REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 67 



cared for, and, so far as possible, systematically arranged. Specimens 

 subject to destruction b} T insects have been poisoned. 



Increased space and facilities for preservation and installation were 

 obtained by the finishing- of the repairs in the hall of prehistoric 

 archeology, which has been closed for two years; by dismounting 

 man} T pictures from swinging screens and putting the former into the 

 study series; by building additional racks for unit drawers in the hall 

 of history and in the graphic arts storage; by adding to the furni- 

 ture in the east hall a large gun rack, presented by the War Depart- 

 ment; and by building new racks in the laboratory of physical 

 anthropology. 



A great deal of time has been spent in labeling the musical instru- 

 ments, which number nearly fifteen hundred pieces. This collection 

 is in the care of Mr. E. H. Hawley, who has completed an elaborate 

 catalogue of the entire series. It is provided with four sets of labels, 

 as follows: 



1. General labels, descriptive of the plan of classification. 



2. Case labels, naming the class of instruments in each inclosure. 



3. Descriptive labels, explaining the structure and functions of the 

 instruments in each case. 



4. Individual labels, giving the native name, the English name, 

 locality and peoples, and collector of each specimen. 



The collection has been installed to teach history of thought and of 

 development through inventions, from the simplest monotone device 

 to mark rhythm up to the most elaborate apparatus for musical expres- 

 sion. The exhibit is divided into four grand divisions, according to 

 the structure of the instruments, and the pieces are arranged accord- 

 ing to simplicity or supposed order of invention. The divisions may 

 be described as follows: 



(I) Vibrating solid, sonorous bodies; (II) vibrating membranes; (III) 

 vibrating strings; (IV) vibrating columns or currents of air. 



Musical instruments are put into vibration or functioned: (1) imme- 

 diately, by human agency only; ('2) mediately, by means of devices in 

 the hand; (3) mechanically, through the agency of keyboards and the 

 like, and (4) automatically, by machinery, which demands no skill; 

 (5) iEolian harps and wind bells are vibrated without human agency. 

 There are five methods employed in playing, namel} 7 , striking or ham- 

 mering; picking or twanging; rubbing with the hand, bow, wheel, etc.; 

 blowing; and sympathetically. 



The four grand divisions have been mounted, where practicable, so 

 as to indicate geographic and ethnic distribution, and arranged in sets 

 as related to the musical scale. Some advance has been made in the 

 literature of music, but none in collecting portraits of composers, 

 instrument makers, or writers on the subject, 



