APPENDIX 1 

 Report on the United States National Museum 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the condi- 

 tion and operations of the United States National Museum for the 

 fiscal year ended June 30, 1952 : 



BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT 



Construction was completed on the conversion of the southwest 

 court in the Arts and Industries Building to a modern storage facility, 

 providing 8,000 square feet of space on the ground, mezzanine, second, 

 and third floors. Outside contracts amounting to $13,582 were let 

 for the construction of wooden frames for storage cases and drawers. 

 The frames of the storage cases will be covered with sheets of thin 

 steel by the Institution's own mechanics. 



COLLECTIONS 



During the year 607,354 specimens (approximately twice as many 

 as last year) were added to the national collections and distributed 

 among the six departments as follows : Anthropology, 4,852 ; zoology, 

 251,290; botany, 62,476; geology, 279,968; engineering and industries, 

 1,638; and history, 7,130. Most of the accessions were acquired as 

 gifts from individuals or as transfers from Government departments 

 and agencies. The complete report on the Museum, published as a 

 separate document, includes a detailed list of the year's acquisitions, 

 of which the more important are summarized below. Catalog entries 

 in all departments now total 33,184,494. 



Anthropology. — A well-documented symbolic wampum belt, which 

 had served as a token of peace and friendship after the eighteenth- 

 century wars between the Seneca and Wyandot (Huron) Indians, 

 was presented by Howard W. Elkinton. An outstanding addition 

 to the archeological collection is the gift by Robert C. Cook of a 

 carved and painted wooden cup, which was referred to as a kero 

 (wooden beer cup) by the Inca Indians. 



By a bequest from the late Mrs. Emily V. Taylor, the Museum re- 

 ceived a Philadelphia high chest or highboy of unusual design and 

 workmanship of the period 1760-70. A recent noteworthy gift 

 from Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Pierson, Jr., consists of a complete 

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