4 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



Here too, by the use of a rotating disk, the radioactivity of a natural 

 uraniiun ore is demonstrated. 



Tliis hall displays only 3 percent of the total Smithsonian's mineral 

 collection, which has been gradually assembled by transfer to the In- 

 stitution of minerals collected by other Government agencies, by pur- 

 chases made possible by the expenditure of funds given to the 

 Smithsonian exclusively for this purpose, and by gifts of minerals 

 and gems by many citizens, not only of America but also of countries 

 throughout the world. In the Gem Room in a specially constructed 

 safe is the Hope Diamond, the largest deep blue diamond in the world. 

 Because of its rarity and aura of romantic mystery it is of intense 

 interest to visitors. 



5. THE JADE ROOM 



Immediately adjoining the Gem Plall is a room devoted to a collec- 

 tion of carved jade given to the Smithsonian in 1958 by the executors 

 of the estate of the late Mrs. Maud Monel Vetlesen. This collection 

 shows many large and beautifully carved jade objects from the 17th 

 and 18th centuries. Many objects displayed here, such as the jade and 

 gold scepters of old imperial China, are world famous. 



Adjacent to the Jade Room is a new but still temporary display of 

 outstanding examples of meteorites from the Institution's large collec- 

 tion of these natural objects that so unpredictably come to the earth 

 from outer space. 



6. LATIN AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY 



The Hall of Latin American Archeology brings together a unified 

 range of important objects selected from the Smithsonian's extensive 

 study collections of articles made by inhabitants of Central and South 

 America before the coming of Columbus. The exhibits portray the 

 wide range of early cultures in Latin America from those of simple 

 hunting and fishing people to the high civilizations of the Incas, 

 Mayas, and Aztecs. 



The emphasis of this hall is given to cultural development and the 

 interchange of material objects by Indians before the advent of 

 Europeans. The great accomplishments of pre-Columbian Indians in 

 developing a number system, a calendar, and the cultivation of plants 

 are shown. Some of the stone sculpture is remarkably modem in its 

 feeling and execution. Here, as in all other new Smithsonian halls, 

 the visitor is not presented with ponderous cases of the almost end- 

 lessly repeated ceramic, stone, gold, silver, and other objects that 

 are in the possession of the Institution. This old, so-called "visual 

 storage," method of exhibition has for good reasons been abandoned. 

 The objects on public display today are carefully chosen to give a 

 coherent picture of each topic under consideration. Such general 



