10 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



The National Museum uow contains more than three and a half mil- 

 lions of objects. 



The intrinsic value of such collections as these can not well be ex- 

 pressed in figures. There are single specimens worth hundreds, others 

 worth thousands of dollars, and still others which are unique and price- 

 less. Many series of specimens, which owe their value to their com- 

 pleteness and to the labor which has been expended on them, can not 

 be repla<'ed at any price. The collections at a forced sale would realize 

 more than has been expended on them, and a fair appraisal of their 

 vahie would amount to several millions of dollars. 



One of the most striking features in the affairs of the Museum is the 

 manner in which its collections are increasing. In 1890 the number of 

 specimens is more than eighteen times as great as in 1882. 



In the direct purchase of specimens but little money has been spent, 

 less perhaps in tlfty years than either France, England, Germany, or 

 Austria expends in a single year on similar objects. The entire 

 Museum is the outgrowth of Government expeditions and expositions, 

 and of gifts i)rompted largely by the generosity of the American people. 



As might be supposed, a considerable proportion of the objects given 

 are duplicates of material already on hand, and although these con- 

 tributions can, with the utmost advantage, be used for distribution 

 to museums and schools, they do not materially increase the value of 

 the collections for study by specialists and for general educational 

 purposes. 



The need of a larger fund for the purchase of specimens is yearly 

 becoming more manifest. Exceedingly important material is constantly 

 ottered at prices very nnich below what it would cost to obtain it by 

 collecting, and in many instances, when refused, it is eagerly taken 

 by the museums and institutions of Europe. 



The Museum in its i)resent condition may be compared to a book 

 from which i)ages here and there have been omitted, so that the narra- 

 tive is disjointed and incomplete. 



The museums of England are rich with the accumulations of centu- 

 ries. The National Museum of the United States is young, and has 

 enornions deficiencies in every department. It needs, more than any 

 museum in Europe, the opportunity to increase its resources through 

 l>nrclia8e. The total amount expended for the purchase of specimens 

 for the National Museum since 1891 has averaged less than $7,000 a 

 year. 



For the purchase of specimens for the South Kensington Museum, 

 from 1853 to 1887, $1,586,634 was expended, or a yearly average of 

 nearly $47,000. 



Toward her other museums England is equally liberal. Exact sta- 

 tistics are not at hand, but it is quite within bounds to assert that her 

 average expenditures for the purchase of new objects for museums in 

 Loudon 18 not less than $500,000 a year. 



