REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. -9 



properly base their judgment as to the nature and degree of the civili- 

 zation of the i)eox)le. 



Washington may without question be made the seat of one of the 

 greatest museums in the world. It may perhaps be neither practicable 

 nor desirable to gather together in this city extensive collections of 

 ancient medncval art, but a representative series of such objects will 

 undoubtedly grow up which will tend to educate the public taste, 

 promote the study of the elements of art and the history of civiliza- 

 tion, and forward the arts of design. This having been accomplished, 

 attention should be directed mainly toward the exhibition of the geol- 

 ogy and natural history of America and its natural resources, to the 

 preservation of memorials of its aboriginal inhabitants, and the encour- 

 agement of the arts and industries of our own people. 



It is evident that the National Museum of the United States will of 

 necessity have features i)eculiar to itself, developed in response to the 

 peculiar needs of the people of this continent. It shoidd be remem- 

 bered that the national collections of every principal European nation 

 are divided into several groups, each under separate administration, 

 though often within the general control of some central authority. In 

 France, for instance, most of the nuiseums are under the Ministry of 

 Public Instruction, and in England, to a less extent, under the Depart- 

 ment of Science and Art. 



In the great capitals of Europe the public collections are scattered 

 through various parts of the same city, in museums with distinctive 

 names and indei)endent in their organizations. Much of the work 

 which should properly be done by such museums is omitted, because 

 no one of them has seen fit to undertake it; while, on the other hand, 

 much labor is duplicated, which is perhaps equally unfortunate — col- 

 lections of similar scope and purpose being maintained in different 

 parts of the same city. One of the chief objections to such division 

 of effort is that much of the value of large collections in any depart- 

 ment is lost by failure to concentrate them where they may be studied 

 and compared side by side. In Washington, the national collections 

 are all, without exception, concentrated in one group of buildings. 

 The Army Medical Museum now occupies a building side by side with 

 those under the control of the Smithsonian Institution, and this prox- 

 imity, in connection with the long established policy of cooperation 

 between the two organizations, renders them, for all i^ractical purposes, 

 united in interest. 



Although the appropriations from the public treasury for the main- 

 tenance of the National Museum are small, compared with those in 

 several European countries, the value of objects given by private indi- 

 viduals is proportionately large. The actual value of such contribu- 

 tions for ten years past has not, it is estimated, fallen short of $20,000 

 a year, and in some years it has been greater. 



