REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914. 133 



by the tariff act of 1913, was deposited by the Division of Cus- 

 toms of the Treasury Department. For samples of gums and resins 

 collected in the market of Aden, British Arabia, by American Consul 

 Walter H. Schulz, the Museum is indebted to the Bureau of Foreign 

 and Domestic Commerce of the Department of Commerce. These 

 substances constitute an important item in the trade of Aden, the 

 principal varieties being gum arable, myrrh, gum benjamin or ben- 

 zoin, and frankincense or olibanum; and the possession of such au- 

 thentic commercial specimens will serve a useful purpose for the 

 identification of unnamed material. A number of specimens of tan 

 barks collected in the Philippine Islands, together with a record of 

 their chemical analysis, which shows a high percentage of tannin, 

 were transferred from the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



A collection of Panama woods, accompanied by botanical speci- 

 mens from the same trees, obtained by purchase, supplements a 

 larger one previously made by Mr. H. Pittier while a member of 

 the Smithsonian Biological Survey of the Panama Canal Zone. 

 These samples, which have been determined by Mr. Pittier and 

 their structure studied by the Bureau of Forestry, vfill form the 

 basis of a reference collection for the identification of future wood 

 samples from this region. Two beautifully mottled boards of the 

 finest grade of cypress lumber, 30 inches wide, 16 feet long, and 

 carefully kiln dried, were obtained by purchase from the Lyon 

 Cypress Lumber Co., of Garyville, La. A large section of the 

 trunk of an empress tree, Paulownia tomentosa^ growing in the 

 Smithsonian grounds, which was destroyed b}^ the severe storm of 

 July 30, 1913, was received from the Office of Public Buildings and 

 Grounds. It is a unique specimen of this beautiful wood, illustrat- 

 ing the great size attained by this Japanese tree. 



As the time of the curator and preparators was practically all 

 occupied in connection with the solicitation, cataloguing and in- 

 stallation of new material and the improvement of the exhibition 

 series, but little progress was made in the arrangement of the study 

 series. All accessions were promptly catalogued, and most of the 

 specimens placed on exhibition were at once supplied with type- 

 written labels, to be replaced later with printed ones. The main 

 series of the principal textile fabrics — cotton, wool, silk, and flax — 

 have been installed in the south hall of the older building, and 

 represent a more or less permanent arrangement. The animal prod- 

 ucts have been temporarily placed in the southwest gallery, their 

 final disposition being delayed in order to complete certain por- 

 tions of the series. While the collections of vegetable products, 

 including examples of the various kinds of woods, were added to 

 considerably during the year, no attempt has been made to exhibit 

 them, owing to their incompleteness. 



