REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 73 



The Hon. ^^■ilIi;lIll \\'o()<l\ ille Kockhill, Third Assistant Secretary of 

 State, broug'lit with him ironi Tibet, as the result of his exph)rati(»iis 

 under the ausi)ieesof the Suiithsoniau Institution, a most valuable col- 

 lection of ethnological objects, which were acquired by the Museum, 

 and a special catalogue of which is published in this volume. 



Mr. I*. L. Jouy. of the National IMuseum. was sent to ^lexico to make 

 special natural history collections. 



Among the exi)lorers within the limits of the United States. Dr. Edgar 

 A. Mearns, U. S. Army, who is attached to the ^Mexican Boundary 

 Commission, deserves special mention. Dr. Mearns has been fur- 

 nished with every appliance for natural history work in the field, and 

 at the request of the ]\Iuseum has received special facilities for scientific 

 work, and the material sent in by him, as shown in the list of accessions 

 and the curators' reports, is of great value to science. 



Prof George P. Merrill, Mr. Barton A. Bean, and Mr. William Palmer, 

 of the Museum staff, have also made collections in the tield. 



No allusion is made at this time to the important collections obtained 

 especially for the exhibit of the Bureau of P^thnology and the Museum 

 at the World's Fair. These will be referred to in the report of next 

 year. 



Offers to collect specimens are frequently received from persons con- 

 templating a visit to some remote portion of the United States or to 

 foreign countries. In the event that the locality is one from wliich 

 material is desired, the National Museum has always been glad to sup- 

 ply collecting outfits, consisting of ammunition, traps, tanks, alcohol, etc. 

 In this way a considerable amount of valuable material has been added 

 to the collections, and the thanks of the Museum are due to its many 

 friends who have thus exerted themselves in its behalf. 



During the past year collecting outfits and materials of various kinds 

 have been sent to the following persons: ]\Ir. Harlan I. Smith, Madison- 

 ville, Hamilton County, Ohio; Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, U. S. Army, Inter- 

 national Boundary Commisson, Bisbee, Ariz.; Mr. R. M. Bartleman, 

 U. S. legation, Caracas, Venezuela; Mr. C. W, Richmond, Greytown, 

 Nicaragua; Mr. J. H. Camp, Leopoldville, Congo District, Africa; ]Mr. 

 Henry D. Woolfe, Valparaiso, Chile; Mrs. F. E. B. Latham, Micco, Bre- 

 vard County, Fla.; Mr. Afark B. Kerr, Tumaco, Colombia: Dr. Einar 

 Lonnberg, Orlando, Fla.; Prof S. E. ]\Ieek, Fayetteville, Ark.: Mr. 

 Frank X. Holzner, Nogales, Sonora; Mr. H. C. (Janter, Mammoth Cave, 

 Kentucky; Dr. E. P. Bigelow, Kingston, Jamaica; and Dr. Leonhard 

 Stejneger, of the National Museum. 



DEVELOPMENT AND AURANOEMENT OE THE EXIIIUnK )N SERIES. 



The overcrowded condition of rlie exliibition lialls. which has been 

 referred to in the annual reports for the past few years, "continues to 

 exist, and although it has been impossible to undertake any radical 

 improvements looking toward the extension and rearrangement of the 

 collections on exhibition, manv minor alterati<»ns have been made. 



