414 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



the Museum by Prof. S. F. Peckham, of Providence, Rhode Island, 

 who also prepared the Tenth Census report upon the same subject, 

 and by the connections formed while making this report, he was enabled 

 to gather many specimens, especially those of historical value, which 

 otherwise it would have been impossible to obtain. The collection con- 

 lains three hundred and fifty specimens, and illustrates very fully the 

 occurrence of crude petroleum in this country, and also contains some 

 representatives of foreign petroleums. A very complete illustration of 

 the technology of the subject, numbering one hundred and fifty-four 

 specimens and donated by Mr. T. G. MoMasters, Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- 

 vania, is included in this collection. 



The illustrations of petroleums have been further enriched by a col- 

 lection ot one hundred and twenty-nine specimens received from Prof. 

 J. J. Stevenson, of New York, in exchange for a collection of ores. 

 While the specimens in this collection are mostly small, it fills several 

 gaps in the Peckham collection and is a valuable addition. 



Among the collections received during the year which are especially 

 valuable, should also be mentioned a complete illustration of the quick- 

 silver industry at New Almaden, California. The collection shows a 

 complete series of the different characters of ores, together with the asso- 

 ciates and rocks of the deposit, a complete illustration of the process of 

 extracting the metal, a very extensive and interesting series of views 

 in and about the mines and works, including a few underground pictures 

 which are especially valuable, a large number of publications relating 

 to the history and development of the mines, and a very interesting 

 and instructive glass model of the mine, showing the contour of the sur- 

 face and the excavations made underground in working the miue. 



A series representing the smelting of pig-iron, by the Shelby Iron 

 Company at Shelby, Alabama. This collection was made upon the gen- 

 eral plau adopted for the collections at the New Orleans Exposition. 



An interesting series of photographs of the Jones and Laughlin Works 

 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, including a view of the Bessemer con- 

 verter, taken at night by the light of its own flame, presented by Gret- 

 ton Bros. 



A series of iron oxides from New Hampshire, which are used for paints, 

 obtained from Prof. C. H. Hitchcock, in exchange. 



A large model of Aspen Mountain, Colorado, prepared for use in a 

 celebrated law-suit to determine the ownership of very valuable mines. 

 It shows the contour and geology of the surface, and, by means of sec- 

 tions, the underground geology and miniug work. 



Three serhs of foreign ores, one from the Australian Museum, one 

 from the Auckland Museum, in New Zealand, and the third, represent- 

 ing the occurrence of manganese ores at Santiago de Cuba, presented 

 by Tirso Boca y Agusli, and forwarded by Consul Otto K. Keimer. 



Two researches have been carried on during the year by the Curator. 

 The first was an examination of the production of remarkably strong 



