Oklahoma by Mr. Fred G. Plummer, and
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 31
in New Mexico by Mr. Vernon Bailey. Plants from Australia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and from several of the States were acquired by purchase.
There were 690 accessions to the Department of Geology, the most extensive coming, as usual, from the U.S. Geological Survey. Promi- nentamong them were about 40,000 invertebrate fossils, mostly named, and including a large amount of material on which Dr. William H. Dall and his assistants have been working for several years. The Survey also transmitted a series of 1,932 tertiary insects, assembled by Dr. Samuel H. Scudder, but in large part still unworked, together with many hundred original drawings, a great part of which are unpublished. The acquisition of these specimens is believed to make the Museum collection of fossil insects the largest in the United States, if not in the world.
To the division of physical and chemical geology there were added a collection of platiniferous rocks from the Demidoff mines of Russia, presented by Mr. Juarez Sponville; a series of rocks illustrating the occurrence and association of diamonds at the De, Beers Consolidated Mines, Kimberly, South Africa, donated by Mr. Gardner F. Williams, manager of the mines; a beautiful nugget of native silver, from Mr. A. L. Pellegrin, of Nogales, Arizona; a specimen of diamond-bearing gravel from Minas Geraes, Brazil, to which a small diamond was attached, from Dr. O. A. Derby, of Sao Paulo, and a fine mass of amethystine quartz, weighing about 400 pounds, taken from the ex- traordinary geode discovered a few years ago in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
The division of minerals was enriched by a large collection illus- trating the occurrence and association of zeolites and siliceous minerals in the trap rocks of New Jersey, obtained through the assistance of Dr. W. 8. Disbrow, of Newark, New Jersey, who also transmitted one of the first known crystals of American spodumene obtained in the early part of the nineteenth century. Other important gifts were a specimen of pink spodumene used as gem material, from Mr. F. M. Sickler; a series of artificial stones used in the gem trade, from Mr. Oscar T. Jonassohn; a cut turquoise from North Carolina, from Mr. Eugene A. Smith, and some fine specimens of smoky quartz from Montana, from Messrs. A. P. Pohndorf and J. R. Wharton.
For the meteorite collection specimens illustrating the Trenzano fall, the Franceville, Missouri, iron, the Mukerop, South Africa, iron, and the Finnmarken pallasite were acquired.
Of invertebrate fossils, the accession next in importance to those transferred by the U. S. Geological Survey was the last portion of the E. O. Ulrich collection, containing about 15,000 specimens, including 500 lots of original types or of specimens that have been used for illus- tration. A series of Lower Silurian fossils, selected by Mr. Charles
32 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Schuchert while in Russia, was presented by the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, through the cooperation of Dr. Fred- erich von Schmidt, and a valuable donation consisting of nearly 600 specimens of Hamilton brachiopods was received from the Yale University Museum. By exchange with the Zoological Museum of the University of Copenhagen more than a hundred specimens of identified European mesozoic and tertiary bryozoans were obtained.
To the collection of fossil vertebrates were added fine specimens of pterodactyl, ichthyosaurus, and teleosaurus; some fishes from the lithographic limestone, and a fossil skull of Bzson allend from a placer deposit of frozen gravel, 25 feet below the surface. The object last mentioned is especially noteworthy as being the first specimen of the species discovered in Alaska. It was secured through the efforts of Gen. Timothy E. Wilcox, U. 8. A. (retired), and was presented to the ‘Museum by Mr. Donald McLean, of Rampart City, Alaska. )
One hundred and thirty-two fossil plants, collected from the higher beds of the anthracite series, were donated by Mr. C. W. Unger, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, and 190 specimens of fossil plants from Ilh- nois, Ohio, and other localities, forming part of the Carl Rominger collection, were also obtained.
The approximate number of specimens received by the Museum during the year and the total number in the possession of the Museum at the close of the year are recorded in the following table:
| Number
| of speci- Department. | mens Total.
| received |
in 1903-04
|
Anthpopology: | Wthnology’ 2. /s.5 cases oe Say ee ee oe ER ates 2,392 |. 480, 456 Ehistoriearcheolosya---asee-- oe eee aes Lease eaters natabata Rfatcnafe Nea ahehe lets arora 115 2,338 Historic religions (os sctaccee noes ee es eee lee eee 2,769 Prehistoriciarcheology2 a2 eas aoe eee eee eee Sacco eee eee eee 12, 474 387, 455 Technology: soe se SA ee ee ae ae Re Tee ee 826 32,019 Graphic: artsews2co:5e 2c Ao ee Gee OO a eee nee ee lorieece coos 8, 896 Medicine)... 2s Soe 225 oscar es ae ec ery te ee ae BROS Ta CaDeeas ook Ssact a 6, 890 History-s.<ss5 ce nee ee eee Sea aoc One Saar ee ne ooneor scare padeonunencs 892 43, 940 Physical anthropology=. jaz. vaccs dees Poss edn Salsas cae ae ee ae ase eee 2,374 5, 144 Geramics: 222 =:-issSs5 sey ee ee ee eee 2 4,612 Photography i.e oss haces coast eee aes ee ee | 28 | 1, 828 MusiG® Sos ccemene eee Sg a Spee See Sac nae See eee Cesar ee sae 17 1, 642 Biology: : | |
Mammal s!2-s---eeeoee Hal eteiaws sh ii ot eke cack pean ees arene eee eee 2,210 84, 645 Birds? 2.22... 23.5,. -.2655 53g eae Oe ee eee 2,591 136, 226 Bits? C929 nox cist cb Succ See ee eee eo Se 1, 085 65, 130 Reptiles and batrachians' 3:2. Set See eee eee eee. ee ee ee 2, 308 46, 733 Fishes soe 5. ccc cc catns Sects se eee OE eee Ce a eee | 4,000) 161,501 Molhusks'.. 00. s...c-cagoncdesde ces ee eee tee ee een PMSCCLS sats aie coe 'ota cei ee eee oid Siege nage Mee Sea Seemed = Sear waa eens 58, 953 | 1,582, 637 Marine invertebrates. ..\'.:..iccc) eee eee ee ee | 2,465 | 521,191 Melminthology~... 2:5 2.Js4:020 sas eee Se ee 157| 5, 894
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY.
33
t Number of speci-
Department. mens | Total received in 1903-4. Biolog y—Continued. | COM PALAIS aN ALON Yet a= seas jae cee eels aaa ath wie aeiia oosjow wae eceanecne ets | 86 | 16, 031 Plamtse 1-82. 2. Rene Semone SWRA eA Pt. Ys, Siege se aa. eee | 43,800 608, 205 TES Lig Veneer Pera te le ar etn aa IRIS nts oie lsh ake Saleh ah hn Seiad te oe Reta cls ne Maia mi aeeeaz iat acre cfecaw ates 749 Geology: | Physica lamer ch eri Collapse rere esac Seiso n= tain oe cise awe sicein's «se eet saacese ay bly 80, 276 MEiIera ORV emer Pier sec ce rete es ee ce ee cose Moadem sities seinsetar enecte 1, 020 36, 898 invertebrate paleoutQlopy aa os- tas qceek es - 2 snc e aeice so sab eWlen esse oacaccewees oe 68,000!) 52. 222-22 Wentebratepa leontolopny emcee riceiiassloc cS ace wine cieisecle eecae Glee neSesncsscens 35 611, 733 PELE OO leuihiymeees ster see eerie ae eee ee ee icncls <n cintere ania dente ve ace oe ees BOL eeeeseen as PRO LE een eee ne a. eine Se Sete Sarin c cinloeiigns ee eitemw. eee eisesceseeasees
The number of entries made in the catalogue books of the various
departments was 51,904.
The number of accessions received annually since 1881 is as follows:
5 | I ae | Acgesion | Soeeae | (inclusive). AWS Gea RSET cae co8 Soyo aT oS SORES SEO Col pS eee A ee | 9890-11000 estat BSD snes BABS e AS HOBBS SEA Sen RSE te AE A tee et ee ee _ 11001-12500 1,500 ILE, csetdis SSeS o BSE Ab OSCE CS EE EERE ore Ete ee Ae eS ee 12501-13900 | 1, 400 13 ee RC OEM MeN ree GLa M Ts eek AAT ee Soe eat 13901-15550 | 1, 650 SUS 25 Tea Saget STETa ce ee le pe a a | 15551-16208 | 658 SBOE Sree ey eran cre ee 1 oh ats, en ae et Sy kan a: Sees SE Ye | 16209-17704. 1,496 UGEY) 2 ecg SSeS GSS 5 Ge Re ei sen ee EI ee ie ee a oe See | 47705-19350 | 1, 646 TES) Sscisy Sa dee Sow sae eC Se Ae es a oe ae pee 19351-20831 | 1,481 TED) oo sake Asch sla CS SS SUR SIRE Sa et Ree ee Se Ne ee 20832-22178 | 1, 347 RED 5c ces ea Sse Se ee ae ees | 22179-23340 1, 162 TWO eb bas wee ee Rote SS RES EAS GD eyes Pee | 23341-24527 1, 187 TWOP ots, SESS cocci aS eaee a Aa gc ee 24528-25884 1, 357 TSH 2 ea sae eca sd SE ORO SRE ee a SE ee ei 25885-27150 1, 266 1G On paatlen PRR De RBG FS Le PAY bad we WEN Sy i Moa Bd i so dube eee 27151-28311 | 1,161 USO See Aen Ss ae eo Nee Se ae en EE Te ee a TE 28312-29534 | 1, 228 TRS he SoS ie Se Ge Mle A oC de eA a eg es ee 29535-30833 1, 299 IGT ccxadenct Sh oe Sb cety OOS ee oe ae a a Sens cnt i tgs mre Se ees 30834-32300 1, 467 Lee CSB Enea caer Suen he ice te te OR Et SPS Ss ee eas 32301-33741 1, 441 WHER. 2 oho be sei ce RU Se SE ee ee ie ene ee eee aS 33742-35238 1, 497 DGD es isc BE PR anal ART gana ak We ee Un eg RRR tars Ie + 85239-36705 1, 4€7 TOT a dic sereecigse ates ie eG, sees eel eI aa a ee Re eg nae 36706-38175 1,47) TSO): beec te daen biden Ue tes ae Uae ne Oe ee eae ee OS Re ae hie 38176-39584 1, 40: FOC ee Se EDD OEE IRE ARN ee hn 2a Eg lh 39585-41227 1, 643 TCH Lae ee Rane RR REE ie Mh RE I Ts ea ORE eC ve eS 41228-42930 1,703 GENERAL WORK UPON THE COLLECTIONS.
The primary work of the Museum staff is the care and preservation
of the collections.
With the large accessions constantly received, this
is also the most important and the most onerous of all the duties
NAT mus 1904——3
34 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
devolving upon the employees. So diverse and so full of detail is this branch of administration that it would be quite impossible to discuss the subject adequately in this connection, but some idea of its extent and complexities may be obtained from the reports of the head curators.
The packages as received have to be unpacked and their contents assorted in accordance with the departments or divisions to which the specimens belong. A complete record of each accession is made and retained in the office of registration. In the various divisions to which they are then transferred the specimens are labeled, numbered, and catalogued serially, after which they are arranged in cases or in stor- age, their safety and convenience of reference being presumably secured by these several acts. Unless they come identified they may . be named at once, but the work of classification goes on slowly for the most part, and years sometimes elapse before a collection can be thoroughly identified and described, as noted under the head of ** Researches.”
Asa part of general museum work may be included the duties of the preparators in preparing, poisoning, and mounting specimens; in extracting fossils from their matrix, in cutting rock specimens to a convenient size, and making thin sections to show their structure; in modeling and arranging lay-figure groups, and in many other directions.
In the Department of Anthropology, where the objects average larger than in other departments, there has long been greater need for the use of outside storage, but during the year considerable inside storage has been gained by the building of racks and shelves back of exhibition cases. This has afforded some relief, and permitted the overhauling and improvement of the reserve collection. Through cooperation with the Bureau of American Ethnology, the work of photographing, singly or in groups, the tiembers of Indian delega- tions, which have lately been numerous, has been so increased as to greatly enlarge the fine portrait series of American natives started several years ago.
The Department of Anthropology has two preparators’ laboratories, one for the making of models of objects of various classes, mostly ethnologic, for filling out the Museum series of exhibits and for exchange purposes, the other concerned with the making of replicas of Museum specimens in plaster. During the year 45 models were completed in the former, while in the latter an exceptionally large amount of work was accomplished, the regular preparators being assisted by two other skilled workmen especially employed in con- nection with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Molds of 120 of the most important archeological objects in the National Museum were made, and from these several sets of casts were obtained, one, properly colored, being installed with the Museum’s exhibit at
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 35
St. Louis, the others held for exchange. These replicas are executed with the utmost care, and one set has been photographed along with the originals for distribution to the museums with which exchanges are arranged. The same force of preparators also built models of a number of the ruined buildings of Mexico and Yucatan, five of these being completed and exhibited at St. Louis. In the same laboratory there were also made during the year twenty masks, besides other castings of Indians belonging to delegations which visited Washington during the season, and from these castings a number of busts have been prepared, both for the Museum and for exchange.
In the several divisions of the Department of Biology not only has the material obtained during the year received the attention required to insure its safety, but much has also been done toward improving the condition of older parts of the collections. The staff is, however, altogether too small to handle these large collections satisfactorily, and the limited storage and laboratory quarters prevent that arrange- ment of specimens which would make them readily accessible for reference or study. The latter difficulty is soon to: be overcome, and it is hoped that the former also may. In the division of mammals 6,760 skulls were cleaned, a necessary preliminary to the study of the specimens of this group. A large number of skins were made over, and some additional cases for the arrangement of the reserve series were provided. The entire collection of mammals is now in as good condition as the means will allow, but very much remains to be done. No special improvement is to be noted in the condition of the bird collection, as the space allotted to it has long been overcrowded. The identification, labeling, and cataloguing of specimens has continued. Ina general way the same may be said of the other biological divi- sions, but it should be recognized that in all the preservation of specimens. has been as carefully looked after as the circumstances permit, and practically everywhere their condition is good. The mollusks, to which much attention has been given, are mostly labeled and accessible. The collection of insects, one of the largest and most valuable in the world, was never so well preserved and arranged as it is at present, rapid progress having been made in the transfer of specimens to the new hermetically-closing drawers. Much of the work with this group is being performed by volunteers, members of the entomological section of the Department of Agriculture, whose assistance is to the advantage of both bureaus. The condition of the varied collections in the division of marine invertebrates was greatly improved, a large amount of cataloguing having been done, and many sets of duplicates put up for distribution. The helminthological col- lections, considered to be the finest in the country for study purposes, has been maintained in good condition.
36 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
In the division of plants much activity has prevailed. Eighty-six insect-proof cases were installed, increasing the entire number of this kind to 841, all of which have been found to answer their purpose perfectly. These additions and changes in furniture, which afford secure storage for a very large proportion of the collection, have necessitated an extended rearrangement of specimens, which is still in progress. The number of specimens mounted during the year was 29,700; of sheets stamped and recorded, 21,000.
The collections generally in the Department of Geology are reported to be in a fairly satisfactory condition, and not less than 100,000 speci- mens have been put away in final Museum shape, but large accessions have rendered it impossible to keep the numbering, complete labeling, and cataloguing of material up to date. The working out of fossil vertebrates from the rocks in which they are embedded has received continued attention, but the progress in this direction has been neces- sarily slow, and it is evident that the staff of preparators must be increased if prompt results are desired. The entire lithological study series has been overhauled and catalogued in card form, and upward of 300 thin rock sections have been made. Card catalogues of the entire mineralogical and of other geological collections are in course of prep- aration, and an annotated list of the types belonging to the Depart- ment of Geology, several thousand in number, is also under way.
The preparation of 500 duplicate sets of fossil invertebrates, in which not less than 60,000 specimens will be used for distribution to educational establishments in the United States, was nearing comple- tion at the close of the year.
THE EXHIBITION COLLECTIONS.
In the Department of Anthropology a few cases have been added in the northwest court gallery for an exhibit of Indian baskets, this sub- ject having gained special prominence through the publication of Prof. O. T. Mason’s recent paper on ‘‘Aboriginal American Basketry.” ‘The series of lamps, illustrating the development of means of illumination, has also been extended. A beginning has been made toward illustrat- ing the ethnology of the Philippines, in which has been utilized the collection recently obtained by Dr. E. A. Mearns, U.S. Army, on the island of Mindanao, and the ethnology of Malaysia through the import- ant contributions of Dr. W. L.. Abbott. The collection of musical instruments, now. one of the most important in the world, has been partly reinstalled. A typical series of muskets, rifles, and carbines, mostly deposited by the War Department, and three table cases of revolvers and pistols of various makes and dates, have been arranged in the east hall.
A new mahogany case has been provided for the original Francis life-saving car, an object of deep interest to all visitors, and in another suitable case has been installed the cylinder of the Hornblower engine,
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 37
the first steam engine set up on the Western Continent, having been imported from England in 1753 for pumping water from the copper mines of Col. John Schuyler, Belleville, New Jersey. A very useful addition to the time-keeping series consists of two clocks from the Chelsea Clock Company, of Boston, which have been connected with the service of the U. 8. Naval Observatory. Interesting historical relics deposited by the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution have been added to the cases assigned to that society.
Several groups of ethnological lay figures returned from recent expositions have been installed wherever a place could be found for them, some haying been arranged in the lecture hall.
With a view to unifying the work of installation in the Department of Biology, this entire subject was placed in charge of Mr. F. A. Lucas, the curator of comparative anatomy. But little was done toward preparing new exhibits in this department, however, owing to the arrangements in progress for the St. Louis Exposition. Some of the more valuable birds were remounted, and four groups of game birds were installed in two new special cases at the entrance to the Smith- sonian building. Additional casts of fishes for the series in the south- east range of the Museum building are being prepared, and a beginning has been made toward the installation of a series of specimens illus- trating the mollusk fauna of the District of Columbia, one such case having already been completed. The installation of the systematic series of insects has been nearly finished.
A series of illustrations of corals and coral reefs from Saville Kent’s work on the Great Barrier Coral Reef of Australia has been framed and placed with the exhibition of corals in the west hall of the Smith- sonian building. Many specimens in the different exhibition collec- tions have been renewed, and there is a generally improved appearance in nearly all the exhibits of this Department.
To the display collection in the Department of Geology have been added skulls of Diplodocus, Trachodon, and of two genera of Ceratop- sia, one being the type of Zriceratops calicornis and the other repre- senting a new genus of the dinosaurs. The mounted skeleton of a specimen of Syornis casuarinus from New Zealand has also been installed.
A noteworthy addition to the exhibits in geology is a geological sec- tion on a scale of 2 miles to the inch across the United States from the coast of North Carolina to a point near San Francisco. ‘This model has been the work of two years. The specimens in all other divisions of this department have been more or less overhauled during the year, especially in the lithological and mineralogical series, and improvements have been made in the exhibit of invertebrate fossils, but lack of room prevents any noteworthy additions to or expansion of these collections.
38 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904. RESEARCHES.
Of the material which reaches the Museum a part has previously been studied and a part not. The act founding the establishment provides that the collections shall be arranged and classified, and there- fore in selecting the care-takers, persons skilled in the various branches represented are chosen. It is recognized that their first obligation is to look out for the safety of the specimens, and as the technical staff under pay is relatively small, attention to this duty consumes the greater part of their time. About one-half of this staff consists of volunteers employed in other bureaus of the Government on whom the same demands can not be made, though some of these are equally attentive to the routine work. The scientific results accomplished each year by the paid employees of the Museum is, nevertheless, relatively extensive, comprising mainly the identification, labeling, and descriptions of specimens, and their classified arrangement in vases and drawers so as to make them convenient for reference.
For a large part of the scientific work, however, assistance must be obtained from experts connected with other establishments throughout the United States and in Europe. Entire groups of specimens may be assigned to individuals for study, or advantage taken of researches in progress elsewhere to have material of greater or less extent iden- tified, and visiting scientific men are often willing to spend some time upon such parts of the collections as come within their knowledge.
It is impossible within the limits of this report to account for all the work of this character carried on during the past year, but the number of persons concerned, not including those on the Museum staff, was in the neighborhood of 200, and over 20,000 specimens were sent away for study. This cooperation is far greatest in connection with the Department of Biology, whose varied collections have long attracted a widespread interest and have led to many extensive and important investigations.
In the Department of Anthropology considerable progress was made by the Head Curator and his assistants in studying the ethnological collections sent to the Museum during the past ten years by Dr. Wil- liam L. Abbott from the southern part of Asia and its adjacent islands. Mr. William H. Holmes has continued his work of monographing the mines and quarries of the American aborigines. Dr. A. F. Hrdlicka conducted extensive researches in different branches of physical anthro- pology. Further investigations in the subjects of primitive heating, illumination, cooking devices, etc., have been carried on by Dr. Walter Hough. Mr. Paul Beckwith has begun the preparation of a descrip- tive catalogue of the Grant relics in the National Museum and a catalogue of ancient coins. The collection of swords has also been catalogued.
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 39
Mr. George C. Maynard has given much time toward unraveling the history of the old locomotive Stourbridge Lion, and has also been engaged on a history of firearms.
The collections of the Department of Anthropology have been examined by many persons, some of whom have made important stud- ies for official and other purposes. Among these investigators may mentioned the Statistician of the United States Bureau of Immigration; Prof. C. 5. Sherrington, of University College, Liverpool, England; Miss Voorhees, of Indiana, who examined the prehistoric European collections; Miss Marie Ruef Hofer, of Teachers’ College, Columbia University, New York; Mr. John P. 8S. Neligh, Columbus, Georgia, who is interested in the study of Indian textile art; Mrs. J. Wells Champney, who is gathering information regarding the Abenaki tribe; Judge James Wickersham, of Kagle City, Alaska, who is investigating the industries and social customs of the Indians of that region; Mr. Ole Solberg, of Christiania, Norway, who is making studies in prepara- tion for an investigation of the social customs of the Hopi Indians; Lieut. W. E. W. McKinlay, U. 8. Army, detailed by the Division of Military Information to obtain data to assist in compiling grammars and dictionaries of some of the Philippine languages; Mr. Stewart Culin, Curator of Ethnology in the Brooklyn Institute, to whom speci- mens were also lent for the purpose of reporting upon Indian games for the Bureau of American Ethnology; Dr. H. M. Whelpley, of St. Louis, Missouri, who studied material for a paper on catlinite pipes, and Mr. E. A. Forward, of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, who is interested in the history of the Stourbridge Lion already referred to. ;
In connection with the Department of Biology research work was extensively carried on both by members of the Museum staff and by others. Dr. F. W. True, the Head Curator, completed his important monograph on the whalebone whales of the western North Atlantic, which will appear in Volume xxx of the Smithsonian Contribu- tions to Knowledge, and he also published four shorter papers on ceta- ceans. Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, jr., assistant curator of mammals, has continued his studies on Dr. William L. Abbott’s large collection of mammals from the Malay Archipelago, having finished one paper on the subject during the year, descriptive of 70 new species, including 1 new genus and 6 new species of monkeys, 2 new species of mouse deer, and 6 new species of flying lemurs. He also prepared several smaller papers and continued work on a new classification of the bats. Dr. Marcus W. Lyon, jr., aid in mammals, completed a revision of the hares and their allies, based upon a detailed study of their anatomical and other characters.
Among those who had access to the mammal collections or to whom specimens were sent for examination were Dr. J. A. Allen, of the
4() REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904. ©
American Museum of Natural History; Mr. J. A. G. Rehn, of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences; Dr. D. G. Elliot, of the Field Columbian Museum; Mr. Outram Bangs, of the Museum of Com- parative Zoology; Prof. Burt G. Wilder, of Cornell University, and the*members of the Biological Survey of the U. 5. Department of Agriculture.
Mr. Robert Ridgway, curator of birds, continued with little inter- ruption the preparation of his comprehensive monograph on the Birds of North and Middle America, completing the manuscript for Volume m1, and a large part of that for Volume tv, beside two small papers on new genera and species of birds. In making the measurements of specimens for his monograph he was assisted by Mr. J. H. Riley, aid, who also published three notes on birds from the Bahama Islands. Dr. Charles W. Richmond, assistant curator of birds, finished the identification of the majority of the birds collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott on the islands off the western coast of Sumatra, prepared a list of the species obtained by Doctor Abbott and Mr. C. B. Kloss on Anambas and Tambelans islands, China Sea, and at Tringana, Malay Archipelago, and was the author of several notes on zoological nomenclature.
The collection of birds was consulted by Dr. R. M. Strong and Prof. C. O. Whitman, of the University of Chicago; Mr. Elliot Blackwelder, of Chicago; Mr. Jonathan Dwight, jr., of New York; Mr. Outram Bangs; Mr. Frank Chapman, of the American Museum of Natural History; the Biological Survey, and the Committee on Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists’ Union.
Studies on the reptile fauna of eastern Asia were carried on by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, curator of reptiles, who also worked up the collec- tion of reptiles brought from Japan by Dr. Hugh M. Smith, Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries, and from the Bahamas by Mr. J. H. Riley, as a member of the expedition of the Baltimore Geographical Society. Doctor Stejneger likewise prepared a general account of the herpetol- ogy of the Bahama Islands and several small papers, and, in conjunc- tion with Mr. Vernon Bailey, identified the Museum collection of reptiles from Texas. His report on the proceedings of the Fifth Inter- national Zoological Congress at Berlin, during August, 1901, at which he represented the National Museum, was received during the year. Facilities were afforded Prof. W. P. Hay, of Howard University, for studying the diamond back-terrapin for the Bureau of Fisheries.
Mr. Barton A. Bean, assistant curator of fishes, reported on the fishes collected on the expedition of the Baltimore Geographical Soci- ety to the Bahama Islands, comprising 165 species, identified the specimens obtained by the Senff Expedition to the Nile in 1899, and pre- pared notes on material from North Carolina and the Barbados. The collections in this division were also consulted by Dr. Theodore Gill,
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 4]
an associate of the Museum; Dr. David S. Jordan and Dr. C. H. Gil- bert, of Leland Stanford Junior University; Dr. C. H. Kigenmann, of Indiana University, and the scientific staff of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries.
Among the results accomplished by Dr. William H. Dall, honorary curator of mollusks, may be noted reviews of the nomenclature of the Pupacea, and of the history and classification of the Tritons and Trog- shells, a summary of the recent and fossil land shells of the Bahama Islands, and a number of other papers, some prepared in conjunction with Mr. Paul Bartsch, aid in mollusks. He also began upon a general review of the land and fresh-water mollusks of Alaska and adjacent regions. Mr. Bartsch continued work on the family Pyramidellide, and published descriptions of new species of Scissurella and Sonorella, a note on Limax, andan account of the herons living in the District of Columbia. The Pacific coast Pectinide were studied by Mr. Ralph Arnold, of the United States Geological Survey, and the recent and fossil Pleurotomide by Col. Thomas L. Casey, U. S. Army. The collection of Achatinellas was sent to Prof. Alpheus Hyatt, of the Boston Society of Natural History, and after his death was turned over to Dr. A. G. Mayer, of the Brooklyn Institute, who is to complete his investigation of this group.
The staff of the division of insects, including its honorary members, has to its credit a total of 114 papers published during the year, but not nearly all of these related to Museum material or were issued by the Museum. The authors were Dr. L. O. Howard, honorary cura- tor; Dr. W. H. Ashmead, assistant curator; Dr. H. G. Dyar, Mr. D. W. Coquillett, and Mr. Nathan Banks, custodians, Mr. R. P. Currie, aid, and Mr. A. N. Caudell. Doctor Ashmead continued his work on the classification of the Hymenoptera and has published his generic revision of the entire order except the ants, or superfamily Formicoidea, which will probably soon be completed. He has also worked up all the Japanese and Philippine Hymenoptera now in the Museum, and papers on this subject will shortly appear in the Proceedings of the Museum. His most important paper of the year was a classification of the Chalcid flies. Among the thirty-one papers prepared by Doctor Dyar, the most noteworthy was one of 160 pages on the Lepidoptera of the Kootenai district of British Columbia. Mr. Coquillett’s researches related mainly to the diptera, and those of Mr. Banks to the spiders.
Studies were made as follows by visitors to the Museum: On the Lepidoptera, by Prof. J. B. Smith, of Rutger’s College, Dr. J. W. Holland, of the Carnegie Museum, Mr. W. D. Kearfott, of New York, and Mr. William Schaus, of London; on the Arachnide by Mr. J. H. Emerton, of Boston, and Prof. R. V. Chamberlain, of Cornell Uni- versity; on the Coleoptera by Mr. C. Schaeffer, of Brooklyn, Dr. Henry Skinner, of Philadelphia, and others. Several physicians have
42 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.’
exuunined the collection of mosquito larvee, and the Carnegie Institu- tion has had the use of the specimens of /%//stes, a genus of social or paper-making wasps. The number of loans of specimens was large, the principal being of Coleoptera to Dr. F. E. Blaisdell, San Francisco, California; of Orthoptera to Mr. J. A. G. Rehn, of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences; of Rhynchota to Prof. P. R. Uhler, of Baltimore; and of Diptera to Prof. James 5S. Hine, of the Ohio State University.
Dr. James E. Benedict, assistant curator of marine invertebrates, continued his studies on the anomouran crustaceans, two papers, a revision of the genus Lepidopa, and descriptions of new albuneids, being published during the year. Miss M. J. Rathbun, assistant cura- tor, completed the monograph of the fresh-water crabs (Potamonide) on which she has been engaged for some time, and which is being printed in the Archives of the Paris Museum of Natural History. She also continued work on the crabs of Hawaii, preparing a paper on this subject for the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, and one on the decapod crustaceans of the northwest coast of North America for the Harriman Alaska expedition. Dr. Harriet Richardson, collaborator in marine invertebrates, also finished a report, published in the same series, on the isopod crustaceans of the northwest coast, besides an account of the isopods obtained on the Alaskan expedition of the Bureau of Fisheries in 1908. She has since begun upon a manual of the North Ameri- can Isopoda. Mr. T. Wayland Vaughan, custodian of madreporarian corals, has made notable progress in the study of that group as repre- sented in the Museum, having paid special attention to the collections from the Hawaiian Islands. Dr. C. W. Stiles, custodian of the helminthological coJlections, completed his investigation of the hook- worm disease in the Southern States, and began upon a study of ‘*spotted fever” in Montana.
A number of specialists connected with other institutions are engaged in working up several groups of marine invertebrates as fol- lows: Prof. Charles L. Edwards, of Trinity College, Hartford, Connect- icut, the pedate holothurians; Prof. Hubert Lyman Clark, of Olivet College, Michigan, the apodal holothurians; Prof. C. C. Nutting, of the University of Iowa, the hydroids, of which reports on the Plumulari- dx and Sertularide have been published; Dr. Charles B. Wilson, of the State Normal School, Westfield, Massachusetts, the parasitic cope- pods; Dr. K. W. Genthe, of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, the free swimming copepods; Dr. R. W. Sharpe, of Wilmette, Ili- nois, the Ostracoda; Dr. W. T. Calman, of the British Museum of Natural History, the cumacea; Dr. H. Coutiére, Ecole Supérieure de Pharmacie, Paris, the Alpheide. Besides material supplied to the above, specimens from the collections made during the investigations of 1903 by the Bureau of Fisheries into the Alaskan salmon fishery and elsewhere have been sent out as follows: The parasitic copepods
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 43
to Dr. Charles B. Wilson; the Pycnogonide to Dr. Leon J. Cole, of Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Schizopoda to Dr. A. E. Ortmann, of the Carnegie Museum; the Amphipoda to Dr. J. S. Holmes, of the University of Michigan; andthe Cirripedia to Prof. H. A. Pilsbury, of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences. A iarge number of Bering Sea and arctic starfishes have been supplied to Prof. A. E. Verrill, of Yale University, for examination in connection with a report on the starfishes of the Harriman Alaska Expedition; several lots of actinians to Dr. J. E. Duerden, of the University of Michigan, who is prepar- ing a report on the Hawaiian species for the Bureau of Fisheries; and specimens of echini and isopods to Dr. T. H. Mortensen and Dr. H. J. Nansen, respectively, of the Zoological Museum of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Mr. F. V. Coville, curator of the division of BISLS has published several papers which are cited in Appendix III. Dr. J. N. Rose, assistant curator, has continued his studies on Wea and Central American plants. He has also, in conjunction with Dr. N. L. Britton, director of the New York Botanicel Garden, conducted investigations relative to the North American Crassulacev and has begun to work up the cacti of North America, a research which is expected to occupy four or five years. <A preliminary paper on the Crassulacez and one by Doctor Rose on a new species of Begonia have appeared during the year. Mr. W. R. Maxon, aid, has given special attention to the speci- mens of ferns received from the Philippine Islands, and Mr. E. S. Steele, to the genus Laciniaria. Dr. E. L. Greene, appointed associate in botany near the close of the year, has engaged in various lines of systematic work. The Carices have eeu the subject of study by Mr. Theodor Holm, of Brookland, District of Columbia, and the speci- mens of the genus Plantago by Prof. E. lL. Morris, of the Washing- ton High School. The collections have been frequently consulted by several members of the botanical staff of the Department of Agriculture. :
There were 43 loans of plants, aggregating 2,873 specimens, the prin- cipal ones being as follows: A large collection from the Philippine Islands to Dr. Janet Perkins, Berlin Botanical Gardens; a collection of Mexican plants to Dr. B. L. Robinson, of the Gray Herbarium, Har- vard University; specimens of pines to Mr. George R. Shaw, of the Arnold Arboretum’ Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts; and specimens of orchids to Mr. Oakes Ames, of the Ames Botanical Laboratory, North Easton, Massachusetts.
The idee Curator of Geology, Doctor Merrill, has supervised the work of an economic survey relating to the building and ornamental stones of North Carolina, and as an expert special agent of the last census has completed a report on stone quarries. <A collection of rocks brought from the Nugsuaks Peninsula, Greenland, and the occurrence
44 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
of unakite near Milams Gap, Virginia, have been described by Mr. William C. Phalen, while many. rare minerals and a meteorite from Persimmon Creek, North Carolina, have been the subject of study by Mr. Wirt Tassin. Researches on the Rochester shale bryozoa have been continued by Mr. R. S. Bassler, and two papers on Paleozoic bryozoa have been completed by Mr. KE. O. Ulrich in conjunction with Mr. Bassler. An account of all the Middle Devonian crinoids in the Museum collections has been prepared by Miss Elvira Wood, of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Material from the collection of vertebrate paleontology has been utilized by Prof. H. F. Osborn, of the American Museum of Natural History, in his work on the Titanotherium; by Mr. J. B. Hatcher, of the Carnegie Museum, in his study of Triceratops, and by Mr. F. A. Lucas, of the National Museum, in connection with his researches on Stegosaurus. Besides the investigations carried on by the paleo- botanists of the U. S. Geological Survey, some studies have been made on the fossil plants by Dr. Arthur Hollick, of the New York Botanical Garden; the Rey. H. Herzer, of Marietta, Ohio; and Mr. E. . W. Berry, of Passaic, New Jersey. Dr. Thomas L. Watkins, of Denison University, Ohio, has made use of the collections in applied geology.
Specimens in various branches of geology and paleontology have been sent to the following persons to assist them in their investiga- tions: Doctor Handlirsch, of the K. K. Naturhistorisches Hofmuseum, Vienna; Mr. John M. Clarke, of the New York State Museum; Prof. W. B. Clark, of Johns Hopkins University; Prof. C. H. Hitchcock, of Dartmouth College; Prof. Edwin G. Kirk, of Columbia University; Dr. George F. Kunz, of New York City; Mr. P. E. Raymond, of New Haven, Connecticut; Mr. Thomas L. Watson, of the Virginia Poly- technic Institute; Mr. S. F. Emmons, of the U. S. Geological Survey, and Mr. Frank Springer and Dr. H. N. Stokes, of the U. S. Bureau of Standards.
EXPLORATIONS.
But few explorations were carried on Jast year by members of the Museum staff. Dr. Walter Hough spent some time in Arizona and New Mexico, where he made a large collection of ethnological and archeological objects. Botanical field work was carried on in Mexico by Dr. J. N. Rose, and in Jamaica by Mr. W. R. Maxon. The expe- dition sent to the Bahamas during the summer of 1903 by the Balti- more Geographical Society and Johns Hopkins University, under the direction of Dr. G. B. Shattuck, was accompanied by Mr. Barton A. Bean and Mr. J. H. Riley, who took an active part in the work of col- lecting and obseryation. Dr. Harrison G. Dyar and Mr. Rolla P.
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 45
Currie were members of a party sent to British Columbia by the Car- negie Museum, of Pittsburg, and returned with large collections of insects. During a trip to Europe Mr. Charles Schuchert secured some valuable fossils, and, while seeking material for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, Dr. George P. Merrill obtained for the Museum many geological specimens on the Pacific coast and in Canada and western Mexico.
Having been designated by the State Department and the Smith- sonian Institution as delegates to the International Congress of Zoology to be held at Berne, Switzerland, during the summer of 1904, Dr. Leonhard Stejneger and Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, jr., left Wash- ington in May, with the object also of making collections of mammals and reptiles in Europe, and of identifying unclassified material by comparison with specimens in certain European museums. A num- ber of short collecting trips were also made by other members of the staff.
There have been many explorations by private individuals and by other Government bureaus through which the Museum has profited. A few of these may be noted. Dr. William L. Abbott has continued his field work in Sumatra, the Mentawei Archipelago, and along the coast and on the islands east of Sumatra, and, as usual, has contributed his specimens to the National Museum. In connection with the inves- tigations of the Bureau of Fisheries, Dr. Hugh M. Smith has visited Japan, and Dr. B. W. Evermann, Prof. Charles H. Gilbert, and Prof. O. P. Jenkins have made extensive explorations in Hawaii. The natural history bureaus of the Department of Agriculture, and especially the Biological Survey, have made important collections in different parts of the United States. Field work under the Bureau of American Ethnology, productive of collections, has been carried on by Dr. J. Walter Fewkes in the West Indies, and by Mr. James Mooney, Mr. Gerard Fowke, Mrs. M. C. Stevenson, and Mr. J. R. Swanton in the West. Reference should also be made to the impor- tant work conducted in the Philippine Islands by Dr. E. A. Mearns, U.S. Army, one of the most frequent contributors to the Museum collections. j
Collecting outfits were supplied to the following persons outside of the Museum staff: Mr. Vinal N. Edwards, Woods Hole, Massachu- setts; Mr. L. H. Aymé, New York City; Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, Bureau of American Ethnology; Dr. Frank Baker, National Zoological Park; Mr. O. M. Meyncke, Belfield, Virginia; Dr. S. P. Bartlett, Quincy, Illinois; Mr. R. S. Johnson, Bellevue, lowa; Mr. Andrew Allison, Iuka, Mississippi; Mr. E. R. Hodson, Jasper, Texas; Mr. H. D. Bur- rall, Beaumont, Texas; Mr. Ward Nedwah, Lejolla, California; Dr. J. C. Thompson, U. 8. Navy, Bremerton, Washington; Mr. Richard
46 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Willis, Olga, Washington; Mr. Alfred G. Maddren, Seattle, Wash- ington; Dr. E. A. Mearns, Mindanao, Philippine Islands; Dr. J. R. Harris, U.S. Army, Philippine Islands; Mr. Eliot Blackwelder, Tien- tsin, China; Mr. William Brockway, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico; Mr. E. A. Goldman, Tehuantepec City, Mexico, and the Rev. Samuel P. Verner, Upper Congo Regions, Africa.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXCHANGE OF SPECIMENS.
In the distribution of duplicate material to educational establish- ments throughout the country a total of 20,010 specimens was used. These contributions, chiefly to schools and colleges, were comprised in 148 separate lots or sets of objects accurately labeled and adapted for teaching purposes. They consisted of 55 sets of marine inverte- brates, 35 of fishes, 10 of geological material illustrating rock weath- ering and soil formation, + of casts of prehistoric stone implements, and 44 of a special and miscellaneous character.
In making exchanges, for which an equivalent is obtained for incor- poration in the national collections, 216 lots, aggregating 9,005 speci- mens, were disposed of. The number of specimens lent to specialists for study amounted to 20,535, comprised in 115 separate sendings.
Among the more important exchanges received from establishments abroad were the following: From the British Museum of Natural His- tory, London, England, a number of alcoholic bats; from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, a large collection of plants from various localities; from the Museum of Natural History, Paris, France, specimens of wasps of the family Vespidee; from the Royal Botanical Museum, Berlin, Germany, 716 plants; from the Royal Zoological and Anthropological-Ethnographical Museum, Dresden, Germany, 3 skins of Sturnide; from the Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, about 100 species of European mesozoic and tertiary bryo- zoans, and specimens of living echinoderms; from the First Zoological Institute of the Imperial University, Vienna, Austria, fishes and rep- tiles collected in North Africa, Asia Minor, and other localities; from the K. IX. Naturhistorisches Hofmuseum, Vienna, a collection of mes- ozoic and tertiary bryozoans and ostracods from eighteen European localities; from the Kongelige Frederiks Universitet, Christiania, Norway, specimens of reptiles and batrachians from Madagascar, South Africa, Australia, and Formosa; from the Museum of the Impe- rial University, Moscow, Russia, 5 casts of J/astodon borsoni; from the Royal Botanic Garden, Sibpur, Calcutta, India, 148 plants from India; from Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa, 2 elands; from Hope Gardens, near Kingston, Jamaica, specimens of ferns (Asplenium). :
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 47
The material obtained in exchange from individuals abroad was as follows: From L. Chevallier, Precigné, Sarthe, France, 342 Algerian plants; from Dr. Aristides Brezina, Vienna, Austria, a fragment of the Trenzano meteorite, weighing 164 grams; from Mr. Julius Bohm, Vienna, Austria, a piece of meteoric stony iron from Finnmarken, weighing 595 grams; from Mr. Cecil Seymour Browne, Anacapri, Italy, a collection of Lepidoptera; from Mr. A. Berger, La Mortola, Venti- miglia, Italy, 31 plants; from Rev. R. P. Longin Navas, 8. J., Colegio del Salvador, Zaragoza, Spain, a collection of Neuropteroid insects from Spain; from Maj. Charles G. Nurse, Nineteenth Bombay Infan- try, Quetta, Baluchistan, India, 130 species of Hymenoptera; from Prof. N. S, Jambunathan, Native College, Madura, India, 52 speci- mens of spiders from India.
VISITORS.
The Museum building was visited during the year by 220,778 per- sons, and the Smithsonian building by 143,988 persons, a daily aver- age of 705 for the former and 460 for the latter. The decrease as compared with the previous year is accounted for by the meeting of the Grand Army of the Republic in October, 1902, during which month alone the attendance amounted to 131,448.
The following tables show, respectively, the attendance during each month of the past year, and for each year beginning with L881, when the Museum building was first opened to the public.
Number of visitors during the fiscal year 1903-04.
= — 2 =e
3 Museum | Smithsonian Year and month. building. | building. 1903. dN ert 6 Sates Wena ea Senne AO es Sey ee ens ane NE eee eS Sys vot 19, 160 | 11, 359 PATO S Levene en Ee Sy ten ates oe Oa. ee Aa, ee Re ae CRE Ss Boe ta Ley | 25, 792 17,181 September .., -.......- eat eget ee ie tee co ete Mere Beat ee Se 24, 408 | 14, 635 (CYB ODE SSeS See eat RE ee ao ee ee ea i ret gee 17, 453 12,709 MIOWEICON OS, Aa Secs - Bho So oHES te Ge Sek Ae ee Sn nO Re ik a oe eae a ee ee 13, 783 11, 252 IDET USTs new Ca SBA ge Oe et eee Ne A ae Arielle SB SR 14, 634 11, 675 1904 ASV aRU EIA aes ie ROS Se me a Ye eI 2 MS. ee LAER ae Ta SE Cet C2 3 2,621 | 9, 674 LINE OP AUIANY oe ley eae tae RPS AES ae Ae Se oS a 15, 202 8, 964 IN EDIROD DS see ee ks Ee SE ee aS = Se 20, 375 10, 922 JNO sy =.2:5 age, Sale SERA CHa, DES ae Sin SPENCE ee ne er as PP ieee 27, 838 16, 451 WEAVE SS Se 55 SoS eae eee SS yt eee 16, 376 | 10, 497 FUNTE S e pohee Sa e ee a ee 13, 136 8, 669 SRT es Ca oe ee oe a Sait Se ad 220, 778 | 143, 988 Approximate daily average........ niles ASS lee ie ECE See 2a ee Ee 705 | 460
48 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Number of visitors to the Museum and Smithsonian buildings since the opening of the former in 1881.
Year See ji) ee ee ate nanny kai oe EO Seis vn ft me te Tate a pS 150, 000 100, 000 GBD iets oe PE ie ahs. 2 2 EES Pee a ee ee ee 167, 455 152, 744 Tce ae Ree ee RE RCE EE einer > CIS ld EA ES al NPR ee 202, 188 104, 823 1984" (halt year) 8526 2225 Paes rer eee eae eos Sessa econ ee oe cee eoee seen 97, 661 45, 565 ic Sy, nO eee Ines Psa RE eR Peet ys! Pa RO Sos 205, 026 105, 993 ASBEEBG chisel h ct ASE Lee Raed Ma, ae nS IR 174, 225 S8, 960 PRBGB 7 ot td ee kh helene ce eee See Re. ae a | 216, 562 98, 552 LBB TERB cli FS naman eee, Seat oe oy Oe eh aah eg ON RE 249, 665 | 102, 863 LO) ae SES SE A Lae SEW ARN eee a MARI! ee | 374,843 | 149, 618 TSBO-O0e. 22s. «Sense bk, aah a ne tie ee haan) 2 ae ee | 274,824 120, 894 MBOOLO Ne 2 os 8 Oe ae ee at Oe ea ee ee SED Pe 0s eee esol | 286, 426 111, 669 ASG tSOn Beso Nye dei Det oes va ners rae ke By cee eee eae eee 269,825) 114,817 BT SOD oh ay ns cates es ercta Sie ecard SSIS cS TERETE ie are MO arene as eee 319, 930 174, 188 1BOSSOAIN 5s Shaw. Beane nt ecacwe eet coke os eae ae ae ee 195, 748 | 103, 910 PRGA Oi ad ee cae Ne Me 8 See Se ca ate 201,744 | 105, 658 TGO5206 2h oes eka, hs Tt cles aos Bis ses er eee 180, 505 103, 650 ASSGEO7 Ca /a =. 5 Mie Be ee nee om ra a2 Se ek Sees nae Se Ee 229, 606 115, 709 TEC: eee eee ate cea RE Car eee ee eR TERY Sas hs Gk | 177,254 99, 273 CCR MMe ge Wi My Mee Sat Soe MEE © Sr aBre Rang NS Loan tb oe 192, 471 116, 912 ABOGUT OOO: Ded ys che see ee eal ete ag bee oA ae eR | 225, 440 133, 147 POCO TOOT cage coh mlinn te, Tutae ero Sake ceed at ae Oe ea ae | 916,556 | 151, 563 TONISND eee ke ee ah ae pS sen Be: FREON CORE Oy eee ete ee | 173, 888 144, 107 2 | ee Se ares Re a eer ees al. SP SaN Skeid SRT 315, 307 181, 174 TO OROG 58 ee ee EL ng Sorts oan ea ne ee | 220,778 143, 988
Motalee stae ee Om Ort ieee aR ee pe ein Peau ity a 5,317,427 | 2,869,777
a Years of Presidential inaugurations. MEETINGS AND LECTURES,
During the first half of the year the lecture hall was utilized for the preparation and packing of a part of the exhibits for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. After January 1, 1904, however, it was fre- quently used for its legitimate purposes.
A series of Saturday afternoon lectures, under the auspices of the Biological Society of Washington, was given as follows:
February 20, Exploration of the Deep Sea, by Mr. Charles H. Town- send; February 27, The Living Forest, by Mr. Gifford Pinchot; March 5, A Naturalist?’s Winter in Mexico, by Mr. E. W. Nelson; March 12, The Evolution of the Horse, by Prof. Henry F. Osborn; March 19, The Coast Region of Alaska, by Dr. C. Hart Merriam.
The attendance at these lectures varied from 898 to 1,213 persons— far more than the seating capacity of the hall.
The closing exercises of the U. S. Naval Medical School were held here on March 21, and those of the U. S. Army Medical School on April 5.
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 49
The American Oriental Society occupied the hall for its annual meet- ing on April 7 and 8, and the National Academy of Sciences from April 19 to 21, the latter also being given the use of the rooms of the Assistant Secretary for its business sessions.
A lecture entitled ‘* Botanical tramps with a camera,” illustrated by stereopticon views, was delivered on June 13, by Dr. C. E. Waters, of Johns Hopkins University, under the auspices of the Wild Flower Preservation Society of America.
CORRESPONDENCE.
The Museum, ever since its establishment, has been looked upon by the general public as the most convenient agency for obtaining infor- mation on all subjects within its scope, and scientific men and scientific institutions throughout the country turn to it foraid and advice. All requests of this character, made in evident good faith, have prompt attention, but the work involved, steadily increasing year by year, has become especially heavy and exacting, and consumes much of the time of both the scientific and the clerical staffs. The requests average several daily, are rarely confined to a single subject, and often relate to collections of greater or less size which are sent for identification. They also haye reference, in many instances, to the building up and maintenance of collections, the construction of cases, the installation, labeling, and cataloguing of specimens, and other topics connected with museum administration. The replies made to such inquiries during the past vear fill about 6,000 pages in the letter-press books, this being entirely apart from the ordinary official correspondence of the Museum, which alone is very extensive.
The correspondence office also has charge of the distribution of publications, the number of which sent out during the year amounted to about 18,000 volumes and 39,000 separate papers.
PUBLICATIONS.
A greater number of publications than usual was issued during the year, owing partly to delays in completing volumes belonging to the previous year. They comprised the annual reports of the Museum for 1901 and 1902; volumes 25, 26, and 27 of the Proceedings; and Part m of Special Bulletin No. 4, entitled ** American Hydroids,” being a monograph of the family Sertularide by Prof. Charles C. Nutting, of the University of Iowa. The last named is a quarto vol- ume of 325 pages and 41 plates, the result of a painstaking and impor- tant investigation of collections belonging to this Museum.
The annual report for 1901 was received from the Printing Office on October 6, 1903; that for 1902 on March 12, 1904, The former
NAT MUS 1904——4
50 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
contains, besides the administrative report, the following five papers, constituting the general appendix to the volume: ‘‘ An account of the exhibit of the National Museum at the Pan-American Exposition in 3uftalo in 1901,” by F. W. True, William H. Holmes, and George P. Merrill; ‘* Flint Implements and Fossil Remains from a Sulphur Spring at Afton, Indian Territory,” by Mr. William H. Holmes; ‘Classification and Arrangement of the Exhibits of an Anthropolog- ical Museum,” by Mr. William H. Holmes; ‘‘Archeological Field Work in Northeastern Arizona,” by Dr. Walter Hough; *‘ Narrative of a Visit to Indian Tribes of the Purus River, Brazil,” by Prof. J. B. Steere. The appendix to the report for 1902 consists of a paper on ‘Aboriginal American Basketry,” by Prof. O. T. Mason; one on the *‘Herpetology of Porto Rico,” by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger; and one on ‘‘ Wokas, a Primitive Food of the Klamath Indians,” by Mr. F. V. Coville.
Of the volumes of Proceedings, No. 25 was issued on July 24, 1903; No. 26 on August 27, 1903; and No. 27 on June 30, 1904. The total number of papers comprised in the three volumes is 107, numbered consecutively from 1275 to 1381, inclusive. They are descriptive, either wholly or in part, of collections belonging to the Museum. The subjects treated of and the number of papers relating to each are as follows: Mammals, 5; birds, 10; reptiles, 2; fishes, 39; insects, 19; marine invertebrates, including mollusks, 21; plants, 4; fossils, 2; meteorites, 2; miscellaneous, 3. The authors are partly members of the Museum staff and partly collaborators connected with other estab- lishments.
The Proceedings papers are first issued separately, in a limited edition, as soon as each can be printed, in order to insure their early distribution. The papers in the annual reports are also published in separate form, but not until the volume is completed. Except for this practice, which has long been followed, it would be impossible to sup- ply the requests of specialists, the completed volumes being mostly distributed to libraries and educational institutions.
In Appendix IIT will be found the titles of all publications for the year by members of the staff and collaborators of the Museum. The number of papers cited is 315 and the number of authors 89. The papers are grouped by subjects in the following table:
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY, 3 ol
| Papers | Papers |
Subject. aah puotler Total. officers. | gators.
JARBIEONCEW soccsngcncsnsaassbonodadasdsocdaspcocooseseoncpssepucupndosoEs 8 | 1 9 PAC EN IAIN Greif OLee eset eee eeee PR nloeaeo cen ecec slcclests deste sees LOBE sas 10 TEM ONO RTPID, -cooesos Soo epee do2 2805 oF o SO Se DET COD U BNE BD On ASOD OSOE SS BROHGH 2 \seacosb sec 2 | TRIO ERIE NOM = 52h ose eeoee de soe des saetose ce sS0s8es5 sade asape sco oesseessoo5s| 6, | eacesnee | 5 BIOL OL MEET Ree oc ee ee eee tect oc See sane ceca waned Hed eine 1 | 1 TT hiulace Sabot Oneal a Se So 13 16 | 29 SENG) LemT ayia ete ero elste ee sien ao aig,'= ahae esas se cee Sew ce cicic scence) LO eeeeee ser 10 RDO A CNOA els ck Shan deek CONS esp Sc cee cE OCI EOS ees os Se eee a 4 | 4 8 SB pxcPLO Te UL OTM =e Sete eee See aciiote fael facie Bee etna see a tee ace ao ane | Deere ae | 2 INGLE Sc Sans so eS o SIO COCO SRO CER e CRO Ooo eae aaee SEERA ee ea eer 14 15 | 29 DROSS Se petere seemless ate stators ra ata acetas clasts loisies alas sae cet oseisieleacisciseism ecices eisten'siee 10 | 6. 16 GQQIOERy: sond asdgbcecesa MU aoee eS acaeseOSee HACE AEE eee ene aoe a 4 2 | 6 THROES) caine Uooncne eee er erent RRS eae 100 21 | 121 AD Seen ee ass once eee eae me oto e nn csdwicsesesececcceckes ceceees 21 | 1 22 (intone) SAN SIE IOFAST SS Soe Ae SMU ae ee ed el 7 7 14 TV OTINETI AT ie pple tee HSe BER OUES Sar OAS er Ep Oca nae EE eaS GORE eee ieee malls re Re 1 ING US canner rete oem eae ad nsmlaemtetaeaaeddees Glen ceaaesSol see. Shlecgs 1GWNee aos se 5 16 TED SNICE hs JOSS aed SARE MO EID TO 8 AS SSA eae oy a 1 chs eee ae 1 Einvsica eumihno pole veces saseeee ees see sss acs seek neem e since seees see Sileeoacke oe 3 Rept Lessin dk bau CMANS: meyer acee es sacciecececct sssececs a dacsccsscccces i aesenadere 5 Mecho lopyeassetaee eae seme es cere cw eemiceeincks tee wetiadactcacenceu se s8 bileko eee nee 1 IMU SG GMS COU Siena ees amen ioe aie anele o/c 8 sincioe sat Seieiec Seicciae se Se AS ces ek 4 BRC) fe Berens cee se te ey te eR yep SE en 241 74 315
Twelve papers on Museum specimens by assistants of the Museum were, by permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, printed in other publications than those of the Institution, as follows:
Casanowicz, I. M.
Oriental and Classical Archeology in the U. 8. National Museum: Description of the contents, installation, and arrangement of the Division oi Historic Archeology and Religions. Records of the Past. Dec. 12, 1903.
Mitier, Gerrit S., Jr.
A New Nataline Bat from the Bahamas. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Sept. 30, 1903.
A New Squirrel from Lower Siam. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Noy. 12, 1903.
A New Hare from Greece. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Nov. 12, 1903,
A Second Specimen of Euderma maculatum. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Noy. 30, 1903.
Descriptions of Two New Mole Rats. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Noy. 30, 1903.
Rip@way, Rosperr.
Descriptions of New Genera, Species, and Subspecies of American Birds. Proce. Biol. Soc. Wash., Sept. 30, 1903.
Diagnosis of Nine New Forms of American Birds. Proe. Biol. Soc. Wash., Noy. 30, 1903.
lniusiones de dale
A New Form of Nighthawk from the Bahama Islands. The Auk, October, 1903. Ross, J. N.
A New Begonia from Mexico. Rep. Mo, Bot, Garden, Jan. 28, 1904,
52 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
STEJNEGER, LEONHARD. A New Hognose Snake from Florida. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. Sept. 12, 1903. A New Lizard from the Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., Dec. 28, 1903.
The Editorial Office also has charge of other printing than that of the publications, including labels, blanks, stationery, cards, etc., and likewise of the binding of books, which together constitute a very considerable item.
LIBRARY.
The National Museum library has received as a gift from Prof. Otis Tufton Mason, Head Curator of Anthropology, about 2,000 pamphlets, separates and bound volumes, mostly on anthropological subjects, for which a special bookplate has been provided. This is the second gen- erous contribution of the same character from Professor Mason. Dr. Edward L. Greene, recently appointed associate in botany, has depos- ited his entire botanical library, in connection with his botanical col- lection, for a period of ten years, the only condition stipulated being that while the books shall be accessible on the same terms as other books in the Museum library they are not to be lent outside the Dis- trict of Columbia without the consent of Doctor Greene.
The Museum library now contains 20,548 bound volumes and 35,960 unbound papers. The additions during the year consisted of 1,504 books, 3,187 pamphlets, and 700 parts of volumes. ‘There were cata- logued 938 books, 2,130 pamphlets, and 11,520 parts of periodicals. The number of cards added to the author’s catalogue was 4,090, exclu- sive of 2,855 cards for books and pamphlets recatalogued. Seventy broken sets of periodicals have been completed or partly so. The number of books, pamphlets, and periodicals borrowed from the gen- eral library was 26,456, including 5,679 assigned to the sectional libraries.
There has been no change in the sectional libraries, which are as follows:
Administration. | Fishes. | Oriental archeology. Administrative assistant. | Geology. | Paleobotany. Anthropology. | History. | Parasites.
Biology. | Insects. Photography.
Birds. Mammals. Prehistoric anthropology. Botany. _ Marine invertebrates. Reptiles.
Children’s room. | Materia medica. Stratigraphic paleontology. Comparative anatomy. | Mesozoic fossils. _ Superintendent.
Editor. | Mineralogy. | Taxidermy.
Ethnology. | Mollusks. | Technology.
PHOTOGRAPHY.
The report of the photographer of the Museum, Mr. 'T. W. Smillie, shows that 1,359 negatives, 3,501 silver prints, 373 platinum prints, 140 velox prints, 79 lantern slides, 2,346 blueprints, and two enlarge-
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 53
ments were made during the year. Under the direction of the Secre- tary, Mr. Smillie also devoted considerable time to recording the flight of birds by means of telephoto cameras stationed at elevated points in the Zoological Park. He likewise rendered assistance to the Civil Service Commission in the examination of applicants for posi- tions in the Government service requiring a practical knowledge of photography.
COOPERATION OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT.
The Museum has received, as usual, important assistance from sey- eral of the Departments and bureaus of the Government. Its relations to the U. S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Fisheries, the Biolog- ical Survey and Divisions of Entomology and Botany of the Depart- ment of Agriculture, and the Bureau of American Ethnology, especially in regard to the transfer of collections, have been referred to elsewhere. Officers of the Army and Navy stationed in the new possessions have made valuable contributions, and representatives abroad of the Department of State have been instrumental in securing interesting material. The Departments of War and of the Navy have rendered generous help toward building up the collections of history and of the implements of war, having presented and deposited during the year many objects of exceeding interest and value. The Army Medical Museum has also cooperated most liberally in promoting the welfare of the recently established Division of Physical Anthropology. Special acknowledgments are due to the Quartermasters’ Department of the Army for many courtesies in connection with the transporta- tion of specimens and outfits to and from distant points, and to the Treasury Department for the prompt admission and shipment to Washington of specimens received from abroad at several of the custom-houses.
EXPOSITIONS.
Lowsiand Purchase Exposition.—The exhibits of the National Mu- seum, together with those of the Smithsonian Institution and of the other Government branches under its direction, were practically all in place in the Government building at St. Louis on the opening day, April 30, 1904. Under the direction of Dr. F. W. True, who represents the Institution and the Museum on the Government board, no pains have been spared to make this display both interesting and noteworthy.
The anthropological exhibits of both the Museum and the Bureau of American Ethnology were assembled under the supervision of Mr. W. H. Holmes, whose principal aim in the former connection has been to illustrate the higher culture of the native American peoples as shown in their arts and industries, the specimens selected being as far as pos- sible the most typical of their kind. Among them are examples of
5a REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
native architecture, sculpture, ceramics, fabrics, metal work, and of the development in water craft, musical instruments, pipes, ceremonial objects, ete. The most striking feature of the exhibit is a series of tive models of ancient Aztec ruins in Mexico; namely, the ‘*’Temple of the Cross” at Palenque, Chiapas; the ** Temple of the Columns” at Mitla, Oaxaca; the temple of Xochicalco at Morales; the ** Castle” at Chichen-Itza, Yucatan; and the *‘ House of the Governor” at Uxmal, Yucatan. The collection also contains a number of plaster casts of some of the most famous religious sculptures of the Assyrians, Egyp- tians, Greeks, and Romans.
In biology the most conspicuous objects are the cast and skeleton of a sulphur-bottom whale, about 80 feet long, taken off the coast of Newfoundland. Many of the larger mammals of the world are repre- sented by especially fine examples of the art of taxidermy, among them being the hippopotamus, rhinoceros, lion, tiger, giraffe, moose, cari- bou, axis-deer, sambur-stag, antelope, wild sheep, chamois, etc., and many birds of popular interest, such as game birds, birds of paradise, pheasants, the vulture, pelican, etc. A specimen of the curious hoact- zin of Guiana, South America, with its nest, eggs, and young, occupies a case by itself, and the great egg of the A%pyornis, a now extinct bird of Madagascar, is represented. Deep-sea fishes and some of the large species of reptiles are shown in the form of models, and there is also a fine display of butterflies, including many large and brilliant forms from tropical America and the Old World. An especially inter- esting feature is a reproduction of the ‘‘Children’s Room” in the Smithsonian building at Washington.
The most striking specimens in the Department of Geology are restorations of the large extinct Stegosaur and Triceratops, along- side of which have been placed the skeletons of a mastodon and an elephant, by way of contrast. Dr. George P. Merrill, in charge of this Department, has also brought together a very interesting collec- tion of meteorites, including casts of some of the largest ones known, such as that discovered by Lieutenant Peary in Greenland, and the Bacubarito meteorite found in the State of Sinaloa, Mexico. The mineral exhibit embraces some of the most beautiful varieties from all parts of the world, and is supplemented by two other collections, showing the various forms of silica and of carbonate of calcium. Among the fossil invertebrates are many interesting forms, and among the vertebrates are fishes, reptiles, a pterodactyl, and a com- plete skeleton of a moa, a large extinct flightless bird.
The official report upon the exposition by Doctor True will appear in the next annual report.
Lewis and Clark: Keposition.—On April 13, 1904, the President of the United States approved the bill (S. 276) providing for the celebra:
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 55
tion of the one-hundredth anniversary of the exploration of the Oregon country by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. The bill authorizes a Government exhibit in this connection, and appropriates $200,000 for its preparation, as well as $250,000 for a building.
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES.
At the Ninth International Geological Congress, held at Vienna, Austria, from August 20 to 27, 1903, the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum were represented by Mr. Charles Schuchert, assist- ant curator of stratigraphic paleontology. The total attendance at this congress from the United States was 22, papers being read by three of the number, namely, Prof. C. R. Van Hise, of the University of Wisconsin; Mr. Bailey Willis, of the U. S. Geological Survey, and Dr. E. O. Hovey, of the American Museum of Natural History.
Delegates appointed before the end of the fiscal year to congresses to be held during the summer of 1904 were as follows: Dr. Leon- hard Stejneger, curator of reptiles and batrachians, Mr. Gerrit S. Miller, jr., assistant curator of mammals, and Dr. C. W. Stiles, cus- todian of the helminthological collections, to the Sixth International Congress of Zoology, at Berne, Switzerland, during August; and Mr. William H. Holmes, Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, to the Congress of Americanists at Stuttgart, during the same month. These same persons were also designated by the Department of State as official representatives of the United States.
Dr. Paul Haupt, honorary curator of historic archeology, was appointed, on April 30, 1904, to represent the Smithsonian Insti- tution and National Museum at the Fourteenth International Congress of Orientalists, to be held in Algiers in April, 1905.
ORGANIZATION AND STAFF.
The classification: of the scientific departments of the Museum remains as indicated in the report for last year, with the following exceptions: The title of the ‘‘ division of religions” has been changed to ‘division of historic religions,” with Dr. Cyrus Adler as hon- orary curator, and the former ‘‘section of historic religious cere- monials” has been abolished. That of the *‘ division of history and biography” has been changed to ‘‘division of history,” with Mr. A. Howard Clark as honorary curator and Mr. Paul Beckwith as assist- ant curator, the ‘‘section of American history” being omitted. The ‘*section of electricity” has been abolished, Mr. George C. Maynard, who was in charge of that section, being the assistant curator of the division of technology.
56 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Mr. William H. Holmes, formerly Head Curator of the Department of Anthropology, but now Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnol- ogy, has accepted the position of honorary curator of the division of prehistoric archeology, and Mr. J. D. McGuire, ‘also of the Bureau of Ethnology, that of collaborator in the same division. Other appoint- ments have been made as follows: Dr. Edward L. Greene, formerly professor of botany in the Catholic University of America, associate in botany; Mr. Paul Brockett, custodian of the division of graphic arts, and Mr. J. S. Goldsmith as superintendent of construction and labor, being a part of the service performed by the late Dr. J. E. Watkins. The appointment of Mr. Walter L. Hahn, as aid in the division of mammals, in 1902-03, inadvertently failed to receive men- tion in the last report.
A number of members of the scientific staff have severed their con- nection with the Museum, all at their own volition, to accept positions elsewhere at higher compensation. Among these were Mr. F. A. Lucas, curator of comparative anatomy, who has become curator-in- chief of the Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; Mr. Louis Pollard, assistant curator in the division of plants; Mr. Rolla P. Currie, aid in the division of insects; and Mr. W. C. Phalen, aid, Messrs. R. S. Bassler and Alvan S. Stewart, preparators, in the Department of Geology.
Dr. Mareus W. Lyon, jr., of the division of mammals, who on November 1, 1902, was temporarily transferred to the service of the Smithsonian Institution and its bureaus in connection with the exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition as chief special agent, is still employed in that capacity.
NECROLOGY.
It is with deep regret that I have to record the death, on August 11, 1903, of Dr. J. Elfreth Watkins, whose official connection with the National Museum extended almost continuously over a period of nearly twenty years.
Dr. Watkins was born in Ben Lomond, Virginia, on May 17, 1852, his parents being Dr. Francis B. Watkins and Mary Elfreth. He i was a descendant of Thomas Watkins, who, during the War of the Revolution, aided in organizing -a troop of cavalry, while on his mother’s side he was connected with Timothy Matlack, known as the ‘* Fighting Quaker,” a member of the Committee on Safety in Penn- sylvania, and later a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1780 to 1787; and also with John Elfreth, who served in the Philadelphia City Troops in 1814.
After receiving an academic education at Tremont Seminary in
pale hes sas hg
ny
Lee
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. ayé
Morristown, Pennsylvania, young Watkins entered Lafayette College, from which he was graduated in 1871, with the degrees of C. E. and M. 8. He then became connected, as mining engineer, with the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, remaining one year, after which he entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as assistant engineer of construction. In 1873 he was disabled for field work by an accident, which resulted in the loss of his right leg. Upon his recovery he was assigned to the Amboy division of the Pennsylvania road. In the same year he was appointed chief clerk of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad, and a year later was reassigned to the Amboy division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which position he held until 1886, two years after the beginning of his connection with the National Museum.
His first connection with the Museum was in 1884, when he was ap- pointed ‘honorary curator of transportation.” In is8s6 he accepted a salaried position in the service of the Museum, to which he devoted all of his time until 1892, when he returned to the Pennsylvania Rail- road Company and at once began the preparation of its exhibits for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Later he was placed in charge of the Department of Industrial Arts in the Field Columbian Museum, a direct outgrowth of the exposition. He remained there only one year, however, coming back to Washington in 1895 to fill the positions of curator of mechanical technology and superintendent of buildings in the National Museum, which he held until his death.
In 1891 he became very active in promoting the interests of the Patent Centennial Celebration held in Washington, and served as sec- retary of the executive committee.
Doctor Watkins was a member of several patriotic and other socie- ties, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Society of Colonial Wars, the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, the Society of the War of 1812, and the Philosophical Society of Washington. In recognition of his standing among authorities on the history of the mechanical arts the Stevens Institute of Technology conferred upon him the degree of ‘‘ doctor of engineering” in 1900.
Among the best known of his published writings are ** Beginnings of Engineering” (1888); ‘** The Development of the Rail and Track” (1889); ‘* The Log of the Savannah ” (1890); and ‘* Transportation and Lifting of Heavy Bodies by the Ancients” (1898). His most extensive literary undertaking was the compilation of the history of the Penn- sylvania Railroad from 1845 to 1896 (as yet unpublished), which also constitutes a very complete exposition of the general subject of rail- road transportation in the United States during the half century.
Mr. Henry Marshall, taxidermist of the division of birds, during a period of nearly thirty years, died on May 26, 1904. He was born at
be
58 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Oldham, Yorkshire County, England, in 1823 and in 1846 emigrated to America, soon thereafter purchasing a farm at Laurel, Maryland, which remained his home until the time of hisdeath. He first engaged in business as a machinist, in partnership witha brother; but having when a young man learned taxidermy, he cultivated it as a recreation and partly as a matter of business, many colleges and other public institutions being supplied with specimens of his handiwork. In 1875 he was appointed to the position of taxidermist in the National Museum, where he continued in service until stricken with paralysis on July 16, 1901.
REPORTS OF HEAD CURATORS.
REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY...........----- By Otis T. Mason. SR ELORT ON TEE DE RARTIMEN Dy OF (BIOL OG Y 25-222 2=— 2-222 =--- =~ By FREDERICK W. TRUE.
REPO ON Hb DEPART MEN DLO GHOLOGY - 2224.2 52522.022--555< By GEORGE P. MERRILL.
59
w= +. Tr
REPORT ON THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY FOR THE YEAR 1903-04.
By Otis T. Mason, Acting Head Curator.
The work of the year has been devoted to the care of specimens in hand and of new materials daily arriving, to finding safe and accessible storage for collections not on exhibition; but, more than all, to making the department useful ** for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”
Although the specimens received number over 5,000 less than in the previous year, when 24,319 were catalogued, they were on the whole as valuable, for the reason that besides those acquired without definite aim very many were secured for the purpose of perfecting old series or of making new ones to illustrate special points in anthropology. Some of the more valuable accessions are here enumerated:
GIFTS.
The W. L. Abbott collection, numbering 1,377 specimens from the Malay Peninsula, northern Sumatra, and the adjacent archipelago, adds materially to the resources of the Museum from this almost virgin area. These, with his gatherings in former years from the East Indies and other parts of Asia, form a most valuable addition to the Museum, and constitute the basis of a monograph on the ethnology of the regions explored by Doctor Abbott, now in course of prepara- tion by Professor Mason and Doctor Hough. The collection illustrates the arts of the people of this region, who are especially skillful in the use of plant and vegetable materials, of which the most serviceable is rattan. Besides the ethnological, there are also specimens in physical anthropology, consisting of Moro skulls and monkey and ape brains.
Of unusual interest and value is the collection of 278 ancient Egyptian chipped stone specimens presented by Mr. H. W. Seton-Karr, which includes crescent-shaped implements, leaf-shaped and semilunar blades, spearheads, saws, scrapers, a fine collection of arrow points with extremely long barbes, knives with handles in one piece, and a number of specialized forms for cutting. Mr. Seton-Karr writes:
They are all from the Fayum, and are of a type mainly peculiar to that district. They were found in the desert about 10 miles from present cultivation, the ancient
prehistoric lake having a much higher level than the dynastic or, of course, the
present one. : 61
62 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
There was also secured a large and representative series of archeo- logical specimens, part of a bequest to the U. S. National Museum, in 1898, by the late I. H. Harris, of Waynesville, Ohio. The archeo- logical portion was placed in the division of prehistoric archeology, and consists mainly of stone implements, including hammer stones, pestles, mortars, grooved axes, polished hatchets, discoidal stones, polished stone amulets, beads, pipes, leaf-shaped blades, arrow points and spearheads, scrapers, drills, shell beads, carvings, and a limited number of copper implements and ornaments. <A catalogue was fur- nished, giving exact data for a portion of the collection. A number of other specimens had the locality marked upon them, and from this source as well as from letters and memoranda, it is shown that the material was obtained mainly from a few spots in the Miami Valley, Ohio. There is, in addition, a typical series of earthenware vessels from mounds near Charleston, Missouri. The whole embraces 8,533 numbers, although several lots of small flakes and fragments are counted as one number.
The ethnological and historical collections from the Philippine Islands presented to the Museum by Dr. E. A. Mearns, U. S. Army, are especially interesting and valuable from the fact that they were secured personally in the campaign against the Moros of Mindanao by an experienced observer. They comprise many specimens not hereto- fore in the National Museum, and are rich in weapons, basketry, and the fine brasswork for which the Moros are so famous.
An important addition to the historical division is the gilt dress sword presented to Gen. Jacob Brown by the State of New York for services in the war of 1812. This sword was received as a gift from his grandson, Nathan Brown Chase.
Other interesting specimens received during the year are a serenato saxophone, with accessories and instructions, presented by William Tonk & Bro., of New York, which fills a niche in the collection of musical instruments; a rare flintlock pistol with folding bayonet, made by Miles, London, and presented by Mr. Paul E. Beckwith.
A collection of Morse keys, insulators, and other important his- torical apparatus used on telegraph lines in the United States about 1860, was presented by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company through C. EK. McKim, superintendent of telegraphs at Pittsburg; a telegraph switch, invented about 1855 by E. W. Culgan, of Pittsburg, Pennsyl- vania, and used generally throughout the United States up to 1865, presented by Mr. C. S. Greer, of Zanesville, Ohio; a series of speci- mens illustrating the development of the hand camera, donated by the Kastman Kodak Company, of Rochester, New York; a collection of native firearms from the Philippine Islands, presented by the President of the United States; and a series of heliogravures of Hellenistic por-
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REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 6:
traits, useful in connection with the study of the physiognomy of the nations, was given by Theodor Graf, of Vienna, Austria.
PURCHASES.
During the year the Museum acquired by purchase the large archeo- logical collection from various European localities (11,519 specimens), and a smaller collection (7,815 specimens) of American objects, belong- ing to the estate of the late Dr. Thomas Wilson. The European collection covers a wide range, beginning with the roughly shaped flint implements from the river gravels of England and France, and ending with the more highly elaborated objects of the polished stone age and the bronze age. The more important groups from Europe include objects of stone, bone, pottery, and bronze from the Swiss lakes; a fine series of chipped and polished stone implements from Scandinavia; and pottery and bronzes from Italy. Of the American series, the most notable are the large collection of stone implements, ete., from Fairfax County, Virginia (the Hunter collection); two sets of cache implements, one including 18 leaf-shaped blades of quart- zite from Carter County, Tennessee; and 14 large spearheads of quartzite from Pike County, Arkansas.
A collection of 4 house posts and 2 totem poles was purchased from Dr. George A. Dorsey for exhibition at St. Louis. The house posts, hewn from yellow cedar, are very interesting specimens, and were secured personally by Doctor Dorsey from a Tlinkit village. Each pair is 10 feet in height, 25 feet in breadth, and nearly 4 inches in thickness. The posts are carved, and two of them are of especial interest owing to the fact that they are painted. The totem poles rank among the best examples of wood carving from the Northwest Coast.
Owing to the widespread popular interest in basketry, a number of collections were offered to the Museum, and of these 54 fine examples of Nez Pereé, Chemehuevi, and Maidu baskets were purchased from the Fred Harvey collection, rendering more complete the large and valuable series now displayed in the north-west gallery.
A collection of 48 examples of aboriginal art from southeastern Alaska, consisting of carved clubs, knives, figures, dishes, chests, and embroidered blankets, was purchased from Lieut. G. T. Emmons, U. S. Navy, whose long familiarity with the tribes of this region enhances their value.
The purchase of 14 specimens of crania of the Wasco Indians from the Fred Harvey collection made an important addition to the division of physical anthropology.
A series of models of steamboat propellers, dating from 1681 to 1525, and illustrating the development of this feature of marine architecture for that period, were purchased from Mr. Emil Wellauer.
64 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Casts of Assyro-Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman sculp- tures were purchased from various dealers in England, France, Italy, and the United States. In this collection is a stele engraved with the code of laws of the Babylonian King, Hammurabi, which is of peculiar interest, as it aids in portraying the civilization of Babylon more than four thousand years ago.
EXCHANGES.
Among the specimens acquired through exchange during the year may be mentioned copies of rare musical instruments received from Mrs. John Crosby Brown, in exchange for similar material; and 28 specimens illustrative of the folklore of England and Ireland from Edward Lovett, Esq., Croydon, England, in exchange for American Indian specimens.
TRANSFERS AND LOANS.
A very interesting collection numbering 550 specimens was secured by J. Walter Fewkes, of the Bureau of American Ethnology. It includes objects from the islands of Trinidad, Grenada, Cariaco, St. Vincent, Barbados, Dominica, Porto Rico, and Cuba. The most nota- ble of these are stone collars, tripointed stone zemes, earthenware bowls of unique form and decoration, and a series of carved stone masks and amulets. There are also polished hatchets and chisels, axes of the Carib type, sculptured pestles, mortars, beads of stone, shell hatchets, and grotesque heads and faces used as decorations of pottery vessels. This collection was made systematically with a view to work- ing out the ancient connections between the two continents of North and South America.
A large number of archeological objects from various caverns, rock- shelters, and village sites in the Ozark region in Missouri and Arkan- sas, collected by William H. Holmes, were obtained by transfer from the Bureau of American Ethnology. These include chipped flint implements, ranging from roughly worked pieces and blades to well- finished arrow points, spearheads, and scrapers; hammer and rubbing stones, bone implements, fragments of pottery, pieces of basket work, woven fabrics, twisted cords made from the vegetable fiber, cave breccia containing flints, animal bones (mainly split), and a few human bones. The objects are exceptionally well classified. The position, whether in caves, village sites, bottom lands, ete., is carefully marked, and in addition there are furnished two maps and four charts upon which the different localities are indicated. The collection, which numbers 2,710 specimens, is a notable addition to the Museum, as it represents material from new areas.
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY, 65
The division of physical anthropology has been enriched by over 2,000 crania and skeletons transferred from the Army Medical Museum.
During the last few years the curator of the division of technology has made special effort to increase the series illustrating the develop- ment of firearms. Recently there has been lent by Col. Wright Rives a finely finished 44-caliber rifle, made by Henry Deringer, Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, and often used for target practice by David Crockett and other friends of Mr. Rives. This was the rifle used by W. J. Graves in his duel with Jonathan Cilley in 1838.
There may also be mentioned a valuable series of sporting rifles, collected by Mr. Herman Hollerith in Mitchell County, North Caro- lina, in 1893, and lent by him to the Museum. These are typical specimens of sporting guns used throughout the United States up to about 1850. They are provided with homemade powderhorns, pow- der charges, turkey calls, and other appliances, showing the skill of the early backwoodsman.
A collection of rifles, muskets, carbines, and revolvers has been transferred to the National Museum by the Ordnance Office of the War Department. These weapons include, besides the guns manu- factured by the Government for many years, fine specimens made by private firms for the Government. There is one remarkable example, which is a 7-barrel flintlock revolving gun, with 11-inch barrels, caliber .50, fastened to a central frame and revolved by hand, to bring each barrel successively under a common flash pan.
Another especially rare and valuable loan from the War Depart- ment is the Ferguson breech-loading rifle, which it has been claimed is the only one of its kind in existence. It was invented and patented in England in 1775-76 by Maj. Patrick Ferguson, of the British Army, and was manufactured by Mr. D. Egg, of London. This gun was presented by Major Ferguson to Capt. Frederick de Peyster and bequeathed by him to his son, Gen. John Watts de Peyster.
To the division of history there has been added a number of objects illustrating the colonial and Revolutionary periods, including inter- esting relics received from Gen. John Watts de Peyster, who has during the last few years presented his Napoleonic library to the Smithsonian Institution. Mention may also be made of the sword and epaulets worn by Gen. Alexander McComb, U.S. Army, a loan from Mrs. F. C. d’Hautville, and of a fine portrait in oil of George Catlin, the Indian portrait painter, received from Mrs. Louise Catlin Kinney. The portrait, which is an excellent likeness, was painted in 1849 by Mr. W. H. Fisk, R. A. It adds much to the interest of the great collection of Indian portraits given to the Museum many years ago.
Asa result of the war with Spain in 1898 the Museum has gradually acquired a large number of objects illustrating the history of the peo-
NAT Mus 1904——5
66 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
ple of our insular possessions. During the past year Dr. R. B. Grubb, U.S. Army, added to his collection 53 specimens from the Moros of western Mindanao, Philippine Islands, consisting of edged weapons, spears, armor, ceremonial objects, matting and costumes of these interesting and warlike people. .
EXPLORATIONS.
Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, con- tinued his researches in the West Indies, visiting Cuba, Porto Rico, and other islands as far south as Trinidad. His collection contains many notable objects in carved stone, as zemes, or tripointed idols, masks, amulets, pottery of rare forms, and implements and utensils of hard, finely-polished rock.
Field work in New Mexico and Arizona was carried on by Dr. Walter Hough, assistant curator of the division of ethnology, who succeeded in obtaining a valuable collection of basketry, pottery, stone, bone, wood, and shell implements, weapons, ornaments, and ceremonial objects from a region heretofore unexplored. Ruins near Magdalena, Datil, along the upper Tulerosa River at Frisco, and near Luna, New Mexico, were examined. The last named were excavated and important data and specimens were collected. A reconnoissance of cave and cliff ruins in this region was made and a number of specimens secured. At the close of the work Doctor Hough proceeded north- westward by way of Alpine, Nutrioso, Springerville, and St. Johns, to the Santa Fe Railroad at Holbrook, Arizona. During his trip he trav- ersed a stretch of country 270 miles wide between points on the rail- roads. The object of Doctor Hough was to cut across lines of north and south migration of peoples in early times, and in this respect much valuable information was gathered.
In May, Mr. George C. Maynard commenced a special investigation of the history of the locomotive ‘‘ Stourbridge Lion,” with a view to clearing up some unsettled questions relating to the authenticity of parts of the locomotive in the custody of the Museum, as well as to determine the whereabouts of other parts now in the possession of private parties. He visited Honesdale, Carbondale, Pittston, Scran- ton and other places in Pennsylvania, where he obtained much valuable information.
Mr. Paul E. Beckwith, assistant curator in the division of history, acting under special directions from the Assistant Secretary, spent the month of June at the Louisiana Purchase F .position examining certain anthropological collections.
CARE OF THE COLLECTIONS.
No changes have been made in the method of handling accessions. All collections received during the year have been catalogued and
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 67
cared for, and, so far as possible, systematically arranged. Specimens subject to destruction by insects have been poisoned.
Increased space and facilities for preservation and installation were obtained by the finishing of the repairs in the hall of prehistoric archeology, which has been closed for two years; by dismounting many pictures from swinging screens and putting the former into the study series; by building additional racks for unit drawers in the hall of history and in the graphic arts storage; by adding to the furni- ture in the east hall a large gun rack, presented by the War Depart- ment; and by building new racks in the laboratory of physical anthropology.
A great deal of time has been spent in labeling the musical instru- ments, which number nearly fifteen hundred pieces. This collection is in the care of Mr. EK. H. Hawley, who has completed an elaborate catalogue of the entire series. It is provided with four sets of labels, as follows:
1. General labels, descriptive of the plan of classification.
2. Case labels, naming the class of instruments in each inclosure.
3. Descriptive labels, explaining the structure and functions of the instruments in each case.
4. Individual labels, giving the native name, the English name, locality and peoples, and collector of each specimen.
The collection has been installed to teach history of thought and of development through inventions, from the simplest monotone device to mark rhythm up to the most elaborate apparatus for musical expres- sion. The exhibit is divided into four grand divisions, according to the structure of the instruments, and the pieces are arranged accord- ing to simplicity or supposed order of invention. The divisions may be described as follows:
(1) Vibrating solid, sonorous bodies; (I1) vibrating membranes; (III) vibrating strings; (IV) vibrating columns or currents of air.
Musical instruments are put into vibration or functioned: (1) imme- diately, by human agency only; (2) mediately, by means of devices in the hand; (3) mechanically, through the agency of keyboards and the like, and (4) automatically, by machinery, which demands no skill; (5) Aolian harps and wind bells are vibrated without human agency. There are five methods employed in playing, namely, striking or ham- mering; picking or twanging; rubbing with the hand, bow, wheel, etc. ;
2?
blowing; and sympathetically.
The four grand divisions have been mounted, where practicable, so as to indicate geographic and ethnic distribution, and arranged in sets as related to the musical scale. Some advance has been made in the literature of music, but none in collecting portraits of composers, instrument makers, or writers on the subject,
68 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
Case and specimen labels were prepared for the series illustrating heating and illuminating and other subjects, and many hundreds of labels were printed for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Mr. Thomas Sweeny continued the systematic care of the study series.
(XHIBITION AND STUDY SERIES.
The crowded condition of the Museum seriously interferes with the association of the exhibition with the study series. The ideal connec- tion between the two is partly maintained in the northwest range and in a few other parts of the Museum where the student, attracted by a specimen, wishes to go further into the subject, and finds the study series close at hand. But in other exhibits the study material has to be stored away so as to be practically inaccessible.
The exhibits in many of the halls are in a satisfactory condition, being well arranged and well labeled; but in other halls old-fashioned methods still prevail and the labeling is inadequate.
INSTALLATION.
A number of cases were arranged in the northwest gallery, to illus- trate the different types of basketry, this subject having attracted much popular attention of late owing to the publication by the National Museum of Professor Mason’s monograph on Aboriginal American Basketry. A collection of lamps has been arranged in the east hall, to show the development of illumination. A fine portrait of George Catlin, lent by his daughter, Mrs. Louise Catlin Kinney, was installed in the north-west range amidst the great painter’s works. A large number of specimens from the Philippine Islands, from various sources, were set up for exhibition in the gallery of the north-west court. Among these is the Mearns collection from Mindanao. A special studio was set apart for the Abbott collections from Malaysia, with reference to publishing an illustrated account of them. <A great deal of time was expended in the installation of musical instruments, now one of the richest in the world. <A rare collection of objects illus- trating Tibetan religion has been set up and labeled. A walnut case extending along one side of the east hall has been installed with a large collection of muskets, rifles, and carbines, some of which were received from the War Department; and three table-cases, especially fitted up for the exhibition of revolvers and pistols, were also placed in the east hall and filled with a collection of historical military revolvers, and single and double barreled pistols of various dates and types, some of which are not duplicated, so far as known, in any other public or private collection. The original Francis life-saving car was perma- nently installed in a new mahogany case, especially designed for the purpose; while another was made for the cylinder of the Hornblower
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 69
engine, the first steam engine ever erected on the western continent, having been imported from England in 1753, set up by Josiah Horn- blower, and used for pumping water from the copper mines of Col. John Schuyler, located opposite Belleville, near Newark, New Jersey. Two clocks received from the Chelsea Clock Company, of Boston, through the courtesy of Charles H. Pearson, treasurer, were placed in the east hall near the telegraph instruments. Here the noon signals are received from the U. 5. Naval Observatory, and serve a useful pur- pose in illustrating to visitors the Government’s method of distributing correct time throughout the United States.
The Daughters of the American Revolution have manifested great interest in the historic collections, and cases especially devoted to their contributions have been arranged and labeled.
MODELS AND REPLICAS.
Models of a large number of objects, chiefly ethnologic, have been made under the supervision of the Department for use in filling out the series of exhibits in the Museum and for exchange purposes. A number of replicas in plaster have also been prepared under the direc- tion of Mr. William H. Holmes, including a series of casts of 120 of the most important archeologic objects illustrating the higher achieve- ments of the ancient Mexican peoples. One set of these; carefully colored, was installed with the Museum’s exhibit at the St. Louis Exposition, while several additional sets were prepared for exchange with other museums. These replicas have been executed with the greatest care, and one series has been photographed side by side with the original objects for distribution to the museums with which exchanges are contemplated. Up to the present time these include the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago; Carnegie Museum, Pittsburg; Free Museum of Science and Art, Philadelphia; American Museum of Natural History, New York; Museum of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, Brooklyn; Peabody Museum, Cambridge; and also with the following foreign museums: Trocadero Museum, Paris; British Museum, London; Royal Ethnological Museum, Berlin; Royal Museum of Dresden; National Museum of Mexico, and the National Museum of Argentina.
The preparators of this Department, from plans by Mr. Holmes, also constructed models of a number of the ruined buildings of Mexico and Yucatan, five of which were completed and installed with the exhibit prepared for the St. Louis. Exposition. These represent the ** Pyramid Temple,” Xochicalco; the ‘‘ Temple of the Columns,” Mitla; ‘*House of the Governor,” Uxmal; ‘‘ El Castillo,” Chichenitza; and the ‘‘ Temple of the Cross,” Palenque. Models are kept of such parts of these as can be cast in plaster for use in preparing replicas.
In. the laboratory of this Department twenty masks, besides other
70 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
castings of Indians belonging to delegations visiting Washington, have also been made at the expense of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and from these a number of busts have been prepared for the Museum exhibits and for exchange with other museums. Some material has already been received from the Field Columbian Museum, the Ameri- can Museum of Natural History, and the Royal Ethnological Museum, Berlin, in exchange for casts. It is expected that these exchanges will result in adding greatly to the collections in the National Museum, and at the same time they will enrich the various museums with which arrangements are made.
The work of photographing Indians visiting Washington has been greatly enlarged during the year. By special arrangement whole dele- gations have visited the Museum, where photographs of them, either singly or in groups, have been made and measurements taken.
RESEARCHES.
In the past ten years, the Museum has been receiving from Dr. William L. Abbott important ethnological collections made by him in the Eastern Continent, especially in southern Malaysia. During last year much time was spent in arranging and classifying this material, and in preparing descriptions and illustrations for publication. The work will be continued during the coming year. Mr. Holmes has continued intermittently the preparation of a monograph on the mines and quarries of the aborigines, based to a large extent upon collections in the division of prehistoric archeology. Mr. Paul Beckwith began a systematic description of the Grant relics in the National Museum, for publication in the form of an illustrated catalogue. He has also prepared a card catalogue of the swords, with the view of studying the evolution of this arm, and has continued his work on a catalogue of the collections of ancient coinage in the Museum.
Doctor Hrdlicka made measurements on negro children and adults, and on 32 Indians belonging to visiting delegations. He continued his studies on the humerus, atlas, cranial fossee, parietal and malar bones, and also commenced testing the value and effect of various preservatives on the excised brain.
The usefulness of the Department of Anthropology to students and investigators is shown by the number of persons who have derived benefit therefrom. Each year more and more institutions and indi- viduals seek access to these collections, and through the cordial rela- tions thus established the Department has not only contributed to education, but has profited in the increase of its material for study. Among those visiting the Museum for the purpose of carrying on researches in its anthropological material may be mentioned the following:
Professor Sherrington, of the University College, Liverpool, inves-
REPORT OF ASSISTANT ‘SECRETARY. a
tigated the negro brains in the collection, in order to determine the relative proportions of the windings of the Rolandic fissure in this race. Miss Voorhees examined the collections from prehistoric Europe in connection with a study on the Man of the Drift Gravels and the Cave Dwellers of France. Miss Marie Ruef Hofer, of Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, examined the plan of synoptic series in the Museum as a basis of exercise and manual labor teaching. John P. 8S. Neligh, of Columbus, Georgia, studied Indian textile art, basketry, beadwork, and weaving, with a view to teaching. Ole Solberg, from Christiania, Norway, spent several days in the Museum, preparing himself for a trip to Arizona, in order to investi- gate the social customs of the Hopi (Moki); on his return he examined the Eskimo collection, with a view to enlarging his monograph on Eskimo stone implements.
Judge James Wickersham, U.S. District Judge, Eagle City, Alaska, made studies of the works and social customs of the Indians in that region, with a view to deciding their fitness for citizenship, and con- sulted the division of ethnology on what constitutes civilized tribes, with a view to enfranchising certain tribes of his judicial district. Lieut. William E. W. McKinlay, of the First U. 8. Cavalry, having been detailed by the Division of Military Information in the War Department to work up grammars and dictionaries of the chief lan- guages in the Philippines, utilized the resources and methods of the Department of Anthropology to aid him in his labors. Miss Maude Barrows Dutton, Columbia University, New York City,-spent Febru- ary 19 to February 29 in the Museum, gathering illustrations for a series of school readers to show the development of primitive indus- tries. Miss Cora M. Folsom, curator of the museum at Armstrong School, Hampton, Virginia, examined cases, methods of exhibition, and the Museum system of caring for the study series; she also received instructions in cataloguing, poisoning, and other museum work. The Director of the Mint, Mr. George E. Roberts, selected from the Museum twenty-eight coins to illustrate a lecture on numismatics, and transparencies were made for him in the Museum laboratory. Mr. Stewart Culin, curator of the division of ethnology in the Brooklyn Institute, made further studies in the games of the American Indians, with reference to a paper being published by the Bureau of American Ethnology. Miss Grace Nicholson, Pasadena, California, spent the month of June at the Museum, studying the classification and care of basketry; and the Immigration Bureau of the Department of Com- merce and Labor, through its statistician, Mr. Wells F. Andrews, consulted the Division of Ethnology for the purpose of obtaining information which would enable the Bureau to classify more exactly by nationality and race the vast number of immigrants into the United States.
12 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904.
The following material was transmitted to students and investigators outside of the Museum: A number of photographs lent to Miss Maude Barrows Dutton, of New York City, for reproduction ina series of text- books prepared under the supervision of the Teachers College, Columbia University; whale tusks, implements connected with whale fishing, and a number of models of fishermen’s boats lent to Mr. W. de C. Rave- nel, in charge of the exhibit of the Bureau of Fisheries, Department of Commerce and Labor, at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition; a num ber of arrows from the Natano (Hupa) Indians of California, Indian games (3), Indian tops, and Indian popguns, were lent to Mr. Stewart Culin, to be used in illustrating a paper published by the Bureau of American Ethnology; models of Indian fire-making apparatus were lent to Mr. Gerard Fowke, for the general anthropological exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition; the original Francis life-saving car was lent to the Treasury Department for exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. To Mr. S. W. Stratton, of the Bureau of Standards, for the same purpose, were lent examples of Mexican and Japanese scales, the coin scales of England, and a set of antique silver- smith’s weights, manufactured in Nuremburg, Germany; from the division of history a number of specimens connected with the mili-’ tary life of Gen. W. T. Sherman were lent, upon the request of Mr. P. T. Sherman, to the U. S. Military Academy, for exhibition at the Louisiana Purchase Ixposition; and an interesting case of historical specimens belonging to the Daughters of the American Revolution was sent to the exposition in the care of Mr. Paul Beckwith, for installation.
It is the policy of the Department of Anthropology not to send out valuable specimens to individuals for study, but to invite them to carry on their investigations at the Museum. This course is safer for the collections, and the student himself is thereby brought into touch with other materials of which he probably has had no knowledge.
PLANS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT.
The Acting Head Curator calls attention to the need of additional help in the several divisions. Accessions are multiplied, the corre- spondence has greatly increased, and yet the same number of men and women have to do the work. These conditions have been recognized and remedied as far as possible by temporary aid.
From Doctor Hough the following observations are received with reference to the plans for the development of the division of eth- nology:
This is the era of collector-dealers in ethnology. Material that falls into their hands is held for sale, so that a museum must enter the lists with money to purchase
or must go into the field as a collector. The latter plan tends to build up a museum with the most desirable material, but it requires funds as well as trained men who
REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 438
must spend part of the time in the field, and part in the care of the specimens. It is also most desirable to foster disinterested collectors, who engage in the work for relaxation without thought of gain. It is the opinion of the Curator that this matter of providing for the purchase of specimens should have attention by the Museum authorities. The interior development of the Division as pursued by the Curator and his assistant has been carried on (1) by the study of correlated objects, publi- cation, and exhibition to the best advantage for educational purposes; (2) by the grouping of ethnic material to show at a glance the life and arts of tribes and peo- ples; (3) the collection of information regarding specimens and filing such data where it is readily available for students and for lables; (4) the storing of photographic blueprints by subjects. This work is being steadily carried on and is improving the status of the division each year.
Mr. Holmes has planned a sweeping reinstallation of the division of prehistoric archeology. To the exhibits prepared for the Louisi- ana Purchase Exposition will be assigned the space in the middle of the hall. Mr. Maynard proposes to enlarge the subject of metrology in all its branches, by originals when possible, and also by copies and models of originals. He also will assiduously increase the material in the section of gunnery, for which the time is propitious. In this con- nection Mr. Maynard has prepared an elaborate classification of the topics under his division. Mr. Brockett plans to very much enlarge the study series in graphic arts by bringing from storage and putting in new drawers much material hitherto unavailable. Doctor Flint, having completed his classification and cataloguing .in the division of medicine, will develop his plan on the lines established. In the divi sion of history, Mr. Beckwith will avail himself of the gallery recently assigned to him to enlarge and improve the study series. The assist- ant curator of the division of physical anthropology, Dr. A. Hrd- licka, makes the following recommendations:
The time has come when the division of physical anthropology can begin to pre- pare exhibits of great interest and instructive value, relating on the one hand to the American aborigines, and on the other to man in general. The part concerning the Indian would complete the immense ethnological exhibit; that concerning man in general would be a continuation of the series in biology. To achieve these results, the division is in need of the exclusive services of a modeler. A most important part of the Indian exhibits, and at the same time valuable for exchanges with other museums, would be a series of casts of the natives. For this purpose the modeler should take visiting Indians, and also be sent to do field work. In the biological exhibits, an important rdle would be played by casts of brain and other objects; by representations in plaster of human development and decline; and by showing the
numerous types of man. All this will require the constant application of an able modeler through a number of years, and the work can and should be begun at once.
Doctor Hrdlicka also calls attention to the fact that a compre- hensive biological survey of the people of the United States is a pos- sibility,