Report of a Journey Around the Jlor/d. 253 



finely formed New Zealander. The lists given later (imperfect as 

 the}' are"* will show that there are fine Polynesian and Melanesian 

 things in this museum, but they are unbalanced and cannot show 

 the life of the natives of the Pacific as are shown that of the Ameri- 

 can Indians and to a less extent of the Filipinos. 



The workrooms in the basement are provided with the best 

 niachiner}^ and the workmen emplo}'ed are many of them very 

 expert ; the casts, wax and glass models, the taxidermy, and even 

 some of the cases for specimens are made within the walls ; so 

 that the student of museum work can perhaps learn his profession 

 here better than elsewhere ; so far as I have seen there are no other 

 museums whose activities are so complete and varied. 



United States National Museum. Richard Rathburn in 

 Charge. 



Since the present report was written the Assistant Secretary 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, Richard Rathburn, has published, 

 as No. 80 of the series of the Institution Bulletins, "A descriptive 

 account of the building recently erected for the Department of 

 Natural History of the United States National Museum." This 

 volume of 125 pages and many views and plans is a most interest- 

 ing description of the building, of which Fig. 2 of the present 

 report is an illustration. 



The water, light, heat, cold and ventilation are provided for 

 within the building, and the result is a museum of remarkable 

 mechanical and architectural engineering. The storage arrange- 

 ments seem complete and abundant, but the exhibition halls as 

 figured are not attractive ; there is a democratic simplicity about 

 the cases (shown in plate 20) which verges upon the ugly, and 

 surely the row of table cases would be more in place on the back 

 porch of a pioneer's log cabin than in the national museum of a 

 great nation ; at best they are poor settings for gems and the fine 

 collection of minerals. [401] 



