EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1919. 35 



The employees of the Smithsonian Institution and its branches 

 used the auditorium on May 1 for the purpose of organizing the 

 Smithsonian branch of the Federal Employees Union No. 2, and a 

 few days later for the nomination of candidates and the election of a 

 representative to the central committee of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion on the Joint Congressional Commission on the Reclassification 

 of Salaries. A representative of the American National Red Cross 

 addressed the employees of the Institution in the north hall of the 

 Natural History Building on August 8, explaining the purpose of its 

 salvage department in collecting old materials, such as waste paper, 

 metals, bottles, and other objects, and converting the same into funds. 

 The meetings of the Smithsonian Red Cross Auxiliary, the Smith- 

 sonian Relief Association, and other similar bodies, were held in 

 rooms on the third floor of the Natural History Building, as was also 

 the lecture by Doctor Rabe before the women employees of the In- 

 stitution on January 3, at the instance of the War Camp Community 

 Service. 



ORGANIZATION, AND CHANGES IN STAFF. 



The scope of the United States National Museum embraces many 

 subjects, which may be classed under the following headings : 



1. Natural historj^, comprising zoolog;^', botany, geology, mmeral- 

 ogy, paleontology, physical anthropolog}^, ethnology, and archeology. 



2. Applied science and art (Arts and Industries). 



3. The fine arts (National Gallery of Art). 



4. American history. 



At the capitals of the principal countries abroad there are gen- 

 erally'' several separate Government museums for these various classes, 

 notably in London and Paris, resulting from the independent origin 

 of the different collections. In London, for example, the subjects 

 combined in the United States National Museum are distributed 

 between two sections of the British Museum (Bloomsbury and South 

 Kensington), the Victoria and Albert- Museum, the Science Museum, 

 the Museum of Practical Geolog}^ Bethnal Green Museum, the Yv^al- 

 lace Collection, the several national galleries of art, and others. In 

 Washington, on the contrary and very fortunately, the entire museum 

 scheme has, by law, been essentially combined under one administra- 

 tion, which not only insures greater economy in management, but 

 permits of a more logical classification and arrangement, the elimina- 

 tion of duplication, and a consequent reduction in the relative amount 

 of space required. 



The national collections of the United States are not yet to be 

 compared as a whole with those of certain European capitals, though 

 in natural history they are probably not surpassed there. In respect 

 to the fine arts, the Freer collection comprises the most important 



