26 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



coustituting such a world. Under tliis method of classification all 

 collections coming into the possession of the Museum may be intelli- 

 gently assembled. From this assemblage, whether as exhibition or 

 study series, selections of duplicate objects may be made for building 

 up exhibits illustrating the history of man as seen from other points 

 of view. 



The materials employed in this grand division of the exhibits are 

 not yet brought together in the Museum in their final relationships. 

 The collections relating to living tribes and nations are separated from 

 those representing prehistoric peoples of the same areas, the latter 

 occupying the great hall of the Smithsonian Institution. It is hoped 

 that in the near future the construction of a new building, or a 

 reassignment of the present Museum spaces, may lead to the proper 

 correlation of these important exhibits. 



THE DEVELOPMENTAL ARRANGEMENT. 



The second grand division of exhibits assumes to present selected 

 portions of the collections on a totally different plan from the pre- 

 ceding, and they are thus made to record and convey a totally distinct 

 class of ideas. The story told by these exhibits is not that of tribes 

 or .nations and their connection with particular environments, but 

 that of development of the race along the various lines of culture prog- 

 ress, each series beginning with the inceptive or lowest stages and 

 extending to the highest. These series are synoptic in character. 



The following exhibits arranged on this j)lan have already been 

 assembled or are in process of segregation: 



Fire luakiug 1 series 



Hunting 1 series 



Fishing 1 series 



Agriculture 2 series 



Weapons 6 series 



Tools of general use 8 series 



Culinary arts 4 series 



Illumination 3 series 



House building 1 series 



Textiles 3 series 



Costume 2 series 



Ceramics 3 series 



Glass 1 series 



Enamel 1 series 



Metallurgy 1 series 



Sculpture 4 series 



Graphic arts 4 series 



Metric arts 3 series 



Music 4 series 



Medicine 1 series 



Photography 3 series 



Transportation 10 series 



Electricity 8 series 



Each specimen in these series stands not as an isolated product of 

 activity, but for an idea — a step in human progress; each series is a 

 logical assemblage of these ideas — these steps in human progress, and 

 the order is such as to suggest to the mind the broatler truths of human 

 history. The group of series properly arranged serves to illustrate the 

 development of human thought and the gradual expansion of human 

 interests. 



