THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



interests of the American Museum of Natural History and the 

 Royal Ethnographical Museum of Berlin. 



Later on, Mr. Marshall H. Saville succeeded in obtaining per- 

 mission from the Mexican Government for the American Museum 

 of Natural History to conduct archaeological researches in Mex- 

 ico. Based on this agreement, a number of expeditions have 

 been undertaken, which again have been largely supported by 

 the Duke of Loubat. Mr. Saville has carried on researches in 

 the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, which have yielded results of 

 considerable scientific interest, and which have added materially 

 to the treasures of the Department. 



Dr. Lumholtz's expedition, before mentioned, has yielded a 

 large amount of archaeological material also from the northwest- 

 em parts of Mexico, so that now the Mexican archaeological col- 

 lections of the Department occupy a prominent place among 

 the museums of our time. 



In 1 89 1 Mr. Henry Villard sent Dr. Adolph Bandelier to 

 South America to make collections and investigations for the 

 American Museum. This work was continued until 1894 at the 

 expense of Mr. Villard, and after that time at the expense of 

 the Museum. The investigations were completed in 1900. These 

 researches of Dr. Bandelier have brought to the Museum a vast 

 amount of valuable material, accompanied by accurate notes 

 made by the collector, whose great knowledge of the early his- 

 tory of America makes him particularly competent to deal with 

 these subjects. 



At the time when Professor Putnam was appointed Curator, 

 the ethnological collections of the Department, and those relat- 

 ing to physical anthropology, were very unevenly developed. 

 While some regions were very well represented, collections from 

 others were very deficient. In 1895 Dr. Franz Boas was ap- 

 pointed Assistant Curator in the Department, to take charge of 

 these collections. A number of expeditions which had been or- 

 ganized previously brought in a considerable amount of ethno- 

 logical material. Dr. Lumholtz sent from northwestern Mexico 

 material of very great value. The culture of the people whom 

 he investigated showed certain resemblances to the ancient culture 



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