35 The Smithsonian Institution 



erals, but also representative forms of animal life such as 

 inhabit caverns. The collection as a whole is doubtless the 

 most complete and systematic of its kind in any museum in 

 the world. 



" In the economic section are very full and systematic 

 collections illustrating the mineral resources of the United 

 States, arranged geographically, and also a systematic series 

 in which minerals of the same nature and from world-wide 

 sources are arranged by kinds. This collection comprises 

 probably not fewer than ten thousand specimens." 



Mr. F. V. Coville, Honorary Curator of the Department 

 of Botany, furnishes the following brief account of the collec- 

 tion of plants : 



" With reference to the collections in the Department of 

 Botany, it may be said that they constitute what is commonly 

 known as the National Herbarium. The nucleus of the 

 herbarium consisted of the plants collected by the Wilkes Ex- 

 ploring Expedition during the years 1838 to 1842. To these 

 were added later the material from the North Pacific Explor- 

 ing Expedition of Ringgold and Rodgers, followed by those 

 of Fremont, the Mexican Boundary Commission, the Pacific 

 Railroad Surveys, and all the later explorations and expedi- 

 tions of the government. 



" In recent years the largest amount of material received has 

 come from the Division of Botany in the Department of Agri- 

 culture, material brought together in the pursuit of the investi- 

 gations of that establishment. Especially noteworthy among 

 these is the collection of grasses which Doctor George Vasey 

 gathered during his studies of the forage plants of the United 

 States during a period of about twenty years. 



" To the collections of the exploring expeditions and those 

 of the Department of Agriculture has been added a large 

 amount of material donated by American botanists or pur- 

 chased from collectors, besides large consignments of plants 

 received from various foreign institutions or individuals prin- 

 cipally as gifts or in exchange. 



