4 REPORT OF NATIOXAL MUSEUM, 1923. 



istry, foods and medicine, 99C; mineral and mechanical technolotry, 

 1,357; graphic arts. 1,146; and history, 26,107. 



Additional material to the extent of 1,155 lots, mainW geological, 

 was received for special examination and report. This free report 

 service on material sent in from all parts of the country has the ad- 

 vantage of furnishing the Museum with an occasional desirable speci- 

 men and with records of many new localities. '\^nien the Allies dur- 

 ing the World War were in urgent need of certain raw material, 

 the Museum, through its department of geology, was thus enabled to 

 quickly supply information concerning localities known to yield the 

 desired product. 



The distribution of duplicates, mainly to schools and colleges for 

 educational purposes, aggregated 9,131 specimens properly classified 

 and labeled and 100 pounds of material suitable for blow pipe 

 analysis. These distributions were about equally divided between 

 the regular sets of specimens previously prepared for shipment and 

 those specially selected to meet particular needs. The regular sets 

 consisted of 55 illustrating rock weathering and soil formation ag- 

 gregating 1,155 specimens; 18 of ores and minerals aggregating 1,530 

 specimens; 3 of fossil invertebrates aggregating 165 specimens; 10 

 of mollusks aggregating 1,490 specimens — a total of 4,340. The re- 

 maining 4,791 specimens were comprised in 52 sendings esijecially 

 selected to meet specific requests and included fossils, geological ma- 

 terial, anthropological specimens, fishes, marine invertebrates, in- 

 sects, birds, mammals, and a few examples of different processes in 

 the graphic arts. 



Nearly 35,000 duplicate specimens, mainly botanical and geolog- 

 ical, were sent out in exchange, in return for which much desirable 

 material was received. Over 12,000 specimens were lent to specialists 

 for study on behalf of the Museum and otherwise. 



While the specimens received during the year number but ap- 

 proximately 60 per cent as many as received the preceding year, 

 the value of the yearly increment can not be appraised from num- 

 bers only. Many of the acquisitions are exceptionally valuable, 

 either scientifically as types or as representatives of new localities, 

 or because of their intrinsic worth. 



In biology mention should be made of the Evezard collection of 

 recent mollusks purchased and presented by the late Mr. Johu B. 

 Henderson containing many types rich in material from India and 

 the South Sea Islands; the series of Opalinid ciliate infusorians 

 forming the basis of Prof. Maynard M. Metcalf's monograph pub- 

 lished by the Mueseum as Bulletin No. 120; and important speci- 

 mens in several lines from China, the result of deliberate efforts to 

 systematically improve the biological study material from the 



