154 REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



The curator has presented the following estimate of the present con- 

 dition and possible future of the department : 



As to the number of specimens it is not possible to give it exactly, as many speci- 

 mens are still packed in the boxes in which they came from Philadelphia, and with 

 the exception of 3G0 they are all as yet in the reserve series ; after a careful estimate 

 I would place the number at about 20,000. 



In general, the condition of the specimens is perhaps fair, although many of the more 

 showy specimens have suffered from want of proper care and attention aside from 

 the necessary deterioration by decomposition, generally confined to the surface, but 

 in some cases extending to the interior, in which case serious disintegration has been 

 the result. Decomposition is the chief source of deterioration of metallurgical speci- 

 mens, and while there are various devices for its prevention, no feasible plan has yet 

 been proposed to conjpletely arrest its action. 



A matter of the first importance in this department is a collection for the study of the 

 science of metallurgy, which need not be large, as it will contain little or no duplicate 

 material, and will be designed to show the following points in the production of the 

 metals : the natural occurrence of the various ores of each metal, together with the 

 prominent associated material ; the natural occurrence of such materials as are neces- 

 sary in the refining of the ores; the various processes for the extraction of the natural 

 occurring material showing the plans and methods of exploration and working 

 principally by means of models and drawings, and, where practicable, by the exhi- 

 bition of specimens of the tools actually used ; the various steps in the treatment 

 of the ores from the time they leave the mines until they are converted into the com- 

 mercial metals, with specimens of the various intermediate products and plans and 

 models of the machines, furnaces, &c., brought into requisition during the processes; 

 (this is perhaps the least satisfactory part of the present collections in the Museum, 

 and one that should be increased as rapidly as possible ;) and, finally, the various forms 

 in which the different metals are produced and placed upon the market, together with 

 the incidental products, especially such as can be utilized. 



By far the greatest portion of the collection, however, should be arranged upon a 

 geographical basis, whereby the ores and products of certain regions would be grouped 

 together, and, when possible, the connection between the various regions should be 

 clearly indicated. In the arrangement of this collection a somewhat different plan 

 shoiild be followed from that adopted in the scientific collection, as in this case there 

 will be of necessity considerable duplication of specimens, and prominence should be 

 given to peculiarities in occurrences and composition of the ores, and the modifications 

 thereby necessitated in the usual course of treatment. This collection will reqiiire 

 constant care and attention to keep it abreast of the progress of development, which 

 is very rapid in this country where many new regions are being explored and devel- 

 oped every year, and where the varying conditions found in isolated regions lead to in- 

 teresting and important modifications in processes, which should be examined and made 

 available to the rest of the world. It is also very desirable to have suites of speci- 

 mens showing the changes occurring in the composition and character of ores from 

 the surface to the greatest depth attained, biit these cannot be obtained after a mine 

 has been in operation a few years. At the same time, as regions decline in importance, 

 and processes become antiquated and pass out of use, a judicious culling out of unim- 

 portant material could be made with advantage. There is one field which the depart- 

 ment could with propriety occupy, namely, the collection of the literature of American 

 metallurgy, which is at present very restricted, a condition readily explained by the 

 fact that metallurgical knowledge has a high commercial value which its jjossessors 

 desire to retain, from purely selfish motives. Such books as there are Tipon metallur- 

 gical subjects are mainly of European origin, aud their ignorance and silence upon de- 

 velopments in metallurgy made in this country are so great as to make them valueless 

 for application here except so far as broad general principles are concerned. There 



