[15] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 571 



heretofore available for museum work. Many valuable specimens and 

 collections have been left unnoticed because they have not yet been 

 studied or classified. Thus there are specimens of primitive weaving, 

 and a particularly interesting collection of tapas from various localities, 

 which will be prepared for the exhibition at New Orleans. This depart- 

 ment of the Museum has only recently been placed in charge of a cura- 

 tor, aud the material is now being arranged for exhibition as rapidly 

 as possible. Under the present conditions it is possible not only to 

 work up the old material, but at the same time to care for, install, and 

 label, all new specimens promptly after they are received. 



It is the intention of the Museum to make the collection of textile 

 fibers and fabrics adequately represent the textile resources and indus- 

 tries of the country, as becomes a national institution. 



CONTRIBUTIONS AND THEIR ACKNOWIiEDGMENT. 



No money having at any time been specially appropriated for increas- 

 ing the collections by purchase, the growth of the Museum has ever 

 been and still is dependent solely upon the exertions of its officers and 

 those of other branches of the public service and upon the public spirit 

 and liberality of its friends. 



The friends of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum 

 are earnestly invited to take part in the work of building up the collec- 

 tions and in particular to respond to special requests for advice or other 

 aid which may reach them by letter. 



The following rules for the acknowledgment of specimens will be ad- 

 hered to : 



1. Each contribution will be recognized by a formal written acknowl- 

 edgment from the director. 



2. Each contribution will be published in the annual reports of the 

 Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum ; and in the cata- 

 logues and other publications of these establishments in which the ob- 

 jects contributed may be alluded to, the name of the contributor will 

 always be given. 



3. On the label, which is invariably attached to every object, the 

 name of the contributor will be conspicuously printed. In the case of 

 donations the form will be " Gift of ," and where the ob- 

 jects have been obtained by special exertions of a friend of the Museum, 



who, however, is not their donor, the form will be " Obtained by 



," or " Collected by ." 



4. Objects which may have been bought by special appropriations, 

 such as those for the Philadelphia and Berlin exhibitions, will not be 

 labeled with the name of the persons from whom jiurchased, except by 

 special agreement in cases where these persons have been only in part 

 paid for their exertions. 



5. The Museum will make every possible return for aid rendered, by 

 offering in exchange its publications and its duplicate specimens. 



