14 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1908. 
spirit of the Institution, has set itself from the first. Its staff, though 
chiefly engaged in the duties incident to the care, classification, and 
labeling of collections in order that they may be accessible to the pub- 
lic and to students, has yet in these operations made important dis- 
coveries in every department of the Museum’s activities, which have 
in turn been communicated to other scholars through its numerous 
publications. But the collections have not been held for the study of 
the staff nor for the scientific advancement of those belonging to the 
establishment. Most freely have they been put at the disposal of 
investigators connected with other institutions, and, in fact, without 
the help of many such the record of scientific progress based upon the 
material in the Museum would be greatly curtailed. When it is pos- 
sible to so arrange the investigator comes to Washington; otherwise 
such collections as he needs are sent to him, whether he resides in 
this country or abroad. In this manner practically every prominent 
specialist throughout the world interested in the subjects here well 
represented has had some use of the collections, and thereby the Na- 
tional Museum has come to be recognized as a conspicuous factor in 
the advancement of knowledge wherever civilization has a foothold. 
SOME IMPORTANT MATTERS OF THE YEAR. 
The collections of the Museum were increased to the extent of ap- 
proximately 219,505 specimens, of which 176,263 were biological and 
32,755 geological, while 10487 pertained to the several subjects 
grouped in the Department of Anthropology. 
The most important contributions in ethnology were illustrative 
of the natives of Borneo, the Philippine Islands and Guam, the cliff 
dwellers of northwestern Arizona, the Zuni Indians of New Mexico, 
and the Tahltan Indians of British Columbia. Excavations at the 
Casa Grande ruin, Arizona, yielded an interesting collection of pre- 
Columbian objects, and additional archeological material was received 
from Mexico, Bolivia, Egypt, and India. The division of physical 
anthropology obtained many valuable series of specimens from vari- 
ous sources, and arrangements were made with two of the exploring 
expeditions now making excavations in Egypt to secure some of the 
human remains found in the ancient tombs, this class of objects hav- 
ing hitherto been generally disregarded. A large number of models 
and actual examples of devices, deposited by the Patent Office, form a 
most noteworthy addition in technology. The objects were selected 
with reference to their permanent value and as illustrating the prog- 
ress of invention through a long term of years. ‘They relate to many 
subjects and are being arranged in the public halls. 
An exceptionally interesting loan, which is attracting much atten- 
tion, is the flag which floated over Fort McHenry at the time of its 
