REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 119 



bureaus of the Government, to act as honorary curatoi-s of collections 

 in thelSTational Museum. 



A brief resume of the special manner in which each department has 

 contributed to the welfare of the i^ational Museum, is here presented. 



DEPARTMENT <)F STATE. 



The ministers, consuls, and other officers of the I)e[)artment have 

 always shown a great willingness to farther the interests of the National 

 Museum in foreign countries. Through the courtesy of the Depart- 

 ment letters of introduction to them have been furnished from time to 

 time, at the requesc of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and they have frequently been requested by the Secretary of State to 

 aid persons collecting for the Museum. The Department has also 

 kindly indorsed and forwarded letters from the Institution to its minis- 

 ters and other officers, asking their cooperation in securing special 

 desiderata to till important gaps in the Museum collections. 



Valuable assistance has also been rendered by the State Department 

 in obtaining special facilities in connection with the exportation from 

 foreign countries of material intended for the Museum. Among the 

 most important accessions acfjuired through the cooperation of the 

 Department and its officers may be mentioned the following: Speci- 

 mens of native handiwork from Western Africa, sent by Mr. Smyth, 

 the United States minister at Liberia; a collectiou of samples of wool 

 from the Technological Museum at Sydney, New South Wales, through 

 Hon. G. W. Griffin, United States consul at Sydney; a collection of 

 antique copper, silver, and gold coins from Ceylon, Europe, the United 

 States, and South America, from Hon. Willia'ii T. Rice, United States 

 consul at Horgen, Switzerland ; a canoe similar to those in use by the na- 

 tives of Hawaii, presented by the (Jueen of Hawaii; specimensof iron ore 

 coal, and coke from Rio Grande de Sul; a collection of woolen, worsted, 

 silk, and cotton fabrics, gathered by Hon. W. F. Grinnell, United 

 States consul at Bradford, England: spe(;imens of sisal, through 

 Hon. Thomas J. McLain, United States consul at Nassau, West 

 Indies, and a piece of rope made of human hair and used in hoisting 

 building material in the construction of a Buddhist temple at Kyoto, 

 Japan, transmitted by Hon. John T. Swift, United States consul at 

 Tokio, Japan. 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 



The Treasury Department has extended its friendly offices in con- 

 nection with the free entry of material from abroad, and has greatly 

 aided the work of Museum investigators by allowing the free entry of 

 scientitic outttts. Through the courtesy of the Department a valuable 

 collection of diamonds, pearls, and gold ornaments, which was presented 

 in 1840 to the United States Government by the Imaum of Muscat, and 



