REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 123 



iijiiuely, to iliscoutiuue research in any .subject w liidi is covered !»>• the 

 operations of any other branch of the service. 



An arrangement has for several years been carried out with the 

 Surgeon-General of the Army, by wliich the Smithsonian Institution 

 transfers all its human crania to tln^ Army Medical Museum, and re- 

 ceives in exchange skeletons and skulls of North American vertebrates. 

 An agreement was also entered into between the National Museum and 

 the Army Medical Museum, by which the latter undertakes to make 

 post-mortem examinations of animals in the flesh received by the 

 Smithsonian Institution, with the uiulerstanding that the Army Medi- 

 cal Museum retains the viscera of such animals, and returns the skele- 

 tons, unless otherwise specified, to the National Museum. 



In 1888 several interesting objects were turned over to the Museum 

 by the War Department, (len. S. Y. Benet transmitted from the Ord- 

 nance Museum a plaster model of the equestrian statue of Gen. 

 McPherson; a section of an oak tree cut down by musket balls near 

 Spottsylvania court-house, Va., and presented to the War Depart- 

 ment by Gen. N, A. Miles, U. S. Army; and a Mexican saddle and 

 bridle, manufactured in Mexico for Gen. Trevino, connnanding the 

 northern line of Mexico, and presented by him to Gen. E. (). C. Grd, U. 

 S. Army. 



Valiuible services have been rendered by C^apt. Charles E. Bendire 

 and Dr. Henry C. Yarrow, of the Army, as honorary members of the 

 Museum staff. 



NAVY DEPARTMENT. 



In 1881 the Navy Department expressed a desire to assign six re- 

 cently appointed midshii»men to the Smithsonian Institution for the 

 jmrpose of familiarizing themselves with the routine work of the scien- 

 tific departments in the National Museum, in order that they might be 

 able to take advantage of the training in case opportunity for natural 

 history research should arise in connection with their future service, and 

 also to enable them to perform the scientific duties for which the Navy 

 Department liad been obliged to employ civilians. This i:>roposition met 

 w^th the hearty api^roval of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, and six young officers in the Navy, who had shown special liking 

 for scientific matters during their educational course, were detailed to 

 the Museum. They were instructed in taxidermic work and became 

 quite proficient in the preparation of skeletons and skins of birds and 

 mammals. Several of them also familiarized themselves with photog 

 raphy. This experiment having proved satisfactory, twelve other 

 junior officers were assigned to the Museum. During the last few years 

 the Department has found it inconvenient to continue the arrangement. 

 While its discontinuance is to be regretted, there is no doubt that im- 

 portant results will be gained, both by the Navy Department and the 

 National Museum, from the scientific tiaining which has been given to 

 these officers. 



