6 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1905. 



by the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Fisheries, the Department 

 of Agriculture, and other branches of the Government in advance 

 of their final working up, in order to provide for their safe storage 

 and to secure the better facilities for study thus afforded. Under 

 this arrangement the amount of research work carried on in the 

 Museum buildings lias been greatly increased. 



With practically no funds to expend in explorations, the members 

 of the Museum staff are mainly dependent upon the opportunities 

 offered by other Government bureaus and private expedition's for 

 such occasional field work as is carried on. In this connection special 

 researches may be conducted, though the chief advantage results 

 from the acquisition of new and valuable material and a knowledge 

 of the conditions under which it occurs in nature. 



AS AN EDUCATIONAL MUSEUM. 



The educational side of the Museum comprehends primarily the 

 instruction and enlightenment of the visiting public by an extensive 

 exhibition of representative specimens illustrating the different sub- 

 jects, so installed and labeled that they may be examined and under- 

 stood without special direction. Lack of room has prevented this 

 feature from being fully carried out in recent years, but better condi- 

 tions will prevail upon the completion of the new building. Through 

 the participation of the Museum in all of the expositions since 1876, 

 the people in many parts of the country have also received the bene- 

 fits of this educational system of exhibition, which has generally 

 been produced on a large scale, and the formation of new museums 

 has been greatly stimulated. 



Another popular educational feature, having for its purpose the 

 promotion of scientific teaching, has been the distribution to schools 

 and colleges throughout the country of duplicate specimens, properly 

 identified and labeled, and put up in carefully selected sets. Several 

 hundred thousand specimens have already been disposed of in this 

 way. 



Though mainly technical and most useful to the investigator, the 

 publications of the Museum may be classed, in a general way, as 

 belonging to its educational side, being the medium through which 

 the nature and extent of its collections are made known. They con- 

 sist of the Annual Reports, the Proceedings, and the Bulletins. 



THE NEW MUSEUM BUILDING. 



Just previous to the beginning of the fiscal year to which this report 

 relates, or, to he more exact, on June 15, 1904, the work of excavating 

 for the foundations and basement of the new building was begun. 

 The ground was found to be firm and dry over nearly the entire site, 



