27; 



Previous to this, however, after consultation with the 

 Director-in-Chief, a definite plan of arrangement was studied 

 out. In the first place it was decided to throw open all the 

 exhibition halls from the very beginning and not to shut off 

 portions by temporary partitions as is customary in the first 

 stages of many museums. The wisdom of this course has 

 been amply proved. Upon the decision of this question, 

 came the problem of what the different halls should contain. 

 According to the general plan for the arrangement of the 

 museum, previously adopted by the Scientific Directors, the 

 first floor of the building was set aside for an economic 

 museum, while the second floor was set aside for a general 

 synoptic museum and closely related collections. 



I. Economic Museum.* The economic collections are now 

 disposed as follows : 



a. The hall of the main building east of the center, is occu- 

 pied by drugs and drug plants. Twenty-four cases arranged 

 in six blocks, are devoted to the drug collection. The speci- 

 mens are divided into two series, crude drugs and refined drugs. 

 The crude drugs are now arranged morphologically, begin- 

 ning with the roots and rootstocks and passing through the 

 different parts of the plant, as stems, barks, leaves, inflores- 

 cence and flowers, to the whole plant. The refined drugs 

 are first divided into products, the products then are arranged 

 according to the natural families. One block of cases in this 

 hall is now devoted to a collection and exhibit of the local 

 poisonous plants. 



b. The woods and wood products occupy the hall of the 

 east wing. They are disposed in twenty cases which stand 

 in seven blocks. One case is devoted to miscellaneous wooden 

 objects and utensils, one to carbons, eighteen to specimen- 

 blocks of the wood from each different kind of North Amer- 

 ican tree, two to Asiatic woods, one to Porto Rican woods, 

 two to Venezuelan woods, one to pipes and their derivation 

 and one to canes, both crude and finished. 



*For other notes on the Economic Museum, see the Journal of the New 

 York Dotanical Garden, i : 1 15-120 and I33-I3 8 - 



