48 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1914, 
overcrowding of the building, and while such action was unavoid- 
able, it produced an unfortunate gap in the Museum scheme, which 
every effort had been made to hold intact. Though constantly looked 
forward to, the opportunity to revive any of these branches did not 
occur until 1912, when the division of textiles was reestablished. 
For the purpose primarily of placing again on display such parts of 
the older collections of animal and vegetable products as were still 
in appropriate condition, these subjects were associated with the 
division of textiles, but with the means available it has been deemed 
wisest to concentrate most attention for the present on the textiles 
with which an exceptional amount of progress has been made. 
The collections of textiles are designed, aside from the primary 
purpose of education, to serve as distinct aids to the several branches 
of this great industry in demonstrating its importance in the life of 
the people and in recording the economic changes taking place from 
time to time. There is both a reserve and an exhibition series, the 
former being exclusively technical, compactly arranged and so cata- 
logued as to permit of ready reference. The exhibition series, se- 
lected, labeled, and arranged to furnish an impressive object lesson 
for the public, includes raw material, classified along industrial lines 
rather than biological; the technology of spinning and weaving, with 
specimens of the intermediate steps in the production of yarn and 
fabric; the ornamentation and utilization of woven structures; and 
an exposition of the history and development of the various technical 
operations as well as of the machines used. The exhibition space 
allotted to the division for all purposes comprises the south hall and 
southeast court with their galleries, the floor area of the east south 
range, and the gallery of the southwest court. 
Textiles —The south hall is devoted to an exposition of the origin, 
preparation, and utilization of the three principal fibers, namely, 
cotton, wool and silk. Starting with the cotton plant, sheep and 
silkworm, respectively, there are developed three parallel series of 
specimens, supplemented by photographs and models, illustrating 
the processes whereby these fibers are compounded into thread or 
yarn, and strands of this interwoven into fabrics of various kinds. 
Another series deals with the ornamentation of the woven fabric by 
means of dyeing, printing, and brocading. 
The cotton exhibit, beginning with a plant bearing fully opened 
bolls of cotton ready for picking, contains specimens of the bolls 
and seeds of the most important species and cultivated varieties of 
the world, a large series of commercially graded raw cotton taken 
from the world’s markets, and a set of the official United States 
standard cotton grades. In illustration of the processes involved in 
manufacture are represented the successive operations in making six- 
cord sewing thread, and the production of a standard cotton gingham, 
