96 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1884. 



except when there is little or uo wind. Therefore, in localities where 

 the currents are uncertain as to their course and variable in strength, 

 where the winds are liable to change suddenly, and where fogs are so 

 dense and so long continued, it is not surprising that many fishermen 

 go astray in their boats and are exposed to untold suffering, perhaps 

 death, owing to the fact that they are unable to hear the fog-signals 

 made on board of the schooner they have left, and which they vainly 

 strive to find. The local papers in the fishing towns frequently record 

 the loss of men in this manner, and the escape of others from death, 

 simi)ly by a hair's breadth, after enduring the most unheard-of sufiVring 

 from exposure, hunger, and thirst. Various devices have been resorted 

 to to remedy this evil, such as, for instance, carrying cannon to fire in 

 foggy weather; but heretofore these means have failed to prevent the 

 frequent recurrence of disaster. The chief objection to cannon is, that 

 their discharge involves a certain amount of danger as well as expense; 

 therefore, they are not usually fired until it is deemed absolutely neces- 

 sary — that is, often not unless it is thought a dory has gone astray, and 

 then it is frequently ineffective, because the lost men have got too fur 

 from the vessel to hear the sound. The sound of the cannon, moreover, 

 is so short that its direction, even if the report is heard, is very difli- 

 cult to determine. What, therefore, is needed is an implement that 

 can give out a^uearly continuous heavy blast, or a succession of short, 

 heavy blasts, powerful enough to be heard at a considerable distance, 

 and repeated at such intervals that no difflculty may be experienced in 

 determining its location ; (6) a very large collection of boat and vessel 

 fittings, sail-maker's tools and apparatus, has been given to the Mu- 

 seum by Messrs. Wilcox, Crittenden & Co., Middletown, Conn. This, 

 combined with donations previously received from the same house, 

 makes up an extremely interesting and comprehensive collection of 

 boat fittings, sail-maker's gear, material for building boats, &c., proba- 

 bly the most complete and valuable collection of its kird that is pos- 

 sessed by any museum in the world. 



WORK IN ARRANGING AND CLASSIFYING THE COLLECTION. 



There has not been, as yet, any proper arrangement or systematic 

 classification of the material in this department. The large case and 

 screen, which were essential for the proper display of the models, were 

 not completed until the spring of 1883 was well advance*!, and, in can- 

 sequence of my time being employed very much with other matters, all 

 that it has been possible to do was to make a tentative installment of 

 the various objects in the collection which it was the most imperative 

 should be placed where they might be protected from injury. It has, 

 however, been found necessary to put into temporary storage nearly all 

 of the collection of vessel and boat fittings. 



A large portion of the full-size specimens and models of vessels 

 and boats in the collection was either exhibited by the Museum ?it tbtJ 



