4 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



sums voted, that for m&nj years the slender income of the Institu- 

 tion was heavily drawn upon to insure the maintenance of what was 

 then called the Smithsonian Museum, and justly enough, since the 

 building was paid for out of the Smithson fund, a considerable por- 

 tion of the collections were and still are the actual property of the 

 Institution, through exploration, gift, and purchase, and at least a 

 number of the officials in charge of the collections were employed at 

 its expense. 



The title "National Museum,-' first recognized by Congress in 1875, 

 came into general use through the display of the Government collec- 

 tions at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876. This was 

 the first exposition in this country in which the Government partici- 

 pated, and the first to make known to vast numbers of the people of 

 the United States the existence of national collections at Washington, 

 as well as new methods of installing and exhibiting museum materials, 

 differing radically from the older cabinets of college or local museums 

 which prevailed up to that time. After its close the material brought 

 back belonging to the Government, together with the extensive gifts 

 made to the United States by private persons and foreign govern- 

 ments, forced the erection of a separate building, which brought the 

 name "National Museum" into greater prominence. Since that time 

 Congress has in the main provided for the maintenance of the Museum, 

 but its management remains, b}- the fundamental act, under the 

 authority of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, administered 

 through their Secretary, who is ex officio the keeper — a form of gov- 

 ernment insuring a consistent and uniform policy and a nonpartisan 

 administration of its affairs. The greater part of the Smithsonian 

 building is still used for museum purposes, and the Institution, as 

 well as all the scientific bureaus at Washington, cooperate, both 

 through men and material, in enlarging and caring for the national 

 collections. 



With the primar}' object of preserving the collections in anthro- 

 pology, biology, and geologj^ obtained b}" the Government surveys, 

 and of arranging them in a manner convenient for stud}", everj' 

 effort is made to complete the representation in all departments of 

 science and the arts capable of being illustrated in a material way. 

 Extensive series of specimens, selected with reference to their educa- 

 tional value and the popular interest they may excite, and bearing 

 appropriate labels, are exposed to view in the public halls. The 

 duplicate specimens are made up into sets for exchange and for dis- 

 tribution to schools and colleges throughout the countr}-. Papers 

 descriptive of the collections, both technical and popular, are pub- 

 lished for gratuitous circulation to the extent of three or more vol- 

 umes yearly; and, finallv, the Museum has come to be regarded as a 

 sort of l)uroau of information. ))ein2f constantlv called upon to answer 



