28 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916, 



proacliing when there sliould be constructed in the Smithsonian 

 reservation another new building, a Museum of Industrial Arts. 

 The collections are here and in many respects they surpass similar 

 collections in Europe or elsewhere. The splendid new building in 

 which the natural history collections are now so adequately housed 

 has offered opportunity for the development of that department 

 beyond the highest expectations. Like progress could be made with a 

 Museum of Industrial Arts. European countries have such struc- 

 tures, one is needed here in Washington. It is an economic question. 

 Commercial museums have their place for developing trade and 

 commerce, and are of much value for such purpose, but the develop- 

 ment of the artistic taste of the public through an educational 

 Museum of Industrial Arts is of even greater importance. It would 

 stimulate inventive skill and advance every art and every industry. 

 The exhibits illustrating textile industry and mineral technology in 

 particular are verj^ complete, consisting of specimens of raw mate- 

 rials, machinery used in manufacture, and the finished products. 



To the National Gallery of Art there has been added a collection 

 of 82 drawings in pencil, pen, etc., by contemporary French artists, 

 a gift from citizens of France to the people of the United States; 

 also an oil painting of Abraham Lincoln, by Story, the gift of Mrs. 

 E. H. Harriman. The paintings in the National Gallery collection 

 are of much popular interest and of great artistic and intrinsic value, 

 but they are crowded in temporary quarters in a building designed 

 for purposes other than a gallery of art. 



During the last year Mr. Freer made 535 additions to his collection, 

 including 23 paintings and sculptures by American artists, and over 

 500 oriental objects consisting of paintings, pottery, bronzes, and 

 jades. The entire collection now aggregates about 5,346 items. 



The auditorium in the new building has been the meeting place of 

 a number of scientific bodies and of international congresses ; and in 

 the foyer opportunity was offered for several special exhibitions. 



In cooperating with schools and colleges there v.ere distributed 

 some 7,000 duplicate specimens of minerals, fossils, mollusks, and 

 other objects, classified and labeled for teaching purposes. 



The number of visitors to the new building averaged 1,012 on week 

 days and 1,240 on Sundays. 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. 



The Bureau of American Ethnology is under the direct charge of 

 Mr. F. W. Hodge, whose detailed report is appended hereto. The 

 operations of the bureau include field work and special researches 

 pertaining to the American Indians and the natives of Hawaii. 



With the cooperation of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye 

 Foundation, the Nacoochee mound in Georgia was excavated and 



