8 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1899. 



recorded at above 4,355,000, without full}^ taking into account many 

 hundreds of bottles of small organisms, which, were it possible to 

 enumerate their contents, would swell the total almost incredibl3^ 



As the custodian of all specimens obtained by Government scien- 

 tific expeditions, both at home and abroad, as the recipient of innu- 

 merable gifts and exchanges from private sources, many of which 

 have been of very large size, and by purchase, the National Museum 

 has acquired a greater fund of material than any other similar estab- 

 lishment in this country, while but few in Europe can equal or surpass 

 it in this regard. With adequate and appropriate quarters it would 

 soon take rank with the oldest and best museums of the world. 



Among the more important accessions of the jesiv in anthropology 

 have been a collection of about 1,000 pieces representing the costumes, 

 implements, and ceremonial objects of the Plains and Rocky Mountain 

 Indians, brought together a number of years ago by M. E. Granicr, 

 now of Paris, France; a second installment of the Steiner collection 

 of prehistoric stone implements and other objects from the Indian 

 mounds near Grove town, Georgia; and a part of the celebrated bas- 

 ketry collection of Dr. W. J. Hudson, illustrating in nmch detail the 

 exquisite workmanship of the Pomo Indians of California. The above 

 were acquired by purchase. 



In biology the Museum is deeply indebted to Mr. W. H. Ashmead, 

 one of its assistant curators, for the generous gift of his valuable pri- 

 vate collection of insects, consisting of over 60,000 specimens and 

 containing a very large number of types. The Division of Insects has 

 now nearly 1,000,000 specimens, of which 125,000 were received the 

 past year. This is the largest numerical showing made by any branch 

 of the Museum, the Division of Mollusks coming next, followed l)y 

 the Division of Marine Invertebrates. 



In geology mention may be made of the large collection of verte- 

 brate fossils acquired by the U. S. Geological Survey-, which had lieen 

 in the custody of Prof. O. C. Marsh, at Yale College. Since the death 

 of this distinguished paleontologist the transfer of this collection to 

 the National Museum has been arranged for by the Director of the 

 Survey, and the work of bringing it to Washington was in progress at 

 the close of the fiscal year. A very large amount of space will be 

 required for its installation. 



The Government bureaus to which the Museum has been chiefly 

 indebted for material are the Geological Survey, the Fish Commission, 

 and several divisions of the Department of Agriculture. In addition 

 to the Marsh collection, alread}" referred to, the Geological Survey has 

 turned over during the year several important series of invertebrate 

 and plant fossils described in its recent reports, besides a number of 

 rock specimens and rare minerals. The Fish Commission has con- 

 tributed a ver}'^ extensive and valuable collection from the island of 



