27^ Fi F.I.I) Columbian Miskum — Kkpokis. \'oi.. i. 



work in the Museum on catalogues and inventories is shown in detail 

 as follows: 



Accessions. — The jear has been bountiful in the contribution of 

 new material to the Museum. Accessions, by gift, by expedition, by 

 exchange, and by purchase, have been generous, and, unlike other 

 3'ears, have been largely directed with reference to the actual needs 

 of the different departments in completing series, suites, classifica- 

 tion, and special plans. The accessions to the institution are classi- 

 fied as follows : 



Souice. 



Gifts, 



Loans, 



Exchange, 



Collected, 



Purchase, 



Among the more important accessions of the year should be 

 mentioned the large collections from Egypt and Italy secured for the 

 department of Anthropology by President Ayer. These include a 

 large number of Stella,' tombstones, covering a long period of Egyp- 

 tian history, a valuable addition to the already important collection 

 of Egyptian and Etruscan jewelry, some important pieces of bronze, 

 and two very remarkable stone tombs of the early Etruscan period. 

 With the material obtained by President Ayer came a large collection 

 of fabrics of the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth cen- 

 turies, secured by Vice-President Ryerson, chiefly in Venice. This 

 is a valuable addition to our already interesting collection of middle- 

 age tapestries and fabrics. Rev. T. \V. Woodside, for many years a 

 missionary of Benguela, Africa, enabled the Museum to obtain a 

 small but extremely valuable collection of ethnological objects from 

 the native inhabitants of Portuguese Southwest Africa. A large col- 

 lection of objects, numbering about 600 specimens, from remote 

 islands of the Pacific, was purchased of Mr. W. T. Shepherd, of 

 Boston. In April the Museum received its third consignment of ob- 



