90 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



There is no separate study series in this department. The exhibi- 

 tion series is in as good a condition as at any previous time. A series 

 of transparencies, to be placed in the windows of the anthropological 

 hall, is in course of j^reparation. 



A paper on the Swastika sign, by the curator, was published in the 

 Museum Report for 1894. The preparation of several other papers by 

 Dr. Wilson has now been nearly completed. The titles of those pub- 

 lished during the year, so far as they are based upon Museum material, 

 are given in the Bibliography (Appendix IV). A number of lectures 

 have also been delivered by the curator. 



Mr. John W. Emmert, of Bristol, Tenn., a former employee of the 

 Bureau o'f Ethnology, and Gen. A. L. Pridemore, of Jonesville, Va., 

 conducted certain explorations, on a small scale, under the auspices of 

 the Museum, and a considerable quantity of material was secured. The 

 curator, also, spent a few days in July, 1895, in exploring caverns in 

 Ross and Hocking counties, Ohio. The time devoted to this work was 

 necessarily very limited, but the observations made show that the caves 

 had never been occupied by man, or that all traces of such occupation 

 have been destroyed or effaced. 



Material for study and for the purpose of illustrating lectures has 

 been sent to persons outside the Museum on several occasions during 

 the year, and some of the members of the scientific stafl' of the Museum 

 have also borrowed material for use in their investigations. Mr. J. D. 

 McGuire, Ellicott City, Md., has studied specimens belonging to the 

 department in connection with the preparation of a paper on prehistoric 

 pipes. 



In addition to those whose names have already been mentioned, 

 twelve others are referred to as having cooperated with the department 

 during the year. 



The views of the curator with regard to the policy which he believes 

 should be followed in the future are here given : 



Witbin the last ten years the collection in this department has increased from 

 65,000 to 209,346 specimens. This material is all nsefnl, not to say necessary, in aid- 

 ing to perfect our knowledge of the origin, growth, and culture of prehistoric man. 

 But to use it for this purpose requires not a change, but an enlargement of the plan 

 heretofore pursued. It is proposed by this enlargement to classify the implements 

 and objects as rigidly and in as much detail as possible. This classification or 

 division should deal with the object, its form, materia], and function, and extend to 

 localities, narrowing them as much as possible. This scheme applied, for example, 

 to the State of Pennsylvania, would divide the State into the localities of the Valley 

 of the Delaware and Susquehanna on the east, and on the west the Allegheny and 

 Monongahela rivers, following them and their branches to the head waters, if need be, 

 indepeudeiit of State lines. In this way it would be possible to compare the imple- 

 ments of these valleys in three diflferent sections of the State and see what differ- 

 ences were manifested. It is hoped, also, that it would be possible to determine the 

 difl'erencea in the industry or culture of these localities. The classification of mate- 

 rial would probably enable us to assign the stones of which the various implements 

 were made, to their respective quarries and localities. A comparison between the 

 implements of the various localities thus divided would show the commerce, if it did 

 not show the migration, between the various peoples who occupied these localities. 



