86 EEPORT OF THE ACTING SECRETAEY. 



the superior quality of the materials and workmanship which enter 

 into its construction. 



The rapid growth of the national collections is only what was to be 

 expected in a country so extensive and of such exceeding wealth of 

 resources in its natural products, in its aborigines, and in the activi- 

 ties of its civilization. The illustration of all of these fields was 

 contemplated in the original plan of organization, and contributions 

 relating to them all have been pouring in for more than fifty years. 



The Museum has never had an adequate amount of space at any 

 period in its history, not even when it began to occupy its present 

 brick building, since collections of sufficient extent to fill it were 

 already on hand. The accumulation of material has gone on still 

 more rapidly in recent years, taxing to the utmost the energies of the 

 small staff to insure its preservation. The public halls are conse- 

 quently more utilized for storage than for exhibition, and visitors 

 find it difficult to circulate among the cases. The laboratories offer 

 scant space for the examination of specimens, and several rented 

 buildings are completely filled with collections of great value. 



The acquisitions of the past year have amounted to over a quarter 

 of a million specimens, pertaining to practically all of the subjects 

 comprised in the museum classification. They were derived from a 

 great variety of sources and largely by transfer from the Govern- 

 ment surveys. The number of private donations and exchanges was 

 very large, and one of the former was of unusual extent and value. 

 It consisted of a collection of 75,000 specimens of Lepidoptera from 

 North and South America, including many types and rare species, 

 assembled by Mr. William Schaus and by him generously prefrented 

 to the National Museum. 



In connection with the work of classifying the collections the 

 assistants and collaborators have made many important contribu- 

 tions to science, and the several publications of the year in which 

 these were printed are fully up to the standard so long maintained. 

 From the duplicates recently separated from the reserve collections 

 nearly 20,000 specimens, made up into about 260 sets, were distributed 

 to schools and colleges in the interest of education. 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. 



The field investigations by the Bureau of American Ethnology 

 related to the Indians of Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Indian 

 Territor3% Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Florida, but were not as 

 extensive as usual because of the amount of work required to be done 

 at the office in Washington, The preparation of manuscript and 

 reading of proofs for the Handbook of the Indians occupied the 

 attention of most of the members of the staff and of several experts 



