REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 17 



of many papers in the various Museum series. The total number of 

 specimens of animals and plants now in the Museum collections is 

 estimated to exceed 7,000,000. 



Among the important accessions in the department of geology may 

 be mentioned the valuable paleontological collection of the late 

 Orestes St. John, consisting principally of fossil fishes, donated by 

 Dr. Frank Springer, and a collection of not less than 10,000 speci- 

 mens, mainly fossil plants, presented by the heirs of the late R. D. 

 Lacoe, of Pittston, Pa. The residuary portion of the meteorite col- 

 lection of the late Prof. H. A. Ward was presented by Mrs. Coonley 

 Ward, and 13 additional accessions of meteorites were received. A 

 number of important mineralogical specimens were acquired, largely 

 through exchanges, including a portion of a large boulder of jade 

 received from Col. W. B. Thompson and a fine specimen of crystal- 

 lized descloizite from southwest Africa. Several unusual cut gems 

 were purchased through the Chamberlain endowment fund. An 

 important phase of the work of the department of geology consists 

 in furnishing assistance to schools and students, chiefly through the 

 distribution of materials needed in their studies. Eighty-one educa- 

 tional institutions were thus aided during the year. 



The collections of textiles, wood technology, organic chemistry, 

 foods, and medicine, all under the supervision of the curator of 

 textiles, received many valuable specimens, numbering over 2,000. 

 Among the most important of these are a large series of specimens 

 of pyralin, bakelite, condensite, and cellulose acetate, all substitutes 

 for natural raw materials, such as ivory, bone, horn, tortoise shell, 

 amber, etc., the supplies of which are growing scarcer every year; 

 beautiful specimens of silks, woolen fabrics, and mohair upholstery 

 textiles; an exhibit showing the process of manufacture of double- 

 tipped matches; and specimens showing the use of chaulmoogra oil 

 derivatives in the treatment of leprosy in Hawaii. 



In the divisions of mineral and mechanical technology, graphic 

 arts, and history, an unusually large and valuable series of objects 

 has been accessioned during the year. The divisions of mineral and 

 mechanical technology, in their conservation program, cooperated 

 with Mr. S. S. Wyer in preparing a work under the title "The 

 Smithsonian Institution's Study of Natural Resources Applied to 

 Pennsylvania's Resources," which was distributed free to school 

 teachers throughout Pennsylvania and used in certain courses in the 

 grade schools. Seven loan exhibits shown in the division of graphic 

 arts brought the division prominently before the local public, and two 

 traveling exhibits prepared in the division were shown in various 

 cities. The division of history received, besides several other im- 

 portant accessions of military, naval and antiquarian material, the 



