26 REPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



or otherwise treated, and a card catalogue of articles, such as models 

 and casts, made for the Museum by preparators or other persons 

 emploj'cd by the Museum. At the same time a detailed report of the 

 operations of each division and section for the 3'ear is in the hands of 

 the head curator, who is able, through these various sources of infor- 

 mation, to understand and summarize the work of the year with much 

 ease and satisfaction. 



INSTALLATKJX. 



The year has witnessed very decided progress in the work of instal- 

 lation, the divisions of Ethnology, Technology, History, and ]Medicine, 

 and the sections of Graphic Arts and Ceramics having made most 

 gratifying headway. Prof. O. T. Mason reports, for the Division of 

 Ethnology, that the cases in the west north range are so fully installed 

 and labeled that this room ma}^ be considered to fall little short of 

 completion. During the year the force of the division has been partly 

 engaged in installing collections in the gallery' of the northwest court. 

 On the east side of this galler}' there are cases containing typical 

 exhibits of basketry from all parts of the world. On the north side 

 the series of rail cases shows the types of California basketry, while 

 in the wall cases a series of baskets is shown representing various 

 tribes from British Columbia to Mexico. On the south and west 

 sides of this gallery are exhibits of ethnological materials of Latin 

 America, beginning with Sonora on the north and ending with Tierra 

 del Fuego on the south. 



The honorary curator of the Division of Mechanical Technology, 

 Dr. J. E. Watkins, reports that important improvements in the 

 installation of the Section of Land Transportation have been made. 

 The base and iron rail of the locomotive "John Bull"' have been com- 

 pleted. The ox cart from New Mexico and the Red River cart have 

 been placed on a new mahogany bsise and installed with other wheeled 

 vehicles. The large wooden models of the locomotives "Tom Thumb" 

 and ''Arabian" have been removed to storage, and small models are 

 being made to take their place in the exhibit. The original driving 

 wheels of the locomotives "John Bull" and "De Witt Clinton" and 

 several other antique car wheels have been permanentlj^ installed on 

 the piers within the hall. The boiler of the locomotive "Stour- 

 bridge Lion " has been fitted with wooden axles and mounted on its 

 wheels. It is hoped that additional parts of this locomotive may be 

 secured, so that it maj^, in time, be restored to approximate!}^ its origi- 

 nal condition. 



The curator of the Division of Prehistoric Archseology, Dr. Thomas 

 Wilson, mentions in his report the very obvious fact that the exhibi- 

 tion cases of the division are overcrowded. With ever}' accession of 

 importance he is compelled to condense the exhibits in order to make 



