26 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1922. 



department store to several groups of their employees handling 

 textiles, who came to the Museum during business hours for the 

 purpose. 



The educational work is not restricted to the immediate vicinity 

 of the Museum. In accordance with the express purpose of the 

 Smithsonian Institution for the "increase and diffusion of laiowl- 

 edge among men," work was begun several years ago by Mr. Chester 

 G. Gilbert, now honorary curator of mineral technology, and Dr. 

 Joseph E. Pogue, formerly of the Museum staff, with a view to pro- 

 moting a clear understanding of the mineral industries of the United 

 States, especially the fuels. This has been continued by the divi- 

 sion of mineral technology, particularly in cooperation with Mr. 

 Samuel S. Wyer, of Columbus, Ohio, who at that time prepared 

 one of the bulletins of the Museum's series on mineral industries — 

 namely, " Natural gas, its production, service, and conservation." 



At present the Museum is cooperating with the Pennsylvania 

 State Board of Education in supplying photographs and the essen- 

 tial data of the numerous Museum exhibits pertaining to the mineral 

 industries, which the board of education plans to use in its revised 

 course of geography, to be inaugurated with the beginning of the 

 next school year. A new course devoted to the resources of Pennsyl- 

 vania will be incorporated in the seventh-grade geography class. A 

 true understanding of the natural-gas industry is one of the parts of 

 this course. In this connection a photographic copy of the Museum's 

 model showing the many phases of the natural-gas industry, together 

 with the descriptive data accompanying this model, has been re- 

 quested not only from many sources in the State of Pennsylvania, 

 but from other States where natural gas is used. Similarly, copies 

 of the drawing of the Museum's model of the manufactured-gas in- 

 dustry are being requested from educational institutions, associations, 

 and individuals. The Museum bulletins descriptive of these indus- 

 tries, prepared several years ago (Bulletin 102, parts 1-7, and Bulle- 

 tin 102, vol. 1), were unfortunately completely exliausted very 

 shortly after being issued, and the published data which the Museum 

 is still able to furnish are extremely meager. 



The Museum assisted in disseminating information as to foods, 

 as well as to fuels. Early in the year the taxidermists of the Museum 

 prepared and mounted for exhibition a series of specially fed rats, 

 the property of the dairy division of the Bureau of Animal Indus- 

 try of the Department of Agriculture. This series proved one of 

 the best educational exhibits ever prepared for teaching the food 

 value of milk. As such it was exhibited by the bureau at State 

 fairs and on milk trains in Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee, 

 Iowa, North Carolina, and Baltimore, Md. 



