SECRETARY'S REPORT 41 



pret the prehistoric cultures of the North American Arctic, the North 

 Pacific Coast, California, and the Southwest by means of selected 

 artifacts, graphic materials, and life-sized and miniature groups. 



A temporary meteorite exhibit, placed in the areaway connecting 

 the jade room and this archeology hall on the second floor of the Nat- 

 ural History Building, was also opened to the public on June 24, 

 1961. 



The modernized Hall of Petroleum, adjoining the iron and steel 

 exhibit in the Arts and Industries Building, provides a brief histori- 

 cal account of the growth of the petroleum industry since the dis- 

 covery of the Drake well at Titus ville, Pa., in 1859. This hall, 

 completed in June 1961, features animated models showing the two 

 earliest methods of drilling employed in the United States — the 

 springpole and the Drake rig. A small display of geophysical 

 exploration equipment, made possible by the generosity of Seimos 

 GmbH, Humble Oil Co., Continental Oil Co., Schlumberger, and 

 Everett Lee DeGolyer, Jr., reviews the principal methods employed to 

 expand knowledge of America's oil resources. With the cooperation 

 of Standard Oil Co. (Indiana), Universal Oil Products Co., Esso 

 Standard Oil Co., M. W. Kellogg Co., C. P. Dubbs, and tlie Massa- 

 chusetts Institute of Technology (Prof. Harold Weber), an account 

 of the major developments in oil refining is presented. The experi- 

 mental still used by Drs. Burton and Humphries at Whiting, Ind., 

 which led to the first large-scale thermal cracking of crude, was 

 graciously donated to the Museum by Dr. Eobert Wilson. A poly- 

 merization plant model shows one of the earliest processes for in- 

 creasing the high-octane content of gasoline, which was important 

 in making fuel available for the allied air forces in 1939-40. The 

 historic fluid-catalytic cracking process which was evolved in 1941 to 

 provide the best qualities of fuel needed by the U.S. Air Force is also 

 shown, as well as a platinum-catalyst reforming process demon- 

 strated as a sample of the postwar effort to convert lower-grade to a 

 higher-grade fuel. 



Construction of Hall 8, in which will be displayed the material 

 culture of the peoples of the Pacific Islands and South and South- 

 east Asia, was completed in May 1961. New construction was com- 

 menced in the adjacent Hall 7, which will contain the exhibits for 

 the peoples of Africa and eastern Asia. Continued progress was 

 made on the contractual construction of the large west hall fixtures 

 for the display of oceanic life. Architect's plans for the moderni- 

 zation of the large east Hall 2, which will contain the dinosaurs 

 and the Mesozoic reptiles, were completed and the construction con- 

 tract let in June 1961. 



At the end of the eighth year of the continuing modernization of 

 exliibits program, 9 of the 15 galleries on the first floor and 4 second- 



