REPORT OF ASSISTANT DTRKCTOR. 15 



weapons togctlier, &c., and arranged in such a manner as to show (lio 

 l>rofiros8 of each idea from the most ]>riniitive typo. In disenidinj;- tlie 

 ethnographic- method of arrangement, however, special care has been 

 taken not to sacrifice the possibility of bringing together the objects 

 lielonging to any particular locality or race, if this shall at any time 

 be required for purposes of study. 



In our method of installation, objects are mounted in glass-covered 

 trays or deep frames, 24 by 30 inches in dimension, which are arranged 

 lor study or exhibition In cases of various forma. The articles belong- 

 ing to two different tribes are never mounted together in the same tray; 

 and if at any time it should be found desirable to bring together the 

 collections from any given race, for instance, from the Eskimos, the 

 Siamese, or the Japanese, this might be accomplished in a few hours ; 

 in fact, when once the present system of mounting has been completed, 

 the rearrangement of the Museum upon the ordinary ethnographic plan 

 would be the work of only a few hours, and may be effected by a small 

 force of mechanics and laborers under the direction of a single curator. 



It is no part of the plan, nor has it ever been, to separate articles 

 which belong together. The parts of any collection or group of objects 

 which may justly be considered a unit of administration are always kept 

 together ; for instance, if a costume is complete it is not intended to 

 dissect it and distribute its parts. The separate elements of a costume 

 arc only placed by themselves when they have no related objects asso- 

 ciated with them. In the same way a costume of a family, whether com- 

 posed of two or ten individual suits, might with propriety be regarded 

 as a unit. Collections illustrating the history of a special tribe in a 

 monographic way may also with propriety be kept together. Such a 

 collection would, however, not be assigned to the department of art and 

 industry, where the preferred method of arrangement is evolutionary 

 or progressive, but would rather be made over to the department of 

 ethnology. 



The studies of the collections already made by Professor Mason, the 

 new curator of Ethnology, reveal the fact that there is really no con- 

 llict between a systematic scheme classification and a geographical one, 

 because, in those series of objects which have already been arranged, 

 the one scheme has always proved to l)e explanatory of the other. 

 They are mutually beneficial; indeed, it is imj)Ossible to understand the 

 one without studying the other. 



B.— THE MUSEUM STAFF. 



The staff of the Museum as now organized consists of two classes of 

 workers — the scientific oflicers, and the administrative officers ; the 

 former reporting to the Director of the Museum, the latter to tlie As 

 sistant Director, who also has general supervision of the administra- 

 tive work of the curators. 



