REPOBT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 19^1. 4l 



and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York City, through 

 Prof. George S. Huntington. Small portions of this material were 

 already in our possession as the result of exchanges in previous years; 

 it consists of the identified skeletal remains of upward of 1,500 indi- 

 viduals of known sex, age, color, nationality, and cause of decease. 

 It includes in ample number for all desired information representa- 

 tives of the different parts of the white race which are entering into 

 the composition of the American people, and as such will have a con- 

 stantly increasing value for mutual comparisons. The scientific im- 

 portance of this material can hardly be estimated, and it is not too 

 much to say that it practically doubles the value of our collection. 

 No other collection of equal extent is in existence. Another collection 

 of importance is that of 27 human brains donated to the Museum by 

 Dr. Edward Anthony Spitzka, Washington, D. C. The next collec- 

 ttion of note is that of 10 Arikara skulls and 3 skeletons donated 

 by the University of South Dakota, through Prof. Freeman Ward, in 

 return for a report on their collections. These specimens are in 

 good condition and fill what was almost a complete void in our col- 

 lections. Mention should also be made of a quantity of skeletal 

 material collected in Tennessee by Mr. W. E. Myer, of Nashville, 

 Tenn., and transmitted to the Museum by the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology. 



In addition to the above there were a series of smaller accessions of 

 crania and skeletons from various parts of this continent. 



A loan collection of rare oriental rugs was received in art textiles, 

 replacing those hung last year. This collection was sent by a public- 

 spirited Washingtonian to be exhibited for the benefit of the public. 

 The weavings number 38 and typify the chief varieties of these 

 artistic textiles. 



The section of musical instruments reports that the Worch col- 

 lection of pianos has been enriched by the gift of a copy of the 

 harpsichord used by Johann Sebastian Bach, the great composer. 

 The original is in the Museum at Stuttgart, Germany. Two copies 

 were permitted to be made and one of these is now displayed in the 

 Worch collection in the National Museum. The instrument has four 

 pedals and four stops, a surprising mechanical equipment for the 

 period. A dulcitone, an instrument whose sounding apparatus is a 

 succession of graded tuning forks, was procured by Mr. Worch from 

 Glasgow, Scotland. Eleven other valuable pianos, illustrative of the 

 history otthis instrument, were added to the collection by Mr. Worch. 

 A piano liandsomely decorated by Cottier of New York was given by 

 Mrs. Gouverneur Morris, Washington, D. C. 



The collection of master violins bequeathed to the Museum by the 

 late Dwight J. Partello and whose disposition lias attracted wide 



