16 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



were obtained through the instrumentality of the Bureau of American 

 Ethnolog}'. 



Following are some of the more important changes in connection 

 with the exhibition series: The galler}' in the northeast court has been 

 newly furnished with ebonized cases of elegant design, in which the 

 collection of ceramics, together with other works in glass, lacquer, 

 and metal, has been installed with very effective results. The Indian 

 basketr}' collection, one of the finest now in existence, has been 

 arranged, with the ethnological exhibits from Latin America, in the 

 corresponding gallery of the northwest court. The display in the hall 

 containing the Catlin paintings and the Indian groups has been as 

 nearly completed as the material on hand permits, while the medical 

 exhibit has been entirelv revised, and many additions and readjust- 

 ments have been made in the Hall of History. 



The south or Mammal Hall has been partly refitted with large cases, 

 and its contents rearranged, the American species being retained on 

 the floor, while those from other countries have been transferred to 

 the new gallery above. In this hall are displaj'ed, in several groups, 

 some of the finest examples of taxidermic work ever produced. The 

 floor space of the south east range has been entirely given over to the 

 exhibition of fishes, reptiles, and batrachians, and the reorganization 

 of the bird collection in the Smithsonian building, chiefly through a 

 reduction in the number of specimens displa3^ed, has been nearly 

 finished. The lighting by electricity of the cases in the central quad- 

 rangle of the latter hall, containing bright-plumaged birds, has resulted 

 satisfactorily, bringing into use what has practically been a large waste 

 space. 



The systematic exhibition series in practical geology, occupying the 

 gallerj" of the southwest court, has been essentialh'^ completed. 

 Important changes have been made in the collections illustrating the 

 building stones and mineral resources of the United States, and good 

 progress is to be noted in the installation of invertebrate fossils. Sev- 

 eral striking special exhibits of geological structure and phenomena 

 have also been added. 



The total number of persons who visited the exhibition halls during 

 the year was 225,440 for the Museum building and 133,147 for the 

 Smithsonian building, an average daily attendance of 720 at the former 

 and of 425 at the latter. 



The principal researches completed, or in which marked progress 

 was made during the year by assistants of the Museum, have related 

 to mammals, birds, insects, mollusks, crustaceans, plants, and certain 

 branches of ethnology and geology. Reference should especially be 

 made to a monograph by Mr. Robert Ridgway on the Birds of North 

 and Middle America, on which he has been engaged foi" several j'ears. 

 The first volume is nearly ready for printing, and several additional 



