REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 27 



main floor, and most of the two adjacent ranges. To these halls in greater or 

 less part the public had been admitted from March 17, 1910, when the building 

 was first opened. Work was actively progressing in the preparation of the 

 exhibits for all of the other branches, the delays being due in large measure 

 to the slow rate at which furniture was supplied, and had been well advanced 

 for archeology, mineralogy, and the fossil vertebrates. 



ADDITIONS TO THE COLLECTIONS. 



The permanent acquisitions received during the year comprised approxi- 

 mately 22S,642 specimens and objects, of which 204,540 were of animals and 

 plants, 6,647 were geological and paleontological, 17,361 belonged to the several 

 divisions included in the department of anthropology, and 94 were paintings 

 and engravings presented to the National Gallery of Art. In addition, 1,629 

 objects of art and anthropology were accepted as loans for exhibition. 



One of the most important accessions of the year resulted from an investi- 

 gation in Argentina, conducted under the auspices of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution by Dr. Ales' HrdliCka, curator of physical anthropology, partly in con- 

 junction with Mr. Bailey Willis as geologist, for the purpose of determining 

 the nature and value of the evidence relating to man's antiquity in that 

 country. The skeletal and archeological remains attributed to early man or 

 his forerunners preserved in the museums were studied, the more important 

 localities where such remains have been discovered were visited, and on the 

 journey to and from Argentina short stops were made in Brazil, Peru, 

 Panama, and Mexico. Some 3,400 ancient crania, 6,000 long and other bones, 

 and 1.500 archeological objects of human manufacture composed the collec- 

 tion brought to Washington. A large number of prehistoric utensils, im- 

 plements, ornaments, examples of weaving, etc., obtained by Dr. J. W. Pewkes 

 during excavations in the Navaho National Monument and at the ancient 

 Hopi pueblo of Wukoki at Black Falls, Little Colorado River, Ariz., were 

 transferred by the Bureau of American Ethnology. Collections of a similar 

 character, but including ancient human crania and skeletons, from the north- 

 easteim pueblo region of New Mexico, were received from the School of 

 American Archaeology of the Archaeological Institute of America, at Santa Fe, 

 and a valuable series of skulls and skeletons from Arkansas and Mississippi 

 was presented by Mr. Clarence B. Moore. 



Two interesting ethnological collections, one from Liberia the other from 

 Abyssinia, were lent for exhibition by Mr. George W. Ellis, jr., and Mr. Hoff- 

 man Philip, respectively, and a number of specimens relating to the Indians 

 of North America were acquired by gift and purchase. 



The final shipments from the Smithsonian African expedition, which arrived 

 in the early part of the year, contained several thousand specimens of mammals, 

 birds, reptiles, fishes, and mollusks. The notable collection of mammals 

 belonging to Dr. C. Hart Merriam and consisting of about 5,800 skins, 6,000 

 skulls, and 100 complete skeletons, was secured through the generosity of Mrs. 

 Edward H. Harriman, of New York, by whom it was purchased and donated 

 to the Institution. The other principal additions of mammals were from 

 British East Africa, Abyssinia, and China ; while of birds the more important 

 contributions were from North and Central America, the Philippine Islands, 

 and China. The United States Biological Survey and the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries transmitted many reptiles from various parts of the 

 United States and Mexico, and the latter also an interesting series from the 

 Philippines. The fishes received were mainly from explorations by the Bureau 

 of Fisheries in the eastern part of the United States. Large numbers of 



