EEPOET OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1912. 35 



Doctor of Laws by the University of Toronto in 1894 and the nni- 

 versities of Princeton and Glasgow in 1896, and also the manuscript 

 notes and mathematical calculations prepared by Prof. Newcomb in 

 connection with one of his first publications, entitled " The Secular 

 Variations of the Asteroids," received from Mrs. Newcomb; and an 

 illuminated copy on parchment of the resolution of Congress ap- 

 proved March 4, 1911, thanking Rear Admiral Robert Edwin Peary, 

 United States Navy (retired), for his arctic explorations and his 

 discovery of the North Pole, received from Rear Admiral Peary. 



The following objects, lent by Mrs. John Cropper, were added 

 to the extensive loan collection of the National Society of the Colo- 

 nial Dames of America, namely, a colonial sugar sifter, a coffeepot 

 of the period of the First Empire, a sugar bowl of American manu- 

 facture of about 1830, an antique English teapot, and an antique 

 salt cellar made in Scotland. The society made a special temporary 

 exhibition in the Museum of 35 pieces of colonial ecclesiastical silver 

 received as loans from the churches of Virginia and Maryland and 

 including examples of chalices, patens, flagons, and alms plates, 

 dating from the early part of the seventeenth century to 1825. Simi- 

 lar collections from churches of the eastern part of the United States 

 were also exhibited by the society at the same time in the Metro- 

 politan Museum of Art and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and 

 the material in all of the exhibitions was made the subject of study 

 by Mr. E. Alfred Jones, the English expert on silver plate, whose 

 results will be published under the auspices of the society. 



During the year a collection of costumes intended to illustrate 

 the changes in style of personal attire in America from the colonial 

 period to the present time was commenced. The material so far 

 gathered has consisted mainly of apparel actually worn at important 

 state and social functions, which gives it an historical interest, and 

 the collection will also very materially supplement that of art tex- 

 tiles, offering useful suggestion in the field of design. The subject 

 was taken up on the initiative of Mrs. Julian James, who is giving 

 it her personal attention, and the contributions, ranging from single 

 objects to complete parts of costumes, comprised both loans and 

 gifts. The principal contributors were Miss Marian T. Coffin, of 

 Muirkirk, Md.; Mrs. John Hay, of Washington; Col. Webb C. 

 Hayes, of Fremont, Ohio; Mrs. R. R. Hoes and Mrs. Julian James, 

 of Washington; Miss May S. Kennedy, of Charlestown, W. Va. ; 

 Mrs. Levi Z. Leiter, of Washington; Miss Sallie P. MacKenzie, of 

 Baltimore, Md. ; Mrs. Mary Harrison McKee and Mrs. Levi P. 

 Morton, of New York; Mrs. John Biddle Porter, of Washington; 

 Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, of Oyster Bay, N. Y. ; Mrs. Nellie Grant 

 Sartoris, of New York; Mrs. William H. Taft, of Washington; and 

 Mrs. W. P. E. Wyse, of Pikesville, Md. 



