EEPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1910. 17 



COLLECTIONS. 



The number of specimens received during the year was approxi- 

 mately 970,698, of which 933,998 were biological, 17,979 geological, 

 and 18,721 anthropological. This very large nominal increase over 

 the receipts for any previous year, embraced in 1,450 accessions, 

 resulted from the fact that the number of insects alone transmitted 

 by the Bureau of Entomology of the Department of Agriculture 

 amounted to not less than 800,000 specimens. A detailed list of the 

 accessions is given in the latter part of this report. 



DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY. 



Ethnology. — The additions to the ethnological collections compared 

 favorably, both in number and scientific value, with those of the pre- 

 vious year. An important accession, comprising 253 specimens, from 

 the Dyaks of Pasir River, southern Borneo, was received from Dr. 

 William L. Abbott. This material, added to the previous sendings 

 by the same collector, forms a noteworthy monument to his energy 

 and ability as an explorer. Another noteworthy collection, number- 

 ing 431 specimens, transferred by the United States Government 

 Board of Managers of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, consists 

 of objects brought together during a number of years by Dr. N. B. 

 Emerson, of Honolulu. The material illustrates the tapa-making 

 industries, the preparation of poi and other foods, canoe and house 

 building, and costumes and customs of the vanishing Kanakas, and 

 also includes many valuable archeological objects. A most important 

 contribution from the Department of the Interior, formerly constitut- 

 ing a part of the museum of the United States Bureau of Education, 

 comprises nearly 1,500 Eskimo specimens and 700 objects of art from 

 Japan and other foreign countries. Also worthy of mention are a 

 collection of brass ware, weapons, and ornaments from the Moros of 

 Mindanao, gathered by Chaplain Joseph Clemens, United States 

 Army; a number of native objects from British East Africa, including 

 weapons, musical instruments and other articles, obtained by the 

 Smithsonian African Expedition; examples of basketry from Java, 

 contributed by Mr. Owen Bryant ; a valuable series of textile materials 

 illustrating the folk art of the country, from the Cecho-Slav Museum 

 at Prague, Bohemia; and a number of rare Indian baskets from a cave 

 in the Santa Barbara National Park, California, obtained through the 

 Forest Service. A summary of all the collections received shows 

 that 43 were from America, 6 from Europe, 3 from Japan, 3 from 

 China and eastern Asia, 7 from the Philippine Islands, 5 from the 

 East Indies, 8 from Polynesia and 6 from Africa. 



General work on the collections was mainly connected with their 

 transfer to the new building. The large mass of material which for 

 71245°— NAT Mus 1910 2 



