EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1913. 51 



recognition of his achievement in reaching the North Pole, namely 

 a special gold medal of honor, set with a single large diamond, from 

 the Peary Arctic Club; a gold medal from the Paris Academy of 

 Sports; and a gold, silver and bronze trophy from the Canadian 

 Camp of New York City. The memorial gold medal, mounted on a 

 bronze tablet, issued by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission in 

 memory of the heroines and heroes of the steamship Titanic lost off 

 the Banks of Newfoundland, April 15, 1912, was presented by the 

 Commission. 



To the loan collection of the National Society of the Daughters of 

 the American Revolution was added an antique German wooden 

 casket, decorated with a painted design and inscriptions in German 

 and Latin, and bearing the date 1660, which had originally been used 

 by members of the Keim family as a receptacle for jewelry, laces, and 

 toilet articles. 



The division of history requires a relatively greater proportion of 

 exhibition space than most other branches of the Museum as its col- 

 lections are more generally of a character to interest the pubUc. It 

 has, however, many resources w^hich are not intended to be displayed 

 but are kept conveniently accessible for reference and study, among 

 these being an important series of portraits, already numbering sev- 

 eral thousands. To permit of the introduction of certain new sub- 

 jects and the enlargement of the exhibits in others, for which mate- 

 rial is available, a third hall, the north-west range in the older Museum 

 building, was assigned to the division during the year. 



An important work begun was the classification of the extensive 

 collection of postage stamps, stamped envelopes, and postal cards, as 

 a prehminary to the selection of a series for exhibition, and the system- 

 atic arrangement and filing of the others. Good progress was also 

 made toward arranging the collection of medals, heretofore in stor- 

 age, which includes a fairly representative series of the historical 

 medals of the United States, England, and France, besides a number 

 of examples from other countries. Some attention was likewise paid 

 to the collection of coins which, while comprising a large number of 

 pieces, is unfortunately very deficient even as regards the coinage of 

 the United States. 



Penod costumes. — The preparation of an exhibition of historical 

 costumes, to which reference was made in the last report, was ac- 

 tively continued during the year though no part of the collection was 

 made ready for installation, owing mainly to delays in securing 

 appropriate lay figures. Following numerous experiments, plaster 

 was finally selected as best suited for representing such parts of the 

 figures as will be exposed, and six manikins of this pattern were 

 approaching completion at the close of the year. The collection is 

 afiiliated with the division of history and is being restricted to cos- 



