10 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1915. 



bility for the administration of these and subsequent additions to 

 its activities as would weld them into a compact whole, which to- 

 gether form a unique and notable agency for the increase and dif- 

 fusion of knowledge, for the direction of research, for cooperation 

 with departments of the Government and with universities and scien- 

 tific societies in America, and likewise afford a definite correspondent 

 to all scientific institutions and men abroad who seek interchange of 

 views or knowledge with men of science in the United States. 



Since that early day the only material change in the scope of the 

 Government Museum has been the addition of a department of 

 American history, intended to illustrate by an appropriate assem- 

 blage of objects the lives of distinguished personages, important 

 events, and the domestic life of the country from the colonial period 

 to the present time. 



The development of the Museum has been greatest in those sub- 

 jects which the conditions of the past 64 years have made most fruit- 

 ful—the natural history, geology, ethnology, and archeology of the 

 United States, supplemented by many collections from other coun- 

 tries. The opportunities for acquisition in these directions have been 

 mainly brought about through the activities of the scientific and 

 economic surveys of the Government, many of which are the direct 

 outgrowths of earlier explorations, stimulated or directed by the 

 Smithsonian Institution. The Centennial Exhibition of 1876 af- 

 forded the first opportunity for establishing a department of the 

 industrial arts, of which the fullest advantage was taken, but the 

 department or gallery of the fine arts made little progress, though 

 not from lack of desire or appreciation, until nine years ago, when 

 circumstances led to its definite recognition. 



While it is the primary duty of a museum to preserve the objects 

 confided to its care, as it is that of a library to preserve its books 

 and manuscripts, yet the importance of public collections rests not 

 upon the mere basis of custodianship nor upon the number of speci- 

 mens assembled and their money value, but upon the use to which 

 they are put. Judged by this standard, the National Museum may 

 claim to have reached a high state of efficiency. From an educational 

 point of view it is of great value to those persons ^Yl\o are so fortu- 

 nate as to reside in Washington or who are able to visit the Nation's 

 capital. In its well-designed cases, in which every detail of structure, 

 appointment, and color is considered, a selection of representative 

 objects is placed on view to the public, all being carefully labeled 

 individually and in groups. The child as well as the adult has been 

 provided for and the kindergarten pupil and the high-school scholar 

 can be seen here supplementing their class-room games or studies. 

 Under authority from Congress the small colleges and higher grades 

 of schools and academies throughout tlie land, especially in places 



