14 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1922. 



knowledge, for the direction of research, for cooperation with depart- 

 ments of the Government and with universities and scientific societies 

 in America, and likewise afford a definite correspondent to all scien- 

 tific institutions and men abroad who seek interchange of views or 

 knowledge with men of science in the United States. 



Since that time the only material changes in the scope of the 

 Government museum have been the addition of a department of 

 American history, intended to illustrate by an appropriate assem- 

 blage of objects, the lives of distinguished personages, important 

 events, and the domestic life of the country from the colonial period 

 to the present time, and provision for the separate administration of 

 the National Gallery of Art as a coordinate unit under the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. From 1906 to 1920 the Gallery was administered 

 as the department of fine arts of the Museum. 



The development of the Museum has been greatest in those sub- 

 jects which the conditions of the past three-quarters of a century 

 have made most fruitful — the natural history, geology, ethnology, 

 and archeology of the United States — supplemented by many col- 

 lections from other countries. The opportunities for acquisition in 

 these directions have been mainly brought about through the activi- 

 ties of the scientific and economic surveys of the Government, many 

 of which are the direct outgrowths of earlier explorations, stimulated 

 or directed by the Smithsonian Institution. The Centennial Ex- 

 hibition of 1876 afforded the first great opportunity for establishing 

 a department of the industrial arts, of which the fullest advantage 

 was taken, but the department or gallery of the fine arts made 

 little progress, though not from lack of desire or appreciation, until 

 1906, when circumstances led to its definite recognition. The histori- 

 cal collections have been greatly augmented within the past few 

 years by large collections illustrative of the World War, including 

 a comprehensive series of aircrafts and their accessories. 



While it is the primary duty of a museum to preserve the objects 

 confided to its care, as it is that of a library to preserve its books and 

 manuscripts, yet the importance of public collections rests not upon 

 the mere basis of custodianship nor upon the number of specimens 

 assembled and their money value, but upon the use to which they are 

 put. Judged by this standard, the National Museum may claim to 

 have reached a high state of efficiency. From an educational point 

 of view it is of great value to those persons who are so fortunate 

 as to reside in Washington or who are able to visit the Nation's Capi- 

 tal. In its well-designed cases, in which every detail of structure, 

 appointment, and color is considered, a selection of representative 

 objects is placed on view to the public, all being carefully labeled in- 

 dividually and in groups. The child as well as the adult has been 

 provided for and the kindergarten pupil and the high-school scholar 



