38 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914, 
of the year, and labels had been prepared for about 30,000 more. As 
regards the material on hand the work had been somewhat more than 
half completed, and the alphabetical arrangement of the stamps by 
countries had progressed to the letter N. Spaces have been reserved 
for all of the primary varieties lacking, which it is expected to pro- 
cure from time to time. The collection is, therefore, by no means a 
complete unit, but to be considered as the nucleus of a greater and 
more perfect representation of the stamps of the world to be gradu- 
ally rounded out. As at present constituted it is most important on 
account of its size and wide representation, as well as for the period 
covered, commencing about the middle of the nineteenth century. It 
lacks especially the rare specimens of collectors and common varieties 
of certain periods, particularly of foreign issues. In general the 
mounting is of single stamps of each issue, but when necessary to 
serve a particular purpose they may be mounted in pairs, strips, 
blocks, or sheets. A selected series of the stamped envelopes of the 
United States follows the stamps of that country, but otherwise no 
provision has yet been made for the exhibition of postal cards and 
envelopes. In addition to the exhibition series which is expected to 
be the most complete, a reserve series will also be maintained for the 
use of special students of the subject. 
The collection of United States stamps from the Post Office De- 
partment is an especially valuable one, all of the regular Government 
issues during the nineteenth century being represented as to types ex- 
cept the 1, 5, and 12-cent stamps of August, 1861, the other desiderata 
consisting in the lack of a number of scarce shades and special print- 
ings. The issues of the present century for the United States, the 
Philippine Islands, and the Canal Zone lack only a few shades which 
are not rare and can readily be secured. The yvepresentation of 
foreign stamps, however, is far less complete, and includes not a 
single one of the many great rarities of the nineteenth century. 
Though numerous gaps occur in the series of the twentieth century, 
they can mostly be filled without trouble and through the medium 
of exchange. 
In the United States series, the installation of which has been 
completed, occur the following rare stamps, mainly unused copies 
and all in fine condition, namely, the 1-cent (type 1), 5-cent in dark 
brown and red brown and 24-cent of the issue of 1851; the 5-cent 
(type 1), in brick red and red brown, of the issue of 1857; the 3-cent 
rose, 3-cent carmine, 10 and 24-cent, and the 90-cent imperforate of 
the issue of August, 1861; the 3-cent scarlet, 5-cent buff, 5-cent olive 
buff, and 24-cent steel blue of the issue of 1862-1866; the 15 and 30- 
cent of the issue of 1869, with inverted medallions, the latter being 
one of the three great rarities in the issues of this Government; and 
a 12-cent, grilled, of the issue of 1870. The set of reprints of vari- 
