56 REPORT OF THiE SECRETARY. 



Museum at Dresden, the Royal Botanical Museum at Berlin, and the Geological- 

 Paleontological Institute at Munich; Bohemia — the National Museum at Prag, and 

 Dr. K. Urba, of the same city; Italy — the museums of Natural History at Milan and 

 Genoa, and Dr. Paolo Magretti, of Milan; Switzerland — IMr. Paul Narbel, of Cour 

 Lausanne; Belgium — Baron R. de Vriere, of Phem, Zedelghem; Denmark — Dr. E. 

 Warming, of the University of Copenhagen; Sweden — Prof. A. M. Fries, of Upsala; 

 Russia — M. Melnikof, of St. Petersburg; India— the Indian Museum and the Royal 

 Botanical Garden at Calcutta; South Africa— the Botanical Gardens at Durban, Natal; 

 New Zealand — Canterbury Museum at Christchurch and the Publii- Museum at Wan- 

 ganui; Australia — Mr. F. H. McK. Grant, at Melbourne, Victoria; Canada — Mr. Eugene 

 Coubeaux, of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan; Mexico — the National Museum in the 

 City of Mexico; Brazil — the Museo Paulista at Sao Paulo. 



Installatlnn. — Very considerable progress has been made in the work of installa- 

 tion, which comprises, besides the placing of specimens on exhibition, the arrange- 

 ment of the reserve or study series and the packing away in storage of such material 

 as can not be provided for in the overcrowded Museum and Smithsonian buildings. 

 There is now on hand so large an amount of this material as to entirely fill a nundjer 

 of outside storehouses, and the quantity is being constantly increased. During the 

 year it was thoroughly overhauled, the packing cases were relabeled as to their con- 

 tents and sytematically arranged, and a complete catalogue was prepared to facili- 

 tate the finding of collections as desired. Among these stores are hidden away many 

 thousands of valuable and interesting specimens, liable at any time to destruction l)y 

 fire and pests — a silent but forcible reminder of the necessity for a new Museum 

 building. 



That part of the installation which interests the general public- receives naturally 

 the greatest amount of attention and involves by far the greatest expenditure of money. 

 The exhibition cases must present a finished and artistic appearance; the collections, 

 selected with due reference to the instruction of the visitor, must be suitably pre- 

 pared and tastefully mounted, and each specimen, each grouping of specimens, and 

 each case must have a label, tersely worded and easily decipherable. The reorgan- 

 ization of the exhibition halls is rapidly progressing. Some are being newly fitted 

 up, while in others there is simply such a rearrangement, more or less extensive, as 

 may be deemed necessary or as the circumstances j^ermit. The lack of means to 

 provide sufficient cases of a suitable character, however, interposes a serious difficulty 

 in carrying on this work. A large proportion of the cases now in use are of anti- 

 quated pattern, and not adapted to modern methods of installation. Very many 

 have been defaced or worn-out in connection with the different expositions, and 

 until these can be replaced there must be much incongruity in the appearance of the 

 exhibition halls. 



Among the things accomplished in this direction by the Department of Anthro- 

 pology has been the arrangement of the ceramic collection in a handsome, new, ebon- 

 ized case, which extends around the entire gallerj' of the Northeast Court, producing 

 one of the most attractive features in the Museum. The extensive basketry collec- 

 tion and the ethnological exhibits illustrative of Latin America have been installed 

 in the corresponding gallery of the Northwest Court. The exhibits in the West North 

 Range, which contains the Indian groups and the Catlin paintings, have been as 

 nearly completed as is now possible, and many additions and improvements have 

 been made in connection with the exhibits of American History, the Graphic Arts, 

 Land Transportation, and INIateria Medica. No changes have been made in the large 

 hall so long occupied l)y the Division of Prehistoric Archaeology, nor does any 

 rearrangement there seem advisable until means shall be provided for a thorough 

 renovation of the room, which is now in every respect quite unpresentable. 



For the Department of Biology one large wall-case has been built along the east 

 side of the South Hall, to receive the specimens of North American carnivores, and 



