REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



35 



Statement of the iooks, maps, and charts received hi/ the Smithsonian Institution and trans- 

 ferred to the Library of Congress. 



As part of the statistical work of the United States Census, a com- 

 plete file of all the newspapers published in the United States during 

 the census year of 1880 was collected, the total amounting to some five 

 thousand titles. The authorities of the Census Department offered 

 these to the Smithsonian Institution if it could find proper accommoda- 

 tions for the same. As, however, the library of the Institution has 

 long since been merged in that of Congress, and as the expense of bind- 

 ing alone would have been extremely onerous, the suggestion was made 

 that the whole be offered to Mr. Spofford. 



THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Tlie organization of the National Museum may now be regarded as 

 practically completed, and the arrangement of a large portion of its 

 valuable material for instructive display at least provisionally eflfeoted. 

 A very full report of the scientific objects aimed at and of results so 

 far accomplished in this important branch of the public service has been 

 prepared by Mr. G. Brown Goode, the assistant director in charge, and 

 will be found in the appendix. 



Eeference was made in the reports for 1876 and 1877 to the enormous 

 amount of material presented to the United States by exhibitors at the 

 Philadelphia Centennial, and to the number of car-loads transferred to 

 Washington. Since the completion of the National Museum the greater 

 jiortion of these specimens have been removed from the Armory and 

 subjected to a provisional arrangement, precedent to their final assign- 

 ment to the cases. 



The minerals and ores were unpacked under the direction of Dr. 

 nawes, in charge, and the reserve series picked out and held in readi- 

 ness for further action. The duplicates have all been proi)erly assorted, 

 and to some extent distributed. This work however, cannot be satis- 

 factorily carried out until the coming year. 



The purely metallurgical specimens have also been classified ; but are 

 still, for the most part, in their boxes, awaiting the api)ointment of a 

 specialist for that department. 



Increase of the Museum. — It has been reported to the board that at 

 the close of the International Exhibition a company was organized in 



