268 REPORT ON NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Administration. 



It may not be amiss to indicate the routine of this department. 

 Specimens upon being received are carefully examined and named; 

 they are then entered on the register, cleaned, trimmed, labelled, num- 

 bered, and assigned to that series of the collection, which is deemed 

 best. Classifying and arranging specimens for exhibition constitute a 

 large part of the work. The preliminary classification has been based 

 upon Dana's System of Mineralogy. Attending to correspondence and 

 preparing card catalogues are other work of the department. 



In the reserve series of the department there are 7,150 specimens, 

 of which 1,152 are on exhibition. In the duplicate series there are 

 about 7,400 specimens, which, with the reserve series, make a total of 

 about 14,550. 



DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGY AND ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. 



Fred. P. Dewey, Curator. 



During the past year, as it will be for several years to come, by far 

 the larger portion of the material administered upon in this department 

 was from the Centennial collections. Aside from this material, among 

 the most interesting additions the department has received may be 

 mentioned an extensive series of cokes, for the most part kindly sent by 

 the various manufacturers, upon solicitation, for the purposes of an ex- 

 tended examination into its physical properties as affecting its employ- 

 men^ as a metallurgical fuel (the series already represents most of the 

 chief coking regions and is being increased from time to time ); an ex- 

 tensive series of the iron ores and their associates and of apatite and its 

 associates from Canada, collected by myself during my summer vacation; 

 a small suite of Virginia gold ores from various parties, and especially 

 Mr. W. G. Love, of Eichardsville ; a full suite of the recently discovered 

 tin ore and its associates from Irish Creek, Virginia, collected by Mr. F. 

 W. Taylor, U. S. N. M; a suite of specimens collected by Ensign E. Wil- 

 kinson, U. S. N., in Colorado, which is especially interesting from its rich- 

 ness in coal specimens, both bituminous and anthracite; and, finally, two 

 very important suites of specimens representing the production of cast 

 iron of extraordinary strength ; the first is from Mr. Edward Gridley, 

 of the Wassaic Furnace, Dutchess County, New York, where on a short 

 run, on a carbonate ore, No. 4 charcoal pig iron of 47,500 founds tensile 

 strength per square inch was produced; and embraces the ore, both raw 

 and roasted, the flux, the slag, and several pieces of the metal, includ- 

 ing some of the test pieces ; the second suite is from the Hon. C. E. 

 Coffin, of the Muirkirk Furnace, in Prince George's County, Maryland; 

 at this furnace charcoal pig iron of unusual strength has been regularly 

 made from a carbonate ore for a number of years, some recent tests of 

 the No. 4 pig iron running up to the very extraordinary figures of 52,475 



