REPORT ON THE DIVISION OF MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGY, 

 By Cael W. Mitman, Curator. 



History. — The first day of the fiscal year saw the division trans- 

 ferred from the department of anthropology to that of arts and 

 industries with the writer in charge as curator of the division. 

 Shortly thereafter, Mr. Iv. G. Paine, aid. was transferred to the 

 division of American archeology and the care of the collections de- 

 volved upon the curator and Miss Barbara E. Bartlett, clerk. The 

 urgency of having a complete card index of the collections of the 

 division necessitated the temporary employment of a typewriter. 

 On February 13, 1920, Mr. George W. Spier, Washington City, be- 

 came associated with the division as honorary custodian of watches. 

 In this capacity, Mr. Spier has in his charge the Museum's collection 

 of watches numbering over 450 specimens and plans to arrange 

 popular and scientific exhibits of the art of time-keeping. Mr. E. 

 Luther Reed, a faithful and efficient employee of the Museum and 

 Smithsonian Institution for over forty years, and carpenter for the 

 division for the past five years, died on April 26, 1920. The loss of 

 his services was keenly felt by the division and the need of assistance 

 of this general nature resulted in the appointment on dune 1. 1920. of 

 Mr. Paul E. Garber as preparator. 



Accessions. — During the year. 11 accessions were received com- 

 prising 97 specimens which were distributed as follows: Transporta- 

 tion. 66; metrology. 7; firearms, 12; machinery, 12. All of the acces- 

 sions constitute voluntary oiferings to the Museum, for the year was 

 spent wholly in the reorganization and rearrangement of the collec- 

 tions on hand with no effort made toward procuring new material. 

 In comparison therefore with the accessions received the previous 

 year, namely 16, totalling 192 specimens, the showing is rather poor, 

 but over and against this it is believed that the collections are in a 

 far better condition than ever before. 



By far the most important accession was a standard twelve cylinder 

 Liberty airplane motor made expressly for and presented to the 

 Museum by the Lincoln Motor Company, Detroit, Michigan. Va- 

 rious portions of the motor are cut away disclosing the interior parts 

 in operative relation which makes a most instructive exhibit, particu- 

 larly so when studied in conjunction with the motor of the Langley 



aerodrome situated along side. 



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