STUDIES ON MUSEUMS AND KINDRED INSTITUTIONS. 429 



arts and industries. These economic collections are arrant^ed in sys- 

 tematic series with geographic subdivisions. Because of the profusion 

 of this material I can only mention a small part: Comprehensive 

 exhibits of combustible minerals of the I'^nitc^d States according to 

 their occurrence, their composition, their economic value, etc.; the 

 building and ornamental stones of the United States; the kinds of mar- 

 ble and such like, also those of many European countries (in cases like 

 fig. 38); the metallurgy of the precious and base metals, the metal- 

 lurgical process being represented Iw groups, in which pieces of the 

 ore, the smelted product, and the combustible materials used are dis- 

 played with the help of labels and converging and diverging lines 

 showing what materials go into the furnace and the resulting products, 

 "with all the intermediate stages; their composition, peculiarities, uses, 

 etc., are given in printed descriptions, so that anyone seeking infor- 

 mation can get all the necessary data at once. A striking collection 

 of precious and decorative stones, and a collection of meteorites which 

 fills an entire room, are conspicuous. 



The vast and copious collection of this department is remarkable 

 for its instructive and often elegant installation. I would have been 

 glad to include illustrations of entire rooms like those shown in the 

 annual reports of the museum. I should certainly not neglect to 

 mention the model of the moon, 18 feet in diameter. 



Zoohxj'ieal iind ornithologhal department . — The most striking feature 

 of this department is, first of all, the excellent representation in large 

 glass cases of groups of animals, such as orang-outangs, chimpanzees, 

 nose apes, musk oxen, black sheep from Alaska, gazelles, antelopes, 

 leopards, hyenas, herons, etc. Sometimes the secondary work of 

 artificial foliage and the like is somewhat obtrusive, but these groups 

 excellently fulfill their object of attracting the general public, though 

 they also require much space. The systematic collection has not yet 

 received the same consideration, for the proper preparation and instal- 

 lation of a large series of animals can not be accomplished in a short 

 time. The skeletons stand in a room adjacent to the systematic collec- 

 tion. About 10,000 species of shells are shown in horizontal cases of 

 not especially pleasing construction. 



The Field Columbian ^Museum would do well to somewhat contract 

 its programme and lop ofi' several brandies which have led it too far in 

 its attempt to embrace all possible lines of human interest, so that it 

 may devote itself in a scientific wa}^ to the natural sciences and to 

 ethnography still more than it does now. There is still clinging to it 

 too nuich unimportant material from the World's Fair, but one can 

 only look with real admiration at this museum, w^hich has sprung out 

 of the earth in so short a time. If it secures, as is expected, a new 

 building. I do not doubt but that it will, astonish the world by its 

 ability anfl compete with the first nuiseums for precedence. 



