REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1911. 29 



tion of musical instruments and has brought together a large amount 

 of information regarding the instruments in this and other collec- 

 tions. Six wind and string instruments peculiar to Catalonia, Spain, 

 and more distinctly antique than other European instruments of cor- 

 resjDonding varieties, were purchased ; and a Bohm flute, a concert in- 

 strument of rosewood, silver tipped and banded, made by A. G. 

 Badger, of New York, was presented by Mr. Robert E. Seel, of Wash- 

 ington. The latter is a good example of a type not previously repre- 

 sented in the Museum. 



Medicine. — Founded to illustrate on broad lines the theories and 

 methods for the relief of sickness and injuries as held and practiced 

 by man from earliest historic times to the present, the plan of this 

 division contemplates an extensive and comprehensive collection 

 which shall be both interesting and instructive. In some directions a 

 considerable amount of material has been brought together, and the 

 exhibition series is well installed and labeled. There is still a vast 

 amount of work to be done in order to even approximately cover the 

 entire field, but the subject is of sufficient importance to warrant re- 

 newed efforts toward building up the division and increasing its use- 

 fulness. Except for brief intervals, the charge of the division has de- 

 volved on Dr. James M. Flint, United States Navy, who started the 

 collection and to whose zealous services, voluntarily contributed, its 

 development and status as a museum feature is mainly due. There 

 is a complete descriptive card catalogue of the collection. Among the 

 accessions of the year were the results of the chemical tests made by 

 the late Prof.. George F. Barker in the Sherman poisoning case of 

 1872, contributed by Mrs. Barker; and a series of Chinese books treat- 

 ing of the various things used as medicines by the Chinese, presented 

 by Prof. N. Gist Gee, of Soochow University. 



History. — This division received both as permanent acquisitions 

 and as deposits many objects of exceptional value and importance. 

 Of special interest was a loan from Rear Admiral Robert Edwin 

 Peary, United States Navy (retired), consisting of 1G gold and 2 

 silver medals which had been conferred upon him by various geo- 

 graphical societies in recognition of his services to science in arctic 

 explorations, notable among them being the great gold medals of 

 the National Geographic Society of Washington and the Royal 

 Geographical Society of London; two of the flags carried by the 

 explorer to the North Pole in 1909, namely, the Peace Flag of the 

 Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the flag 

 of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, of which Admiral Peary 

 is a member; two maps illustrating the routes traversed by various 

 arctic explorers from 1800 to 1909; a silver replica of a model of 

 the type of sailing vessel used by Henry Hudson, John Davis, and 

 William Baffin in their search for the Northwest Passage during 



