REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 9 



were of greatest extent, comprising, besides the collections dis- 

 played by the United States in illustration of the animal and 

 mineral resources, the fisheries and tlie ethnology of the native 

 races of the country, valuable gifts from the thirty foreign gov- 

 ernments which participated, as well as the industrial collections 

 of numerous manufacturing and cojnmercial houses of EuroDe and 

 America. 



7. Exchanges with foreign and domestic museums. 



Immediately preceding the Centennial Exhibition of 1870, when the 

 collections were entirely provided for in the Smithsonian building, 

 the number of entries of specimens' in the Museum record books was 

 about 235,000. In 188^1, when the additional room afforded by the 

 new building gave opportunity for taking a provisional census of the 

 large accessions received from Philadelphia, and from other sources, 

 the number had grown to 1,471,000. It has gone on steadil}' increas- 

 ing every year, and now, at the close of 1900, the number of specimens 

 is in excess of 4,800,000. 



While these figures convey no impression of the bulk of the collec- 

 tions, when it is considered that in 1883 all of the space in both build- 

 ings was completely filled, and in fact was so overcrowded that a third 

 building was already being asked of Congress, some conception may 

 be had of the conditions now existing. The storerooms are packed to 

 their utmost capacity, making it difficult to gain access to the speci- 

 mens or to provide adequately for their safety. For many 3"ears most 

 of the objects received have had to be stored in outside and unsafe 

 structures where they are mainly piled up in the original packing 

 boxes, and where has already accumulated much more than enough 

 material of great intrinsic and scientific value to fill a larger building 

 than that now occupied by the main collections. 



AS A MUSEUM OF RESEARCH. 



In order to permit of their examination and study, as provided in 

 the act of establishment, the collections of the Museum are, to the 

 extent of its accommodations, arranged systematical!}^ and in a manner 

 convenient for reference. Access to the reserve or stud}- series, as 

 they are called, consisting of the main body of the collections and as 

 complete in all the groups as" the accessions have made possible, is 

 given to all properly qualified persons engaged in original research. 

 Advantage of the opportunity thus afforded is widely availed of, the 

 Museum being visited every year by many investigators, some of 

 world-wide distinction, coming from the scientific centers of European 

 and other foreign countries as well as from all parts of the United 

 States. Material is occasionally sent out to representatives of other 



