432 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



Professor C. V. Hartman returned in the latter part of Novem- 

 ber from Costa Rica. His labors have resulted in the acquisition by 

 the Museum of what is undoubtedly the largest collection of Costa 

 Rican antiquities in the world outside of San Jose, the capital of that 

 country. He purchased the collection of Padre Velasco, as has 

 already been stated in these Annals, and which is temporarily on 

 deposit in the Museum of the University in Philadelphia. He 

 secured from the same source a second collection scarcely inferior in 

 quality to the first, and was enabled to purchase the magnificent 

 Troyo collection. As the result of excavations and explorations con- 

 ducted by himself personally he was able to add a vast amount of 

 material to that contained in the great collections which he secured 

 by purchase. Over eighty large crates and boxes containing speci- 

 mens have been received at the Museum through him, and when the 

 collections are at last finally arranged and placed on exhibition the 

 Carnegie Museum will be able to point with pride to the result of the 

 work done during the summer and fall of 1903 in Costa Rica. 



The Museum has added very greatly to its collection of ethno- 

 logical material representing the Indians of the plains. During the 

 last few months fine collections gathered together under the super- 

 vision of Mr. George A. Dorsey of the Field Columbian Museum have 

 been acquired. Objects representing the life of the Indians of the 

 plains are rapidly disappearing and it is important that while such 

 collections can be secured they be obtained and placed in the per- 

 manent custody of our larger museums. The most notable of the 

 collections secured by the Carnegie Museum is a collection illustrating 

 the manners and customs of the Crows. 



The Prize Essay Contest has just been brought to a close as this 

 part of the Annals goes to press. Nine hundred and thirty-eight 

 pupils from the schools of Pittsburg and Allegheny entered the com- 

 petition, a larger number than in any former year. 



The expeditions sent to the West to prosecute paleontological re- 

 searches have all returned and the results have been gratifying both in 

 the quantity and the quality of the material obtained. The collec- 

 tions, which required two box cars to transport them to the Museum, 

 were made in Montana, Wyoming and Kansas. 



