4 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1897, 



been iu use many years. The new organization, which went into effect 

 July 1, 1897, will be found on pages 6 and 7. 



It has been the custom to present in the Annual Report of tlie 

 Museum certain general cousiderations. In following this precedent 

 reference will be made to the functions and policy of the Museum as 

 outlined by Dr. (Toode. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



By act of Congress passed in 1840 the Smithsonian Institution 

 became the only lawful place of deposit for '' all objects of art and of 

 foreign and curious research, and all ol)jects of natural history, plants, 

 and geological and mineralogical specimens belonging to the United 

 States." These collections have served as a nucleus for the iSTational 

 Museum of the United States. For many years this Museum was sup- 

 ported entirely at the expense of the Smithson fund, aud a considerable 

 portion of the collections is the property of the Institution through 

 gift or purchase. 



The early history of the Museum — in the building up of which Pro- 

 fessor Henry, and later Professor Baird, assisted so ably l)y Dr. Goode, 

 took such great interest — is already well known to the readers of the 

 National Museum rei)orts, the first chapters of which in recent years 

 having been devoted to its presentation and discussion. A special 

 paper treating of the relations between the Smithsonian Institution 

 and the National Museum and the early collections wliich came into its 

 possession was prepared by the late Dr. G. Brown (4oode, under the 

 title "The Genesis of the National Museum," in 1891.' 



Ill an historical review Dr. Goode pointed out that the iiistory of the 

 Museum may be divided into three periods — first, from the fouiulation 

 of the Smithsonian Institution to 1857, during which time s[)ecimens 

 were collected solely to serve as materials for research; second, from 

 1857, when the Institution assumed the custody of the " National 

 Cabinet of Curiosities," to 1876, during which interval the Museum 

 became a place of deposit for scientific c<dlections which had already 

 been studied; and, tliird, from 187G to the present time, in which the 

 Museum has undertaken more fully the additional taslc of gathering 

 collections and exhibiting them on account of their value from an edu- 

 cational standpoint. 



When the present Museum building was first occupied, in 1881, elab- 

 orate plans were made for the reorganization of the Museum staff. The 

 first of them (Circular 1) is entitled "Plan of organization and regu- 

 lations." Of this it may be said, in passing, that the regulations 

 embodied therein were so admirably considered and drawn up that no 

 radical changes have become necessary since it was issued, although 

 occasional minor modifications and additions have been made from 

 time to time, to meet the special requirements of varying conditions, 



1 Report of the Smithsouian Institutiou. U. S. National Museum, pp. 273-330. 



