EEPORT OF THE SECRETAEY. 31 



t 



met !h)(]s of procedure in purcliase of sui)plies and payment of bills, and 



of locatinj,^ responsibility for kind and quality of articles furnished and 



for tlieir proper use and care. 



The distribution of duplicates has been much the same as in previous 

 years. About twenty-four thousand specimens have been sent out to 118 

 institutions and societies ; those to institutions in the United States are 

 generally gifts, though many were sent in the way of exchange. For all 

 foreign sendings, equivalents in the way of exchange have been received 

 or i)romised. 



The total number of visitors to the Museum building has been 174,225, 

 to the Smithsonian building SSjOGOj the total number considerably 

 exceeding 200,000. Over 1,000,000 persons are estimated to have vis- 

 ited the Museum since the completion of the new building. 



The publications of the Museum have been carried on with greater 

 activity than usual during the year. Bulletins numbered 23, 28, 29, and 

 30 having been published. 



In addition to these Bulletins the manuscript of No. 31 was put in 

 type during the year. Volume VII of the Proceedings of the Museum 

 for 1884 was published in its complete form, and the printing of Vol- 

 ume VIII for 1885 was completed, and an edition of 200 copies distrib- 

 uted in signatures. This form of i^ublication has been adopted to secure 

 the rapid promulgation of the work of the Museum, and the signatures 

 are placed at once in the hands of the priucipal scientific institutions 

 and of specialists who are directly interested in the work in progress 

 in the JMuseum. The remainder of the edition of 1,000 copies is pub- 

 lished in bound volumes, and iu time a[)pears for general distribution 

 in the miscellaneous collections of the Smithsonian Institution. 



An order for the publication of Volume IX of the Proceedings (for 

 1886) was not obtained from the Secretary of the Interior until after 

 the close of the fiscal year, and for six months the Museum was without 

 any means of publishing the results of" its current work. Several 

 papers which i)roperly should have been published in this serial were 

 sent elsewhere to be printed. The Proceedings of the Biological Society 

 (published with the co-operation of the Smithsonian Institution) was 

 employed to relieve this temporary lack of publishing facilities. Im- 

 portant papers by Mr. Eidgway upon the Birds of the Island of Cozu- 

 mel, and other papers by Messrs. Bean, Dresel, Ball, Eiley, and Rath- 

 bun were made public through this medium. 



The total number of pages published by the Museum during the year 

 was 1,642, and that of papers 48; the total number of labels printed 

 was about 6,000. It has not been found necessary to introduce any 

 changes iu the general style of tyi^e or form of the labels. The number 

 of labels now on file is about 25,000, and requires the constant atten- 

 tion of one person to care for and store them in i)roper condition for 

 ready reference. They are arranged in standard unit drawers, about 

 100 in number, and are delivered to the curators of the several depart- 



