REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 9 



their utmost capacity, making it difficult to gain access t<> the speci- 

 mens or to provide adequately for their safety. For many years most 

 of the objects received have had to be stored in outside and unsafe 

 Structures where they are mainly piled up in the original packing 



boxes, and where has already accumulated enough material of great 

 intrinsic and scientific value t<> till an additional building as large as 

 that now occupied by the main collections. 



AS A MUSEUM OF RESEARCH. 



In order to permit of their examination and study, as provided in 

 the act of establishment, the collections of the Museum are. to the 

 extent of its accommodations, arranged systematically and in a manner 

 convenient for reference. Access t<> the reserve or study series, so 

 called, consisting of the main body of the collections and a- complete 

 in all the groups as the accessions have made possible, is given to all 

 properly qualified persons engaged in original research. The oppor- 

 tunities thus afforded are widely availed of. the Museum being visited 

 every year by many investigators, some of world-wide distinction, 

 coming from the scientific centers of European and other foreign 

 countries a- well as from all parts of the United States. Material is 

 also occasionally sent out to representatives of other institutions 

 having the means of providing for its safekeeping, when required in 

 the working up of special subjects, or for comparison in connection 

 with their own collections. 



The custodianship of the collections being the first and most 

 imperative duty devolving upon the scientific staff of the National 

 Museum, its members find comparatively little time during office hours 

 for advancing knowledge, though they are mostly well qualified for 

 such work, being selected with special reference to their ability to 

 identify and classify the specimens under their charge in accordance 

 with the latest researches. A> a matter of fact, however, the staff 

 does produce every year a large number of papers descriptive of the 

 collections, which together constitute an important contribution to 

 scientific literature. 



Among the honorary officers having their laboratories at tin 1 Museum 

 are a number of assistants employed by other scientific bureaus to con- 

 duct investigations on material kept here in their charge, and in whose 

 results the Museum shares. 



Many collections have, from time to time, been transferred by the 

 Geological Survey, the Fish Commission, the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, and other branches of the Government to the custody of the 

 Museum in advance of their final working up. in order to provide for 

 their safe storage and to secure the better facilities for study here 

 afforded. Under tin- arrangement the amount of research work car- 

 ried on in the Museum building has been greatly increased. 



Though having little means to expend for field work, members of 



