REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 73 



must spend part of the time in the field, and part in the care of the specimens. It is 

 also most desirable to foster disinterested collectors, who engage in the work for 

 relaxation without thought of gain. It is the opinion of the Curator that this matter 

 of providing for the purchase of specimens should have attention by the Museum 

 authorities. The interior development of the Division as pursued by the Curator 

 and his assistant has been carried on (1) by the study of correlated objects, publi- 

 cation, and exhibition to the best advantage for educational purposes; (2) by the 

 grouping of ethnic material to show at a glance the life and arts of tribes and peo- 

 ples; (3) the collection of information regarding specimens and filing such data where 

 it is readily available for students and for lables; (4) the storing of photographic 

 blueprints by subjects. This work is being steadily carried on and is improving the 

 status of the division each year. 



Mr. Holmes has planned a sweeping reinstallation of the division 

 of prehistoric archeology. To the exhibits prepared for the Louisi- 

 ana Purchase Exposition will be assigned the space in the middle of 

 the hall. Mr. Ma}nard proposes to enlarge the subject of metrology 

 in all its branches, by originals when possible, and also by copies and 

 models of originals. He also will assiduously increase the material in 

 the section of gunnery, for which the time is propitious. In this con- 

 nection Mr. Maynard has prepared an elaborate classification of the 

 topics under his division. Mr. Brockett plans to very much enlarge 

 the study series in graphic arts by bringing from storage and putting 

 in new drawers much material hitherto unavailable. Doctor Flint, 

 having completed his classification and cataloguing .in the division of 

 medicine, will develop his plan on the lines established. In the divi 

 sion of history, Mr. Beckwith will avail himself of the gallery recently 

 assigned to him to enlarge and improve the study series. The assist- 

 ant curator of the division of physical anthropology, Dr. A. Hrd- 

 licka, makes the following recommendations: 



The time has come when the division of physical anthropology can begin to pre- 

 pare exhibits of great interest and instructive value, relating on the one hand to the 

 American aborigines, and on the other to man in general. The part concerning the 

 Indian would complete the immense ethnological exhibit; that concerning man in 

 general would be a continuation of the series in biology. To achieve these results, 

 the division is in need of the exclusive services of a modeler. A most important 

 part of the Indian exhibits, and at the same time valuable for exchanges with other 

 museums, would be a series of casts of the natives. For this purpose the modeler 

 should take visiting Indians, and also be sent to do field work. In the biological 

 exhibits, an important role would be played by casts of brain and other objects; by 

 representations in plaster of human development and decline; and by showing the 

 numerous types of man. All this will require the constant application of an able 

 modeler through a number of years, and the work can and should be begun at once. 



Doctor Hrdlicka also calls attention to the fact that a compre- 

 hensive biological survey of the people of the United States is a pos- 

 sibility, though it would be difficult, extend over a number of years, 

 and require a large corps of trained aids. There is no other country 

 that presents more vital problems to be solved by such a survey 



