REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 57 



necessary, are detailed various officers of tlie IMuseum scientific stafl'. 

 In addition to tbeexliibition work of the year elsewbere'referred to, this 

 statf is still engaged in the preparation of a report upon the Interna- 

 tional Fisheries Exhibition at London. 



Department of Ethnology.— Prof. Otis T. Mason, having been appointed 

 curator, took charge of this department on the 1st of July and spent 

 the remainder of- the year chiefly in getting control of his material. All 

 of the ethnological specimens of the Museum are now under complete 

 management, a part of them being on exhibition, the remainder classi- 

 fied and stored in drawers for ready reference. During the year, 3,658 

 specimens belonging to primitive races have been received. In addi- 

 tion to these, this department has been intrusted with many objects 

 registered in other catalogues and deposited here for the sake of com- 

 pleting evolutionary series ot implements, processes, and art products. 

 The most noteworthy accessions in 1884 were as follows : Illustrations 

 of Eskimo and Indian life from TJngava Bay and vicinity, by Lucieu 

 M. Turner, who will prepare a monograph upon the specimens; illas- 

 trations of Eskimo life at Point Barrow, collected by Lieutenant Ray, 

 U.S.A. Mr. Murdoch will describe these: rich collections from the 

 Eskimo of Western and Southern Alaska, by E. W. Nelson, W, J. Fisher, 

 Charles L. McKay, Baron ISTordenskiold ; specimens of the arts of the 

 tribes of Northwest America, collected by J. G. Swan and Lieut. T. Dix 

 Bolles ; many objects illustrative of the modern Indians of Yucatan, by 

 Louis H. Ayme ; a very large and instructive collection of objects from 

 the Peruvian huacas, by George W. Keifer and Dr. William H. Jones, 

 U. S. N. ; a-collection of weapons, «&c.,from New Guinea, purchased from 

 A. P. Goodwin ; an exchange series of weapons from Polynesia, con- 

 tributed by Charles Heape. During the year illustrative series of eth- 

 nological objects have been exhibited at Cincinnati, Louisville, and New 

 Orleans, care being taken in each case to impress some ethnological 

 truth, such as distribution of types, the effect of environment, the treat- 

 ment of the same art by different tribes, or the progress of an art from 

 its infamey to its highest manifestation. 



Department of Antiquities. — Dr. Rau reports 3,956 specimens added 

 to the exhibition and study series and 1,185 to the duplicates. They 

 are in numerous accession lots, of which 18 were sufficiently important 

 to merit especial notice. An extensive educational series, illustrating 

 American archaeology, was prepared for the New Orleans Exposition. 

 The collection now comi>rises4>,l!5jJ specimens, of which 8,522 are in the 

 duplicate bins. 



Department of Mammals. — Notwithstanding the absence of the curator, 

 Mr. True, in Europe during the first quarter of the year, and other diver- 

 sions of his attention and time to routine work not connected with his 

 regular duties, the progress of this department has been exceedingly sat- 

 isfactory. The work upon tbe exhibition series has been hampered by 

 the fact that money was not available for the construction of the desired 



