EEPORT OF ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL MUSEUM. 95 



Aid from other Museums. — Many important suggestions liavc been re- 

 ceived from tbe management of the South Kensington IMuseum, undoubt- 

 edly the most perfect and artistically arranged museum in the world, 

 the director of which has with great courtesy furnished a complete set 

 of samples of mounting materials and labels and plans of all the exhi- 

 bition cases. 



Similar aid has been furnished by Dr. Giinther, keeper of the zoologi- 

 cal department of the British IMuseum, and by architectural counselor 

 Tiede, v>-\\o has supplied plans of the Zoological Museum at Berlin, of 

 which he is the architect, as well as of other museums in Europe. Ex- 

 periments have been made with the idea of building the exhibition cases 

 of iron, and of finishing the wooden cases in ebony color, but the cases 

 of mahogany, polished in the natural color of the wood with a " rubbed 

 hard-oil finish," seem to be at once the most beautiful and the most con- 

 venient. 



Only a limited number of cases of each pattern have been constructed, 

 and the work has been given to nine different manufacturing firms in 

 Washington, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. The experience which has 

 been gained by the experiments of the past year Avill enable the officers 

 of the Museum to proceed understandingly and rapidly with the work 

 of completing the installation of the new building with cases. There 

 are now on hand in the two buildings about GOO exhibition cases. Many 

 of these will, however, require to be replaced in the future. 



One of the exhibition halls in the old Smithsonian building has been 

 refitted with cases, and has been experimentally decorated from a de- 

 sign gratuitously furnished by W. B. Gray, the work being done by the 

 well-known firm of John Gibson & Co., of Philadelphia, at exceptionally 

 low rates. 



Museum Library. — The increased activity in investigation, as well as 

 the needs of the curators in their work of recording the history of the 

 collections under their charge, has made it necessary to establish a 

 working library in connection with the Museum, it being found impos- 

 sible to depend upon the old method of drawing books from the Con- 

 gressional Library. A small number of works has been reclaimed from 

 the Smithsonian deposit in the Congressional Library, but the Museum 

 Library is, for the most part, made up of a very valuable collection of 

 standard zoological and industrial works and bound pam])hlets, com- 

 posing the private library of Professor Baird, which he has given to the 

 Museum. 



In response to a special circular, many of the museums and scientific 

 societies of Europe and America have contributed sets of their publica- 

 tions. The library now contains 5,450 volumes and 4,750 pamjihlets, 

 bound and unbound, in all a number of 10,200.* 



Books of reference, periodicals, and works of general interest are kept 



* Estimate based on running count. 



