REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 49 



In the Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, where larger materials 

 permit the use of larger type, an herbarium board is used. The 

 drawback to the herbarium board in the small label, it should be 

 stated, lies in the difficulty of getting solid l)lackimpressions sufficient 

 to give the desired contrast and eas}' legibilit}-. 



In this connection cop}' for some 5,000 specimen labels has been 

 prepared and sent to the Government Printing Office during the year, 

 mainlv from the sections of Geology and Invertebrate Paleontology. 

 Up to the close of the year some 3,500 of these had been printed. 

 Eleven large, explanatory labels, in black and gold, for the exhibition 

 halls, have also been prepared and are awaiting framing preparatory 

 to being put in place. 



Some time has been occupied in revising and bringing up to date 

 the manuscript of a guide to a stud}' of the collections in the Section 

 of Applied Geology. This is now completed, and at the date of writing 

 is at the Government Printing Office. 



PRESENT CONDITION OF COLLECTIONS. 



The present condition of the exhibition and study series of the 

 department can be in part surmised from what has already been said. 



The crowded condition of the exhibition halls has led to the with- 

 drawal of some of the minor and less conspicuous exhibits to give 

 place to larger and more striking forms. Among the recent additions 

 of this class reference may be made to the cluster of basaltic columus 

 from Bennau, near Asbach, Prussia, shown in Plate 3. These ocdKm 

 the same relative position to one another as when formed, and convey 

 to the public a much better idea of columnar structure and its cause 

 than do the isolated columns. The materials were obtained and set up 

 for the jVIuseum under the direction of Mr. F. W. Crosby, of this 

 city. 



The large silicified tree trunks {Araucarioxi/lon ansonicitm) from the 

 so-called Fossil Forest or Chalcedony Park, near Holbrook. Arizona, 

 which were exhibited by the department at the Omaha Exposition in 

 1898, have been returned to the Museum and installed in the east end 

 of the west south range, there being no room for them with the Paleo- 

 botanical exhibit on the gallery. Unfortunately, the long trunk was 

 broken in three pieces in process of trans-shipment, but as the fractures 

 are sharp and unabraded, the trunk-like nature of the specimen is still 

 apparent. The exhibit comprises this trunk, 7^ feet long Ijy 20 inches 

 in diameter, with two cross sections each 33 inches in diameter. 



The special series illustrating volcanic phenomena, faults, folds, and 

 concretionary structures are now in a very satisfactory condition. 

 Plate 4: shows some of the more striking forms of volcanic bombs from 

 various locaaties comprised in the first-named exhibit. 



NAT Mus 1900 4 



