REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. l'J5 



To summarize what has beeu accomplished, it may he said that the 

 organization of the materia medica section of the Museum is complete; 

 the classification has been established in its details; over 4,000 speci- 

 mens have been received, examined, and registered, and most of them 

 bottled and arranged according to the classification; the whole collec- 

 tion has been provided with temporary labels, and 575 specimens with 

 permanent labels, each requiring a study of the specimens and of the 

 literature regarding it; illustrations of most of the medical plants have 

 been obtained and more than 500 of them mounted and on exhibition; 

 a medical herbarium has been commenced and its development assured; 

 a complete catalogue of this collection has been made by means of which 

 any specimen on exhibition may be readily found, and a considerable 

 library of references has been formed; the Pharmacopoeias of nearly all 

 nations have been obtained, and half the work of compiling a compend 

 of sixteen of them is done. 



In the future development of this section of the Museum a wide field is 

 clearly open for interesting and valuable work. The collection as it now 

 stands includes samples of the great majority of the drugs found in the 

 commerce of the country, as well as many specimens of rare drugs or 

 varieties known only to foreign medical practice. It remains now to 

 make use of the prestige of the scientific institution with which the Mu- 

 seum is connected, and of the ready means at the disposal of the Na- 

 tional Government, through its naval and consular services, supple- 

 mented by personal correspondence with importers and their agents, 

 and foreign scientists and travelers, to gather materials and information 

 which shall be rare and valuable. There is still much to be learned re- 

 gardingthe source and mode of production of many of our standard drugs, 

 and new remedies of doubtful origin are constantly appearing in the 

 market. For the increase of our knowledge of these substances, for the 

 investigation of these questions of doubt, no more favorable conditions 

 can be conceived than those here existing, namely, a great Museum un- 

 der the patronage of the nation, associated with a scientific institution 

 of world-wide renown, having correspondence with all parts of the 

 world, and friendly relations with scientific establishments in all coun- 

 tries. 



