62 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1892. 



of an additional clerk. In May, 1892, the distribution of Museum pub- 

 lications was added to the work of the office, and in the months of May 

 and June there were partially distributed Dr. W. L. Abbott's Catalogue 

 of Ethnological Collections in the IT. S. National Museum from Kili- 

 manjaro, East Africa (published in the Eeport of the National Museum 

 for 1891), and a paper by Dr. G. Brown Goode, entitled Museums of the 

 Future (published in the Eeport of the National Museum for 1890). 

 During the year the routine work connected with the distribution of 

 specimens has also been attended to in this office. The correspondence 

 of the Museum (including the acknowledgment of gifts, loans, and ex- 

 changes, the preparation of reports upon material sent for examination, 

 and replies to requests for technical information of all kinds), and the 

 preparation, editing, and proof-reading of the Annual Eeport of the 

 Museum, constitute the principal work of the office. 



The routine work performed in the case of each letter received is as 

 follows: The date of its receipt at the Museum is stamped upon it, after 

 which the proper reference is indorsed upon it.* It is then charged to 

 the person to whom it is referred, and inclosed in a wrapper, on which 

 is written the name and address of the writer, the subject of the inquiry? 

 and the name of the person to whom it is referred. On its return from 

 the referee a reply is prepared, which, with the original letter, is trans- 

 mitted to the Secretary, Assistant Secretary, or Curator-in-charge, for 

 signature. It is then detached, marked for riling, and a label is attached 

 giving the name and address of the writer, the subject, and date of 

 letter. The letters written are copied in the current number of the 

 appropriate series of letter books. All letters written are indexed in 

 the letter-books, and also on cards prepared for the purpose. These 

 cards are filed alphabetically, and thus, at a glance, the amount of cor- 

 respondence with any person, including the date of each letter, can be 

 ascertained. A cross-reference is also prepared under every name 

 mentioned in each letter written, and filed alphabetically. By this 

 means a clew is ofteu furnished to correspondence which it would other- 

 wise be difficult to find. 



A record is kept, in card-catalogue form, of all offers of specimens 

 which are not at the time accepted, whether offered as gifts, loans, in 

 exchange, or for sale. The possibility of bringing together in a mo- 

 ment all offers relating to material in a given department of the Museum, 

 has frequently proved very useful, and has saved many hours' work in 

 examining' the letter-hies. 



*A large proportion of the letters does not require reference, in which case the 

 intermediate steps of the routine are omitted. 



