16 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1904. 



course, a limit beyond which any display becomes bewildering and 

 tiresome, but that point lias not yet been reached in this Museum. 

 The exhibition collections comprise selections from all the branches 

 represented, and only enough from each to serve the desired purpose. 

 In some branches, however, like history, nearly all the material objects 

 are appropriate for exhibition, and find their most appreciative critics 

 among the general public. In other branches, moreover, there are 

 many large objects which can best be cared for in the exhibition halls, 

 and are, therefore, nearly always seen there. 



A third division of the collections, one prepared for general teachers 

 and young students, as suggested by Dr. F. A. Bather, of the British 

 Museum, might readily be arranged when additional room becomes 

 available, but there is less need for such in this country than seems to 

 be the case abroad, since nearly all the schools and colleges throughout 

 the United States have their own collections, especially of natural 

 history, supplied in part from the duplicates in the national collections. 



It will thus be seen that the collections which come to the National 

 Museum are being utilized to the fullest extent and in a most liberal 

 manner. The reserve series, comprising the specimens which have 

 already been worked up and are held as records of past investigations, 

 together with those which still remain to be studied, constitute the 

 technically important part of the Museum, and alone justify its exist- 

 ence. The public collections, however, take the greatest amount of 

 space, require the largest expenditure of money, and demand the 

 most ingenuity in their selection and arrangement. There remain 

 the duplicates, only known to be such as the work of classification 

 proceeds, which serve the double purpose of securing valuable returns 

 through exchange and of promoting education by their gratuitous 

 distribution to schools and colleges. The amount of material used 

 for the latter purpose since this practice was established over half a 

 century ago, has been very great. 



The greatest discrepancy to-day in the administration of the Museum 

 results, however, from an insufficient staff, not as regards efficiency 

 but numbers. Only one who has had to do with the management of 

 such a large trust can fully appreciate tin" significance of this state- 

 ment, and those clothed with power to correct this condition have not 

 yet come to thoroughly understand the importance of the matter. 

 The responsibilities in administering upon a national museum of this 

 great and free country are probably much heavier than those in any 

 other land. The policy recognized in every branch of the Govern- 

 ment of the United States, and sanctioned by Congress, is to d<> 

 for the people whatever is possible. This Government is doing for its 

 people what no other government has ventured to attempt, and the 

 result is a condition of extreme prosperity and contentment. And 



