36 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Philadelphia for the purjiose of continuing the display for an indefiuite 

 period. The great main building, covering 18 acres, was purchased 

 at a very low price, and from among the Original* exhibits many were 

 either purchased by the company or presented, or deposited by the pro- 

 prietors. Numerous additions were also made, in certain specified di- 

 rections, the object being to have a display of industries, for commer- 

 cial purposes, and also for the general education and instruction of the 

 community. 



The anticii^ations of the projectors of this exhibition were not realized, 

 the distance of the building from the city and the length of time nec- 

 essary to visit it, and the satiety of the i)ublic in regard to such dis- 

 plays caused the number of visitors to fall far below what was necessary 

 to meet the exj)enses, and after struggling vainly against the inevitable, 

 the exhibition was given up and the building sold. The owners of 

 jjroperty therein were notified to remove it at the earliest possible mo- 

 ment. 



As there was much in this exhibition that fell entirely within the 

 plan of the industrial department of the National Museum, Mr. Thomas 

 Donaldson was requested to act as an agent for soliciting contributions, 

 which he did with such success that, by far the greater part of what 

 was really valuable and important, was obtained by him as a free gift 

 from the proprietors. Several months were spent, with a proper cori)s 

 of assistants, in taking down and packing the exhibits for transporta- 

 tion, and the entire mass is now stored in a temporary warehouse, await- 

 ing *Rn appropriation by Congress for transfer and installation. 



A detailed list of these donations will be appended to this report. 

 Their money value is estimated at not less than $150,000. In addition 

 to the collections actually obtained, many others are promised, and are 

 now, for the most part, in process of preparation. 



Medicinal Collections. — As indicated in previous reports, a full collec- 

 tion of the materia medica of the world has been projected as one of 

 the exhibits of the National Museum. In addition to the large amount 

 of material of this character obtained at the International Exhibition 

 of 1876, the Institution received the promise of aid by Messrs Schief- 

 feliu & Co., of New York, a very prominent firm, connected with the 

 •drug trade. The firm sent a representative to the International Phar- 

 maceutical Convention, held in London during the past summer, with 

 special reference to obtaining certain obscure and unusual substances 

 that could not otherwise be secured. Many hundreds of varieties of 

 great rarity resulted from this mission. As especially related to the 

 medical department of the Navy, Surgeon-General Wales detailed Dr. 

 J. M. Flint, assistant surgeon, U. S. N., to take charge of this division 

 of the Museum, and he is now engaged in cataloguing and labeling the 

 specimens as they are received. 



In order to obtain the necessary information on this subject, the 



