360 Field Columbian Museum — Reports, Vol. II. 



the most part from distinct localities and include briquettes showing 

 the qualities of the burned as well as of the raw product. Of mineral 

 paints, ochres and fuller's earths, 71 specimens are shown. A series 

 illustrating the manufacture of glass has been installed, together with 

 glass sands from various localities. Other uses of sand, such as for 

 molding, refractory purposes, grinding, etc., are illustrated by a 

 collection numbering 61 specimens. The soil collection has also been 

 considerably increased, there being now shown 53 specimens of soils 

 and subsoils arranged according to the nomenclature of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, and 63 specimens of soils as they 

 are more commonly known. In addition a collection of 34 speci- 

 mens illustrates the origin of soils and their physical and chemical 

 characters. In Hall 78, devoted to salts, abrasives, etc., a large 

 increase in material, due in part to accessions from the Louisiana Pur- 

 chase Exposition, has compelled a general rearrangement and re- 

 installation. . The collection of abrasives. has been increased so that 

 it now fills three cases instead of one as heretofore. The new material 

 added is chiefly corundums, quartzes, infusorial earths, novaculites 

 and whetstones. An entire case of barites, or heavy spar, from 

 different localities, is now shown. To the salt collection specimens 

 illustrating 17 localities or products, chiefly from Egypt and Peru, 

 have been added. A large chart presented by the Solvay Company 

 illustrating the use of soda has been framed and placed in the hall. 

 In Hall 70, devoted to forms of carbon, a number of German peats 

 and their products obtained from the Louisiana Purchase Exposi- 

 tion, have been added to the peat collection, also specimens of the 

 Alaskan, tundra. To the diamond collection have been added eleven 

 specimens illustrating varieties of the diamond gravels of Brazil. 

 The graphite collections in the same hall have also been rearranged 

 and reclassified and are now large and complete. The labels of 

 the series of oil sands. Hall 71, numbering 64 specimens, which 

 were mounted in bottles so as to be capable of being turned about 

 for examination, had suffered much injury owing to constant 

 handling. New labels were accordingly provided and coated with 

 varnish to prevent further wear. Two cases of kerosenes were dis- 

 carded from the hall, as they duplicated other specimens. By 

 removal of these cases and a rearrangement of those remaining, about 

 300 square feet of much needed storage space was obtained at the 

 south end of the hall. This was partitioned off and connected with 

 the paleontological laboratory. In Hall S9. devoted to Mesozoic 

 fossils, the large and complete Plesiosaur girdle and paddle, col- 



