36 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 
Verde National Park, Colo., under authority from the Department of the In- 
terior. The number of objects forwarded to Washington from the former 
locality was 662 and from the latter 501. In these important undertakings, 
justified by the great historical and scientific significance of the ruins, every- 
thing that formed an integral part of the structures or could be safely left at 
the sites was allowed to remain, only such objects being taken away as would 
tend to attract looting or would be likely to fall into the hands of unwarranted 
collectors. 
The division of historic archeology was enriched by a manuscript of the 
Mahabarata, the great epic of India, containing 90,000 couplets, written in 
Sanscrit characters on palm leaves, a gift from the learned Rajah Sir Sourindro 
Mohun Tagore. Several interesting additions were made to the very valuable 
loan collection of Jewish ceremonial objects by the generous friend of ie 
Museum, Haidji Hphriam Benguiat, of New York. 
The collections of physical anthropology, which are not restricted to the 
human race, but also extend to other groups of the higher vertebrates, received 
important additions from many widely separated regions. Mention should 
especially be made of the generous action by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 
of New York City, in allowing the National Museum to share, without expense, 
in the results of its Egyptian excavations, which are in charge of Prof. Albert 
M. Lythgoe. ‘The skeletal remains of the ancient Egyptians found in the tombs 
uneovered by the explorations, and hitherto not generally preserved, are now 
being saved and in greater part turned over to the National Museum, where 
their study should result in interesting contributions on the physcial character- 
istics of these peoples. A large number of remains were received during the 
year, and, on the invitation of the Metropolitan Museum, Doctor Hrdli¢ka, 
assistant curator in charge of these collections, had the opportunity of visiting 
Hgypt last winter for the purpose of instructing the excavators as to the best 
methods of preserving and packing the remains for shipment and of making 
studies on the spot. 
The division of technology received numerous accessions, including many 
objects transferred from the Patent Office. The subjects principally represented 
were firearms (of which the Museum collection is now the finest in the coun- 
try), electrical devices, calculating machines, printing presses, the early history 
of the aeroplane, and watch movements. 
Two gifts of exceptional beauty and value from the Government of China 
were added to the collections in ceramics. One was a celadon vase of large 
size and graceful shape, the other one of the famous peachblow vases from the 
imperial treasure house at Mukden. : 
To each of the divisions of graphic arts and musical instruments a few addi- 
tions were made. Plans were begun for broadening and enlarging the collec- 
tions of medicine so as to meet the requirements of the recent extensive inves- 
tigations into this subject, and they will be carried out as soon as additional 
space becomes available. 
Among many gifts and loans to the division of history, mention should be 
made of a number of valuable presents to the Hon. Gustavus Vasa Fox by the 
Czar of Russia during his mission to that country in 1866, and bequeathed to 
the Museum by his widow;; also interesting relics of the Jeannette arctic expedi- 
tion of 1879-1881, and memorials of Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, U. S. Army, 
and Commander Harry H. Hosley, U. S. Navy. 
Department of Biology.—The largest amount of zoological material from any 
single source was derived from the Bureau of Fisheries, and especially from 
the explorations of the steamer Albatross among the Philippine Islands, in 
which Dr. Paul Bartsch, assistant curator of mollusks, participated for about 
