178 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



orders, historical series of stamping tools, mail-bags, letter-boxes, locks, 

 and other articles. There was also an exhibit showing the work of the 

 Dead-Letter Office, and, in addition, full statistics of the work of the 

 Post-Office Department in its various branches. A very interesting 

 addition to the exhibit was a machine for the manufacture of stamped 

 envelopes, forwarded and operated by the owners. This machine au- 

 tomatically gummed, stamped, folded, counted, and bunched envelopes 

 at the rate of about 4,500 per hour. 



Department of Justice. — The exhibits of this Department occupied 

 about 750 square feet of floor space to the right of the Department of 

 State in the south annex. They were under the direction of Col. Cecil 

 Clay, representative, who prepared several series of pictures to illus- 

 trate the work of the Department. One of the features of the exhibit 

 was a collection of large portraits in oil of all the Attorneys- General 

 from the establishment of the Government. Another series of pictures 

 showed the principal court buildings, with a list of the court officers in 

 each judicial district, statistics of the work of the United States courts 

 from 1883 to 1887, inclusive, and statistics of the legal business of the 

 United States Supreme Court and the Court of Claims. A full set of 

 the publications of the Department was also exhibited. 



The United States Fish Commission. — A very popular and instructive 

 display was made by this Department under the direction of Capt. J. 

 W. Collins and Dr. T. H. Bean. It occupied a space of about 3,000 

 square feet at the extreme end of the north annex. The exhibit con- 

 sisted of collections illustrating the methods employed by the Commis- 

 sion in its scientific investigations, in its fish-cultural work, and in its 

 study of the commercial fisheries. One of the most attractive features 

 was a series of aquaria containing live fishes and other aquatic animals 

 and plants. Among the fishes were many of the economic species of 

 the Ohio River basin and a number of interesting forms from other 

 parts of the country. The Division of Scientific Inquiry was repre- 

 sented by photographs of its zoological stations, models of its vessels 

 for exploration, and by samples of its apparatus for biological and phys- 

 ical research, such as nets, dredges, sounding apparatus, thermometers, 

 etc. It also exhibited a large series of marine animals from various 

 localities and different depths. The Division of Fish-culture showed, 

 by means of models, the method adopted by the Commission in taking 

 the eggs from the parent fish for purposes of artificial propagation, and 

 by apparatus supplied with live eggs of different species the methods 

 employed in hatching them and in rearing the fry. This exhibit was 

 supplemented by a complete fish-cultural outfit, including apparatus 

 for collecting and transporting the eggs, hatching-troughs, boxes and 

 jars suitable for developing eggs of the various species, models of cars 

 and samples of tanks, cans, and pails used in the transportation of fry, 

 rearing and feeding troughs, samples of fish-food, and models and pho- 



