REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. 153 



which is chiefly useful on account of its educational value, which for 

 purposes of investigations might perhaps better be examined in the 

 place in which it was collected. Its proijer arrangement, therefore, must 

 be the work of several years ; and, on account of the number of laborers 

 required to handle it, the work must be comparatively very costly. 



The original intention, to the carryiug out of which the Museum is in 

 a certain way pledged, was that the mineral resources of each particular 

 State should be shown separately; and, to accomplish this, it will be 

 necessary to secure extensive additions to the collection from almost 

 every State in the Union ; extensive not only in number, but also in 

 bulk, weight, and cost of transportation. 



Another difficulty in the management of this department is the 

 uncertainty as to its final location. At present the southwestern quar- 

 ter of the building, including the west hall, the southwest court, and 

 the two adjoining ranges, are assigned to the division of geology, to 

 metallurgy and metal- working. A portion of this space is at pres- 

 ent occupied by paleontological collections, but even when these are 

 removed the space will probably be inadequate for the accommoda- 

 tion even of the material already on hand. Should a new building be 

 erected for the Museum, these collections will naturally be the first to 

 be transferred, and consequently nuich bulky material will require to be 

 moved. It cannot be doubted, however, that this department will be of 

 greater importance to the country in an industrial way, and will interest 

 and benefit a larger number of the visitors to the Museum, than any 

 other ; especially when it is so arranged as to show concisely and im- 

 pressively the character of the mineral resources of each State and the 

 methods by which the various products of the metal-working industries 

 are produced. 



Mr. Dewey reports that in the catalogue of the collection there have 

 been made 3,851 entries, representing 4,772 specimens; of these 4,420 

 were specimens previously received from Centennial sources, and of 

 which no entry had been made, and 281 were specimens entered from 

 the old Smithsonian collection. Almost all the work done has been 

 upon the reserve series, especially upon the Centennial material, about 

 150 boxes having been unpacked and specimens identified as far as pos- 

 sible, and all mformation in regard to them put in a permanent form for 

 preservation. This was a work of considerable magnitude, since much 

 care and time were necessary in unpacking the specimens and tracing 

 up their records. 



The southwest range is at present assigned to this department, and 

 in it quite a number of specimens are to be seen, although nothing 

 can properly be said to be on exhibition. The collection of ores from 

 Nevada is the only special collection which has been thoroughly exam- 

 ined ; the records in regard to this are perfect and its condition satis- 

 factory. 



