REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 29 



of specialists, it is not without Advantage to the Museum in furnish- 

 ing occasional desirable specimens and in recording new localities. 



The distribution of duplicates for educational purposes, mainly to 

 schools and colleges, aggregated 4,306 specimens. 



Material sent out to specialists for study on behalf of the Museum 

 amounted to 13,838 specimens, mainly biological. 



War collections. — Through cooperation of the Navy and the War 

 Departments, the stream of material reaching the Museum illus- 

 trative of the World War filled the quarters assigned to the division 

 of history in the Arts and Industries Building, overflowing into the 

 Natural History Building and the Aircraft Building. 



Prior to July, 1919, very little material had been received illus- 

 trating the work of the Navy during the World War, with the ex- 

 ception of some uniforms of the Marine Corps and the insignia of 

 its various branches. At that time it was decided to assign the rotunda 

 of the Natural History Building for this purpose, and Lieut. Com- 

 mander L. P. Warren was designated on the part of the Navy De- 

 partment to take charge of this work. A number of exhibits were 

 received during the j'^ear, the most important of which are a para- 

 vane, which is a device attached to battleships for the purpose of de- 

 stroying mines; an anti-aircraft gun and a Y depth charge gun for 

 destruction of submarines; a collection of British naval airplane 

 bombs, a large number of relics from the sunken battleship Maine, a 

 1-pound gun, a German torpedo 18 feet long, a Davis gun for air- 

 planes, a naval range finder, and the large 6-inch naval gun which 

 fired America's first shot in the World War. Owing to its great 

 weight this gun was placed on the east drivewaj^, where it makes a 

 most impressive exhibit. 



The War Department continued its generous cooperation by con- 

 tributing material illustrating the military activities of the United 

 States, the Allies, and the enemy countries in the following branches : 

 Air Service, Ordnance, Chemical Warfare, Quartermaster, Engineer, 

 Medical, and Signal Corps. The material was selected especially for 

 the Museum with a A^iew to illustrating graphically the military his- 

 tory of the war for the benefit of the public and for historical and 

 scientific research. 



From the Air Service came military airplanes showing types of 

 machines used by the United States, France, and Germany, including 

 a De Haviland^, tractor biplane of type originally developed by 

 England and later adopted by the United States for observation and 

 day bombing purposes ; a Le Pere tractor biplane of type developed 

 by the United States Air Service during the war for fighting pur- 

 poses; a Martin bomber, twin tractor biplane of type developed by 

 United States Air Service for bombardment purposes ; a Spad, XVI, 



