52 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



the Hip})ors stiotdH-d out behind its in the hair seals, is not itself untrue to nature, 

 but is only assunu'd by them wheu in repose or asleep, Avhile with the hair seal it is 

 constant. 



It has been questioned whether it would be wise to mount a young Pacitic walrus 

 in the same attitude as that of the old male under discussion, but Capt. Herendeen 

 states, from his experience, that all walruses, young and old, assume these positions 

 when in action. 



1JEPKESEN1ATION8 OF THE HUMAN FICtURE. 



For tifceeii years the Museum has been eoustructiiig models of the 

 human figure for use in the exhibition series, and has been striving- by 

 various means to secure the best results in this direction. 



These figures are required for three purposes: (1) To show the char- 

 acteristics of the different races, (2) to display costumes, and (3) to 

 illustrate the methods of use of weapons, instruments, and processes 

 of various arts and handicrafts. 



For the first purpose it is manifest that the greatest accuracy and 

 fidelity to nature is necessary, or the result will be useless. For the 

 others the same degree of accuracy is, ])erhaps, not essential, if tbe labels 

 clearly indicate that the faces are not portraits, but so far as possible the 

 figures intended chiefly to show costume and action should attain the 

 highest possible anatomical perfection. 



The use of well-constructed figures in scientific museums is of quite 

 recent origin, though manikins of conventional type have long been 

 employed in collections of costumes and armor; and many very credit- 

 able efforts in this direction have been made in connection with expo-. 

 sitions. 



Before beginning our experiments we were familiar with the altogether 

 admirable gallery of historical figures in Castan's " Panopticum" in 

 Berlin, and with those of Madam Tussaud in London, not so very 

 good in execution, but nevertheless of high interest to the masses. We 

 knew the representation of races of mankind at Sydenham and the 

 Swedish peasant figures which had been so popular at the Philadelphia 

 Centennial. We have since become familiar with the separate groups 

 showing the history of primitive man, made for the Paris Exposition in 

 1888-'89, and the figures of race types in tbe Trocadero Museum in 

 Paris. Indeed, we owe .to the courtesy of Dr. Hamy the privilege of 

 having had made copies of several of the-latter, one of which is here 

 illustrated (PI. 41), and at the same time obtaining a replica of the 

 Eomali warrior in armor, modeled for the Museum of Artillery in 

 Paris, by the sculptor Bartholdi. 



It is scarcely worth while to mention the ghastly wax figures of 

 Kane, the arctic explorer, and his comi)anions, in costumes of fur, 

 which were display ed in the old Smithsonian Museum as early as 1870. 

 These, and the equally crude manikins of Eskimo Joe and his wife 

 Hannah, made in 1873, have long since been discarded and have no 

 place in the history of recent efforts. 



