140 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1020. 



Cafd catalof/ue. — To make a complete and up-to-date card system 

 of the collections constituted the second line of activity and it is 

 gratifyinf^- to report that the index was practically completed by the 

 close of the yeai-. The system includes : An accession file, one card for 

 each accession arranged alphabeticalh' according to the source of 

 the objects; a subject file made up of cards of individual specimens 

 arranged according to catalogue numbers and under the subject to 

 which the specimen relates, (this file contains a card for each and 

 every object in the care of the division) ; a storage file made by with- 

 drawing those cards from the subject file relating to specimens which 

 are stored and replacing them Avith cards upon which reference is 

 made to the storage file. In this waj^, the cards in the subject file 

 relate entirely to specimens Avhich are on exhibition. 



At the present time it may be said that the collections are in A^ery 

 good condition and are about in shape for the part they Avill play 

 in the future development of the division. 



Development. — The division of mechanical technology is made up 

 of the earlier organized sections of naval architecture, transporta- 

 tion, electricity and, if so it may be called, mechanical iuAention. 

 Each of these sections Avas dcA'eloped almost independently of the 

 other and Avhen brought together as one division, subsequently, the 

 whole Avas found to lack and still does lack that inter-relationship 

 of exhibits which is so essential in popular educational Avork. The 

 reason lies in the fact that the common source (mechanical poAver) 

 from which each of these branches of mechanical arts has sprung is 

 not in evidence, and the plans for the future development of the 

 division include the construction of comprehensiA'e exhibits upon the 

 subject of mechanical poAver. Again, to Ausualize the extent to 

 which mechanical poAver is utilized and its bearing upon the thino-s 

 of eA'eryday experience,. both models of machines and full-size ma- 

 chines haA-e been used. But, to be at all inclusiA-e, exhibition space 

 comparable to that noAV devoted to the Avhole department of arts and 

 industries Avould be required, — nor are models of full-size, complete 

 machines of much educational value because of their complicated 

 luiture. In a ieAv of these facts, therefore, a second field of endeaA^or 

 Avill be to deAelop a series of working models of fundamental mechan- 

 ical movements and motions, indicating by label the machines in 

 Avhich one or another of these motions is of importance. Progress 

 in these tAvo directions Avill naturally develop gaps betAveen the 

 present exhibits and those in course of construction so that a third 

 line of activity Avill be to connect the old with the neAv. Still another 

 line of Avork to be undertaken, in fact, already started, is the con- 

 struction of a series of accurate scale models illustrating the develop- 

 ment of the flying machine. AVhile the experimentors in aircraft 



