REPORT OP THE SECRETARY. 21 



COOPERATION OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS. 



The several Departments of the Government have always generoush^ 

 cooperated in furthering* the interests of the Institution, particuhirl}^ 

 in colloeting objects of biological or ethnological interest, and the 

 results of such cooperation are particularly seen in every department 

 of the Museum. Among those who have been most active in increas- 

 ing the collections have been officers of the Army and Navy who 

 have voluntarily given their services to the work. 



In order to promote and increase the interest in the Institution on 

 the part of the officers of the United States resident in foreign coun- 

 tries, the Secretary of the Institution issued circulars to be sent to 

 United States consuls and to army and navy officers. The forms of 

 these circulars wore printed in the last Report, and it is gratifying to 

 note that a considerable number of oljjects have already been thus 

 acquired, as mentioned elsewhere. 



EXPOSITIONS. 



By act of Congress approved March 3, 1899, the sum of 1300,000 

 was appropriated for a Government exhibit at the proposed Pan- 

 American Exposition to be held at Buffalo in 1901. 



The Government Board of Management in charge of the preparation 

 of the exhibit having apportioned a part of the sum for a display bj^ 

 the Smithsonian Institution and its bureaus, considerable progress has 

 ))een made during the yenv in gathering objects that would best illus- 

 trate the work of the Institution. In this connection a few objects 

 connected with the history of art will be exhibited on the part of the 

 Institution, but the collection will chiefly consist of specimens illus- 

 trative of its scientific functions, and more especially in the National 

 Museum and Bureau of Ethnology. An opportunity was thus afforded 

 for gathering biological collections in Cuba, as well as objects chiefly 

 of ethnological interest from the Philippines. 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ORIENTALISTS. 



As mentioned in the last report, the Secretary, on December 9, 1898, 

 designated Dr. Paul Haupt, of Johns Hopkins University, as delegate 

 of the Institution to the Twelfth International Congress of Orientalists 

 at Rome, on October 3-15, 1899; and Dr. Haupt, as well as Prof. 

 Charles R. Lanman, of Harvard University, and Prof. Morris Jastrow, 

 of the University of Pennsylvania, were, upon recommendation of the 

 Secretary, appointed as delegates of the United States Government. 



The congress was a notable one, nearly 600 persons being present, 

 of whom 15 were from the United States, and a number of valuable 

 papers were presented by the American members. One important 



