REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 13 



is not cng-aged in planning- for or taking- part in one or unpacking and 

 replacing the specanicns which have been returned. The collections 

 which are sent out necessarily suffer to some extt^nt, and while it has 

 been the policy of the Museum not to exhibit in the pei-ishahle struc- 

 tures usuall}' built for such purposes any unique object or one which 

 could not l)e replaced, uiany excellent specimens have been displayed at 

 every exposition in which the Museum has been represented, and these 

 have unquestionably deteriorated. Should the holding of expositions 

 in the country continue at such brief intervals as during the past ten 

 years, and the Museum be expected to participate in all of them, it 

 would seem almost necessary that a special duplicate collection for 

 these purposes be kept on hand, since it is not only the injury to the 

 specimens which is to be deplored, but the constant interference with 

 the arrangement of the collections and the great amount of labor 

 expended in removing specimens from their cases and in properly 

 replacing- them. 



At the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition held at Omaha 

 during the summer and early autumn of 1898 the several scientific 

 departments of the Museum were extensively represented in connection 

 with the Government display. 



The participation of the Government Departments and bureaus in 

 two other expositions has been authorized by Congress during the past 

 year. The first of these, the Pan-American, will be held at Bufialo in 

 1901, and the second, the Ohio Centennial, at Toledo in 1902 or 1903. 

 In each case $500,000 has been appropriated, $200,000 being for the 

 buildings and 1300,000 for the exhibits. The preliminary arrange- 

 ments for the Pan-American Exposition had so far progressed before 

 the close of the year as to call for the appointment of representatives 

 composing the Government board of management. Dr. Frederick W. 

 True has been designated to act for the Museum in this capacity. 



LIBRARY. 



Through the purchase, by special act of Congress, of the scientific 

 lilH-ary of the late Doctor Goode, the Museum has secured a very note- 

 worthy addition. This collection comprises 2,900 bound volumes, 

 18,000 pamphlets, and 1,800 portraits, autographs, etc., and contains 

 many rare and valuable publications, being especially rich in the liter- 

 ature of museums and of fishes. Its acquisition increases the size of 

 the working library belonging to the Museum to some 15,000 books 

 and 26,500 pamphlets, but besides this, in order to meet the require- 

 ments of the scientific work, the Smithsonian collection has at all times 

 to be largely drawn upon, and the accommodations assigned the library 

 have long since been outgrown. A gallery has recently been built 

 across one end of the West North Range to afi'ord relief, but it can 

 only be regarded as a temporarj^ expedient. 



