SECRETARY'S REPORT 26 



an expedition to the unexplored region of southeast Chiapas, near 

 Lake Miramar, for the purpose of participating in a coordinated 

 exploratory program. Fieldwork was carried on from March 15 to 

 April 1, 1955, and some 648 botanical specimens were obtained. 



The last five days in December 1954 were devoted by Dr. Kobert P. 

 Multhauf, curator, division of engineering, to the inspection of dis- 

 play and lighting techniques in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 

 American Museum of Natural History, and the International Business 

 Machines Co., for utilization where suitable in the Power Hall. The 

 collections of the Henry Ford Museum in the fields of power machin- 

 ery, electrical apparatus, machine tools, and transportation were ex- 

 amined late in March 1955, and the Edison Institute in Greenfield 

 Village, Dearborn, Mich., was visited. Dr. Multhauf also represented 

 the Smithsonian Institution at the 75th anniversary meeting of the 

 American Society of Mechanical Engineers during June 1955. 



George Griffenhagen, associate curator, division of medicine and 

 public health, in January 1955 consulted with representatives of 

 Merck & Co., Rahway, N. J., relative to a proposed vitamin exliibit. 

 In February 1955 he inspected the Apothecaries Hall in the Charleston 

 (S. C.) Museum, La Pharmacie Francaise and the Cabildo (State 

 Historical Museum) at New Orleans, La., to examine the types of 

 early pharmaceutical equipment, the materia medica collections, and 

 archival records. During June 1955 he inspected a number of pharma- 

 ceutical and medical exhibits housed in institutions in New York and 

 Philadelphia. All these visits were made to obtain suggestions and 

 assistance in the planning of the Hall of Health. 



Edward C. Kendall, associate curator, division of crafts and in- 

 dustries, during the last week of September and the early part of 

 October 1954, visited a number of New England museums, chiefly at 

 Hartford, Worcester, Salem, Durham, Boston, Burlington, Benning- 

 ton, Ithaca, and Corning, to examine handicraft tools, agricultural 

 implements, and historical materials. 



Grace L. Rogers, assistant curator, crafts and industries, during 

 December 1954 visited the Henry Ford Museum at Greenfield Village. 

 Mich., to obtain detailed data relative to textile machines, particularly 

 the Scholfield wool-carding machine, and the sewing machines, as 

 well as to inspect the exhibition and storage techniques for textile 

 fabrics. She also observed exhibition techniques at the Detroit Insti- 

 tute of Arts and the Detroit Historical ^luseum. During the first 

 week of March 1955 Miss Rogers examined the collection of textile 

 machinery at Old Slater Mill, Pawtucket, R. I., historical papers on 

 the Rhode Island Historical Society at Providence, the textile collec- 

 tion in the Rliode Island School of Design, the handwoven textiles in 

 the Essex Institute at Salem, and the collections of the Connecticut 



