REPORT OF ASSISTANT DIRECTOR. 51 



plaster casts of the important food-fishes of the country, including both 

 fresh and salt water species. The collection of textile fabrics was very- 

 complete, inchulinj;: samples of many of both American and foreign 

 fabrics, from the cheapest to the most expensive. Two alcoves, which 

 attracted considerable attention, were devoted to photolithographs of 

 Japanese pottery, and a large collection of photographs showing the 

 arts of the early Saxons. 



As at Louisville, the collections were placed in charge of an attendant 

 who looked after the interests of tbe department during the continuan(;e 

 of the exi)ositi()n, and at its close the exhibits were packed and the 

 bulk of them shipped to Kew Orleans, to be installed with other exhibits 

 at the exposition in that city. 



THE EXHIBIT AT NEW ORLEANS. 



The preparations for the exhibit at New Orleans have been very exten- 

 sive. Curators from the various dei)artments of the Museum have been 

 charged with the collection of material to illustrate their several depart- 

 ments at the exposition, and assistants have been employed in arrang- 

 ing and mounting the collections, which, as a rule, have been provided 

 with printed or written descriptive labels. 



The building for the display of the Government and State exhibits 

 at New Orleans is 885 feet long and 5G5 feet wide. A strip 185 feet 

 wide, extending entirely across the center of the building has been 

 assigned to the Government departments, the Smithsonian Institution 

 occupying an area of over twenty thousand square feet at the left of 

 the i)rincipal entrance of the building. 



The exhibit includes an archaeological collection of considerable size 5 

 a large and valuable ethnological collection, confined chiefly to the 

 Indians and Eskimo of North America; a collection of models showing 

 the development of American shipbuilding; a collection of American 

 and foreign textiles, and a large and valuable collection of autotypes 

 representing the principal artists of the world. Adjoining the last is 

 a collection of all of the important food-fishes of the country in plaster, 

 a collection illustrative of the recent methods of fish culture and the 

 more important forms of fish-ladders, together with tabulated state- 

 ments of the nutritive values of fish and other aquatic animals. Next 

 comes an extensive collection of animal products, showing the various 

 methods of utilizing the hair, fur, feathers, scales, leather, flesh, bones, 

 intestines, and excrements of various animals. Adjoining this, and serv- 

 ing as a connection between it and the natural history specimens, is a 

 collection illustrating the various devices used in the capture of animals. 

 The natural history collection includes specimens of the principal mam- 

 mals, birds, and shells, the lafter being arranged according to their 

 geographical location, the molluscan life of the Atlantic coast, the Miss- 



