322 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



two collections of models showing the development of wheel Aehicles and machinery 

 of the steiimboiits invented by Rnmsey, Fitch, Fulton, and Ericsson. 



The Ramsdeu dividing engine, used in the last century to divide equally the circles 

 of quadrants and other mathematical instruments, which is the earliest machin(^ of 

 this kind extant, also forms a part of the collection of apparatus. A very important 

 and valuable recent addition to this section is the scismological apparatus, displayed 

 at the World's Columbian Exi>ositiou in the Japanese exhibit, and since presented to 

 the Museum by that Government. 



The electrical collections contain objects of extreme importance and value. 

 Among these may be mentioned one of the first three large horseshoe electric mag- 

 nets, wound and experimented with by Henry, together with the battery, first motor, 

 and other similar appliances constructed by Henry AvhiJe in Princeton ; and the 

 original telegraph apparatus invented by Professor Morse. The original telegraph 

 instrument from which was received the historic message, " What hath God wrought," 

 in Baltimore, 1844, also forms part of this collection, together with objects illustrating 

 the beginnings and development of the storage battery and electric incandescent 

 and arc lamps, and other electrical apparatus. 



The telephcme which Johanu Philip]> Reis, of Frankfort, indented in 1860 is another 

 object of much interest and value. 



The collectiou of materia iiiedica is probably the most complete and 

 most carefully labeled collection of its kind exhibited in any museum. 

 It is very full in many directions, and is especially rich in specimens of 

 cinchona. Of the latter series Dr. J. M. Flint, U. S. N., the honorary 

 curator, writes : 



I regard the collection of cinchona products as the most important in the Materia 

 Medica Section. This collection embraces specimens of nearly all the natural ciu- 

 choua barks of South America, every variety of the cultivated product from the 

 Government plantations in India, together with most of the cultivated sorts from 

 Java, Ceylon, .Jamaica, and Mexico. The India and .Jamaica collections coinjirise 

 also herbarium specimens of the leaf and flower, and in many cases the fruit of 

 ( ach variety of cinchona tree from which the bark is taken. 



Of the section of Graphic Arts, Mr. S, R. Koehler writes: 



This section was definitely organized in January, 1887, although its beginning 

 goes back to at least the year 1884. From a very few si)ecimen8 then on hand the 

 collections in this section have increased to the number of 5,620 specimens at the 

 present writing, but as many of the entries on the catalogue cover more than one 

 specimen, it will be safe to say that the total number is about 6,000. 



The aim of the section is to illustrate the various processes of making pictures by 

 lines and masses, either l^lack or in colors, by hand, or with the aid of machinery, 

 and the application of these processes in the industrial arts. To reach this aim, all 

 the methods of making pictures that have ever been essayed are eventually to be 

 illustrated — and many of them are already illustrated — by the tools and materials 

 used, by the product in the various stages of progress, and by historical examples 

 showing the development of each process, from the invention to the present time. 



In addition to the collections already noticed, the Museum possesses 

 a good series of musical instruments, assembled under the immediate 

 direction of Dr. Goode; a collection of porcelains, bronzes, and ivory 

 carvings; a large and varied collection illustrating fisheries, which 

 was brought together chiefly in connection with the Fisheries Exhibi- 

 tion of Berlin and Loudon; a small forestry collection; a collection of 

 foods; a collection representing the utilization of industrial products 



