REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 35 



complete, but even in its present shape it justifies the ambition of its 

 originator, as testified by its countless number of little visitors. 



All of the exhibition halls in geology are open to the public, and, 

 except in the sections of paleobotany and vertebrate paleontology, the 

 collections are well arranged and to ;t large extent quite fully labeled. 

 With the receipt of new material many changes in and additions to 

 these exhibits will naturally be made from time to time. The sections 

 in arrears are those which have been most recently established and in 

 which, moreover, much preparatory work is necessary. 



The cases in the west south range, containing the volcanic, geyser, 

 hot spring, and rock- weathering series, have been repainted and the 

 exhibits rearranged. About two-thirds of the building stone collection 

 in the southwest court has been thoroughly overhauled and cleaned. 



Owing to the employment of the preparatory in connection with the 

 Pan-American Exposition little progress was made toward increasing 

 the exhibition of vertebrate fossils, though the skeleton of aPlesiosaur 

 and a large and fine skeleton of a Triceratops, received with the Marsh 

 collection, were installed. It is proposed to work out and mount, as 

 rapidly as possible, other specimens from this interesting series of large 

 extinct vertebrates. Of invertebrate fossils specimens to the number 

 of over 3,000 were added to the display series. 



Work is in progress on a geological section across the United States 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, which is to be made a feature 

 of one of the exhibition halls. It is being drawn on a horizontal scale 

 of '2 miles and a vertical scale of 4,000 feet to the inch. 



As practically all the available exhibition space assigned to the 

 Department is now occupied, further development under existing con- 

 ditions must be mainly along the lines already laid down. The section 

 of practical geology could be strengthened by building up certain 

 special exhibits showing the occurrence and association of the ores of 

 some of the more interesting mining regions, and in the event of the 

 construction of a new building with sufficient space provided for the 

 purpose this section can readily be expanded into a thoroughly com- 

 prehensive department of practical geology, for which there has long 

 been an urgent demand. 



The growth of the meteorite collection will make it necessary to rele- 

 gate many specimens to the drawer series in order t<> accommodate 

 some of the more important recent acquisitions and give a more attrac- 

 tive setting to the exhibit as a whole. 



VISITORS. 



The number of visitors to the Museum building during the year 

 was 216,556, and to the Smithsonian building 151,563. The attend- 



