8 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



AS A MUSEUM OF RECORD. 



In its capacit}'^ of a museum of record, the growth of the National 

 Museum has been unprecedented, due mainly to the rapid exploration 

 and development of a rich and extensive country, under the liberal 

 and progressive policy of the Government, whose inquiries into new 

 regions and into new fields have been pushed without stint. Scientific 

 institutions everj^where, foreign governments and individuals have 

 likewise contributed abundant stores of great value, and a small fund 

 in recent j^ears has permitted of some purchases to supph" desiderata. 

 The richness of the collections has also been much increased through 

 the exchange of duplicate specimens with other similar establishments. 



The principal sources of the collections may be briefl}' summarized 

 as follows: 



1. The explorations carried on more or less directly under the 

 auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, or by the Institution in 

 connection with educational institutions or commercial establish- 

 ments, and the efforts, since 1850, of its officers and correspond- 

 ents toward the accumulation of natural history and anthropological 

 material. 



2. The United States Exploring Expedition around the world 

 from 1838 to 1812, the North Pacific or Perry Exploring Expedition 

 from 1853 to 1856, and many subsequent naval expeditions down 

 to and including the recent operations in West Indian and Phil- 

 ippine waters. 



3. The activities of members of the United States diplomatic 

 and consular service abroad. 



4. The Government surveys at home, such as the Pacific Rail- 

 road survey, the Mexican and Canadian boundary surveys, and the 

 surveys carried on by the Engineer Corps of the United States 

 Army; and the activities of officers of the Signal Corps, and other 

 branches of the Army stationed in remote regions. 



5. The explorations of the United States Geological Survey, 

 the United States Fish Commission, the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and other scientific branches of the Government. 



(). Donations and purchases in connection with the several expo- 

 sitions at home and abroad in which the Museum or Fish Commission 

 have participated, among these having been the Centennial Exhi- 

 bition at Philadelphia in 1876, the international fisheries exhibitions 

 at Berlin in 1880 and at London in 1883, the New Orleans Cotton 

 Centennial Exposition in 1881 and 1885, the Cincinnati Exposition 

 of 1888, the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, and 

 the expositions at Atlanta in 1895, at Nashville in 1897, and at 

 Omaha in 1898. The returns from the Philadelphia Exhibition 



