60 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914. 



MEDICINE. 



The division of medicine is one of the branches of the department 

 of arts and industries which has been continuously maintained since 

 its establishment in 1881, when it was designated " section of materia 

 medica.'" Its foundation was based upon the large donations of 

 drugs and drug materials received by the Government from exhibit- 

 ors at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which soon were supple- 

 mented by important contributions from many other sources. 

 Through this means and by the additions of subsequent yea.rs the 

 collection has grown to a considerable size and to a certain degree of 

 completeness, but there is still much to do in the way of perfecting it, 

 and the active support of the division is urgently called for, in view 

 of its direct relations with the medical work of the Government and 

 of its influence on the practice of medicine generally. With its de- 

 velopment there has been a broadening of its scope and the assump- 

 tion of additional features, which add greatly to its cultural value 

 and makes the collection, as exemplified in its exhibition series, 

 entirely unique for this country. 



The curatorship of the division until recently has been held by 

 medical officers of the United States Navy, of whom seven have 

 from time to time been detailed to this duty. The first was Surg., 

 later Medical Director, James M. Flint, who not only had the 

 responsibility of organizing and planning the work of the division, 

 but served 25 out of the 33 years since 1881 as its honorary curator, 

 continuing in this office even after his retirement from active service 

 in the Navy. 



The search for desirable material was naturall}^ most active dur- 

 ing the earlier years, when the field was practically open, and was 

 richly rewarded by numerous and some ver}^ extensive gifts from 

 the leading drug houses of this country, representing quite com- 

 pletely the drug commerce of the United States at that time, and 

 also to some extent by donations from abroad. Through the medium 

 of exchange, chiefly with foreign museums, valuable specimens were 

 likewise obtained ; the accessions in recent years have been numerous 

 and varied, and in the preparation of exhibits for international 

 expositions means have sometimes been available for securing spe- 

 cial features. The collection now aggregates over 6,000 actual 

 specimens, besides numerous pictures or illustrations. There is the 

 customary division into exhibition and reserve series, and notwith- 

 standing; the nature of most of the material the former has been 

 made attractive and comprehensible to the general visitor. 



Under the original classification, that of 1881, two primary divi- 

 sions were recognized, namely, inorganic materia medica and or- 

 ganic materia medica, the latter being subdivided into vegetable 

 products, products of fermentation and distillation, and animal 



