410 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



PRESENT STATE 01 THE COLLECTION. 



Concerning the present state of the collection little can be said that 

 would not be a repetition of what has been given in my previous re- 

 ports. The collection of building and ornamental stones, as now in- 

 stalled, tills thirteen door screen cases, one wall case, two large pyra- 

 mids, and the tops of three table cases. The systematic collections illus- 

 trating the composition of the earth's crust in its least altered form, 

 that is, the collections of rocks and rock-forming minerals, are now, so 

 far as mere number of specimens is concerned, as large as seems ad- 

 visable with our present limited amount of space. They still need, how- 

 ever, more or less sifting out and replacement as new and, for the pur- 

 poses, better material is obtained. In this rock-collection, it should be 

 stated, an attempt is made not merely to show all the kinds of rocks which 

 go to make up any appreciable amount of the earth's crust, but also to a 

 certain extent their geographical distribution. It is deemed of more 

 importance, for instance, to show basalts from America, Europe, and 

 Australia, even though they may closely resemble one another, than to 

 show an equal number of varieties all from one region. These collec- 

 tions now comprise some 2,000 specimens, and are arranged in one pier- 

 case and seven slope- top table-cases on the south side of the exhibition 

 hall. The collections of dynamic and historical geology have both re- 

 ceived important accessions, but, owing to a lack of proper cases as well 

 as necessary materials to fill important gaps in the series, no attempt 

 has been made to arrange them systematically. In the historical series, 

 I may say, it is not the intention to show rocks of any particular region 

 arranged according to their geological sequence, but to show rather that 

 the various processes of rock formation are not as a rule confined to any 

 particular geological epoch, but, though particularly active at certain 

 periods, have been carried on more or less intermittently from the ear- 

 liest times to the most recent. The preparation of such a collection in- 

 volves a great amount of time and care in its selection, even under the 

 most favorable circumstances. 



The figures given below regarding the actual number of specimens 

 are to be regarded as only approximate. As has been mentioned iu 

 previous reports, the practice of bringing in material iu bulk and break- 

 ing or cutting up as occasion demands, renders it impossible to give 

 exact figures, excepting in the cases of the approximately complete ex- 

 hibition series and the monograph collections of the study series. 



Number of specimens in reserve series 23, 500 



Number of specimens iu duplicate series 3,500 



Total 27,000 



The reserve series is distributed as follows : 



On exhibition 7,500 



In drawers for study and comparison 16,000 



