EEPOKT OF ASSISTANT SECKETABV. •' 



accessions received from Philadclplii.K a,ul f,o,n otlicr sotu-cs. U„. 

 Imber l>ad grown to 1,471,0(.... At the close of V.m ,t uniounted U, 



" m'iie thefetuves conve, no in.pression of the ..uik of tbe collec- 

 tions, when it is'considered that l.y 1885 all of the space - I'" >' '"'j ' 

 i„« was completely filled, and in fact so overcrowded 'ba a t u 

 buildin<r was already hcing asked of Congress, some concept,,., ,, aj 

 be ha^of the .-onditions now existing. The storerooms are i»cked to 

 "tmost capacity. n,aking it difficnit to gah, aces to the spcc- 

 me^ o to prov\de ade,„at..ly fo,- their safety. Fo,- „,any >ea,s mo 

 o he obiicts received have had to be stored ,n o„ts,de and nnsate 

 ! tr, cU,rc . whe,-e they are „,ainiy piled up in the or,g,na pack,,,g 

 K^" s and where has already accumulated enough ,„at..r,al ..t ge 

 ■"h-inrfc and scientific value to hU an additional bu,ld,ng as la,-gc as 

 that MOW occupied by the „,a,n collections. 



AS A MUSEUM ,►!■' ,lESEA,t<:i,. 



In order to permit of their examination and study, as procded ,n 

 th ac o est,blishu,e„t, the collections of the Museun, are, to the 

 extent of its accou,™odations, arranged systemat,cally and ,n a„,anne 

 convenient for reference. Access to the reserve or study ser„.s so 

 Id, consisting of the n,ain body of the -"oct,ons and as compH 

 in all the groups as the accessions have ,«ade poss,blc ,. gncn to all 

 p o « ly qualified persons engaged i„ original research. The oppo,- 

 ta," ies 1.US afforded are widely availed of, the Museun, be,ng v, ,ted 

 evev V ar by manv investigators, some of world-w,de d,st,nct,on. 

 comin "from the scientific centers of European and other ore.g 

 Z^ries, as well as from all parts of the United States >h,te,- - 

 also occasionally sent out to representatives of othei ,n,titutions 

 Wi J X nJns of providing for its safekeeping, when requ,red ,,, 

 the working up of special subjects, or for compar,son m connection 



with their own collections. ,i .^ f .,,,.1 most 



The custodianship of the collections being the f.^l^J^ 

 imperative duty devolving upon the scentihc staU of ''^ >-f"°™^^ 

 M, scum, its members find comparatively httle t,i,,e ^l"™'^ ' * | J^" J^ 

 for advancing knowledge, though tl-.V are u,ostly well . .a t^ fo, 

 such work being selected with special reference to the,, al„l,t3 to 

 d, tirand elasSfy the specimens under tJ.eir ;l--«« ■■' --f-- 

 with the latest researches. As a matter of h,ct, l>;™" ■ t^^ .^^^^ 

 does produce every year a large number ot pape,-s ' "-'^ ".» *_ "'"^^ 

 colhHtions, which together .on.stitnte an uuportant cont,,b„tion 



" l';^;' tXi'lry officers having their laboratones at the Ma.eum 

 are a number of assistants employed by other sc,ent,hc bureaus to eon 



