124 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1933 



Gerrit S. Miller, Jr., collected in Puerto Rico during March and 

 April 1932 for the section of wood technology 74 woods from a region 

 heretofore only scantily represented in the collection. These specimens 

 are backed by herbarium material in the division of plants. The Uni- 

 versity of Poznan sent a set of 63 samples of the woods of Poland in 

 exchange for a collection of woods of the United States. At the sug- 

 gestion of Mr. Miller, E. N. Bancroft, surveyor general of Kingston, 

 Jamaica, collected for the Museum wood samples of Jamaican trees, 

 most of which are backed by herbarium material in the division of 

 plants. Most of these are generous trunk sections. 



Other woods received from various contributors for the study 

 collection comprise single billets or trunk sections. One is a 17-inch 

 section of the rare Chonta palm from Juan Fernandez Island off the 

 coast of Chili, obtained by Dr. W. L. Schmitt. Prof. T. Jonson, of 

 the Royal Swedish Forestry School, Stockholm, contributed a fine 

 trunk section of European white birch from the demonstration forest 

 of the College of Forestry at Garpenberg, Province of Dalarne, 

 Sweden. In exchange for a stud}'^ sample of Ginkgo wood sent to 

 him in August 1932, F. K. Dalton sent a piece of the wood of kaika- 

 waka, or New Zealand cedar, which burns very slowly and is used 

 locally for fire doors and similar purposes. A piece of German oak 

 cut from a dugout built on the Elbe between 800 and 900 A.D., and 

 attesting the great durabihty of this species, was received from R. D. 

 Hess as an exchange. 



A collection of homeopathic pharmaceutical preparations, from 

 Boericke & Tafel, arranged to illustrate the history and principles of 

 homeopathy, was the largest gift received by the division of medicine 

 during the year. The specimens included consist of pharmaceuticals 

 of all kinds from the ammal, mineral, and vegetable kingdoms. 

 The division is indebted to Dr. F. B. Kilmer, of Johnson & Johnson, 

 for the contribution of type specimens of the earliest antiseptic sur- 

 gical dressings made on a commercial scale in the United States. 

 The first type, carbolated gauze, introduced the new Listerian sys- 

 tem of antiseptic dressings. The others illustrate improved forms 

 of dressings with corrosive sublimate and boric acid as the medicinal 

 agents. 



The pharmacy collection was improved by the addition of con- 

 siderable material, including a druggist's mortar contributed by 

 Magnus, Mabee & Reynard, and a series of six photographic en- 

 largements of murals depicting the progress of pharmacy, a gift of 

 the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. 



Accessions for the materia medica section included a gift of a set 

 of photographs especially prepared by Eli Lilly & Co. to illustrate 

 steps in the manufacture of insulin; a contribution of Merck & Co. 

 of a series of cinchona alkaloids and alkaloidal salts; and donations 



