20 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



The clerical and other nonscieutific work of the department has been 

 conducted as in preceding years, save that some changes in routine, 

 intended to facilitate the transaction of business, have been introduced. 

 Official correspondence is carried on almost wholly through the Museum 

 Office of Correspondence and the executive officer of the Museum. The 

 records are thus less scattered and more generally accessible than if in 

 the hands of many individuals. The work of receiving, recording, 

 marking, and i^lacing accessions is well provided for in the official rou- 

 tine, and the necessary poisoning of specimens, repairs, making of 

 replicas and models, the building of group exhibits, etc., are in the 

 hands of expert preparators. 



During the year two notable episodes have diversified the work of 

 the department, viz, the building of galleries, and the preparation of 

 exhibits for the Trans-Mississippi Exposition held in Omaha. Iron 

 galleries were constructed in four of the seven anthropological halls 

 and this has not only seriously interfered with the progress of installa- 

 tion, throwing the halls affected into confusion for several months, but 

 has made it necessary to reinstall the major part of the exhibits in all 

 the halls. From year to year the spaces have become gradually over- 

 crowded with exhibits, and the opening of the galleries afforded the 

 opportunity of relieving the congestion in part. The first step in this 

 reassemblage of collections was the selection of furniture to accord 

 with the spaces and the collections, and the head curator has devoted 

 much time to the utilization of the various styles of cases to the best 

 advantage. Necessary alterations and repairs were made in cases, 

 pedestals, screens, etc., as the work progressed. In reassembling the 

 furniture, much attention was given to the opening of thoroughfares, 

 the widening of spaces, and in systematizing and simplifying the instal- 

 lation. The work on the main floor is now well advanced, but, in the 

 galleries where wall cases are in process of construction and in halls 

 where floors are being laid, it remains far from complete. 



For a period of three months, ending with June 1, the energies of 

 the department were largely devoted to the i)reparation of an exhibit 

 for the Trans-Mississippi Exposition, a detailed account of which is 

 given in another place. 



ACQUIREMENT OF MUSEUM MATERIALS. 



A primary function of the department is the acquirement of Museum 

 materials. These materials include sj)ecimens and the data relating to 

 them. Specimens consist of the actual objects, derived from every 

 part of the anthropological field, and of models and casts, as well as 

 of photographs and other representations of the actual objects. The 

 channels through which they are acquired are (1) gift; (2) transfer (from 

 the Smithsonian Institution and departments of the Government); 

 (3) purchase; (4) collection; (5) exchange, and (6) manufacture. To 

 these materials are added deposit or loan collections, the treatment of 



