18 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1918. 



tiles and finished products, are most instructive, likewise the collec- 

 tion of materia medica, which has been largely increased. 



The division of mineral technology during the year has published 

 a number of unusually important pamphlets on the resources of the 

 United States, power, petroleum, nitrogen, and coal. Some interest- 

 ing objects added to the exhibits in the division include models show- 

 ing the occurrence and recovery of gold and the manufacture of lead 

 and exhibits of coal-tar products. 



The construction of the building for the Freer collection has pro- 

 gressed as rapidly as could be expected under present war conditions. 

 The exterior walls have been erected to entablature height. Nine 

 hundred and twenty-eight items have been added to the Freer col- 

 lection, including 159 oriental objects. The National Gallery of Art 

 received a bequest comprising 12 paintings, a number of miniatures 

 and other objects, 140 items in all, from the estate of Mrs. Mary 

 Houston Eddy, to be known as the A. E. and M. H. Eddy donation. 

 It has also received from the Russian artist, Ossip Perelma, a portrait 

 by himself of M. Boris Bahkmeteff, first ambassador of the Russian 

 Republic to the United States. 



The number of visitors to the Natural History building during the 

 year 1917 aggregated 306,003 on week days and 95,079 on Sundays, 

 and to the Arts and Industries building the number was 161,298. The 

 number of visitors to the old Museum building since it was opened 

 to the public in 1881 has been 8,000,000; to the new building since 

 1909, 2,643,654; and to the Smithsonian building since 1881, 4,734,492. 

 Many meetings of various scientific societies were held in the Museum 

 auditorium during the year. Special exhibits have also been shown, 

 among the most interesting of which were the collection illustrating 

 the united organizations of the United States Food Administration 

 and the exhibit of etchings of war industries by Pennell. 



Following the custom of many years there was a distribution of some 

 8,000 duplicate specimens to schools and colleges for educational pur- 

 poses, all properly classified and labeled. These included sets of mol- 

 lusks, ores, minerals, and objects of ethnology and archeology. 



The Museum publications of the year comprised 6 volumes and 

 40 separate papers, including the annual report for 1916, volume 51 

 of the Proceedings, and 5 bulletins. Bulletin 102, on the mineral 

 industries of the United States, is of particular interest to the public, 

 the four parts so far issued being devoted to coal products, fertilizers, 

 sulphur, and coal. 



Additions to the Museum library amounted to 3,230 volumes and 

 1,571 pamphlets, making the present aggregate of 52,534 volumes and 

 84,491 pamphlets and unbound papers. To the Biltmore collection 

 of botanical works, presented by Mrs. George W. Vanderbilt, 2,000 

 volumes were added. 



