82 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1918. 



hoped that the National Museum will be in a position to continue to 

 carry on this work of education, for which it is the proper vehicle. 

 The war is now teaching this lesson in terms of bitter experience, but 

 only in part. It does not teach the whole truth of the lesson to be 

 learned, namely, that the country is as unprepared economically for 

 peace as it was for war; and if we are left to learn this part of the 

 lesson from the ensuing years of peace it will be through economic ex- 

 periences as bitter as any in the application of war. 



The accomplishments of the division in behalf of the country's 

 enduring welfare have been greatly restricted by lack of funds, 

 mainly required for technical assistants. The materials needed are 

 not great ; experience has shown that they can be secured by donation. 

 It is hoped, however, that funds will be forthcoming for the requisite 

 technical experts, since the possibilities of educational service in the 

 task of reconstruction ahead for the country are inestimable. In 

 view of the deplorable tendency toward duplication in the scientific 

 work variously activated in the governmental departments, it is 

 worthy of special note, in conclusion, that the purpose in the 

 present connection is not that of initiating any new scientific or 

 technical lines of work, but purely one of interpreting technical 

 fact in popular form. As such the field of operations is not only of 

 vital importance; it is peculiarly the function of the National 

 Museum, and it is a fallow field practically neglected in the absence 

 of the adequate facilities in the Museum for its cultivation. 



DISTRIBUTION AND EXCHANGE OF SPECIMENS. 



The distribution of duplicates, mainly to schools and colleges, for 

 educational purposes aggregated over 8,000 specimens, properly 

 classified and labeled. Of these 1,667 were contained in 8 regular 

 sets of mollusks averaging 179 specimens each and 5 regular sets of 

 fossil invertebrates of 47 specimens each. The balance of 6,507 speci- 

 mens, comprised in 31 special sets, were principally fossils, minerals, 

 ores, marine invertebrates, and objects of ethnology and archeology. 



In making exchanges for additions to the collections, a total of 

 23,227 duplicate specimens was used. These consisted chiefly of 

 plants, animals, fishes, marine invertebrates, fossils, rocks, ores and 

 minerals, and ethnological and archeological objects. 



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

 and otherwise amounted to 11,695 specimens, of which 3,582 were 

 botanical and 7,734 zoological. 



NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART. 



In the last report it was stated that the foundations of the building 

 for the Freer collections were completed. This addition to the Smith- 

 sonian group, a granite structure 228 feet long, 185 feet deep, and 46 



