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REPORT OF THE HONORARY CURATOR OF 
THE ECONOMIC COLLECTIONS 
Dr. N. L. Brirton, DirectTor-1n-CHIEF. 
Str: I have the honor to submit the following report for 
the year 1904: 
As proposed in my last annual report, the year has been 
devoted chiefly to caring for the collections already in hand, 
installing and rearranging them in the new cases, and com- 
pleting their labeling. 
Considerable has, however, been done in securing new 
acquisitions, more than 500 specimens having been added. 
One of the most important additions consists in a large 
number of twigs, winter-buds, and fruits, connected with the 
North American dendrological collection, most of which 
have been collected for the purpose by Dr. Shafer. The 
increasing interest of botanists, in all departments, in the 
winter characters of plants, lends great scientific interest to 
this series, aside from its economic relations. 
Mr. Nash has supplemented his wood collections from 
Haiti by a series of 20 specimens from the island of Inagua. 
Dr. Small has added to our tannin exhibit a fine series 
of specimens from Florida, illustrating the tanning products 
of saw palmetto and mangrove. Dr. Small also brought 
from southern Florida some specimens of wild lemons and 
oranges, showing a remarkable adaptation of that region to 
the growth of these fruits. 
From Dr. MacDougal we have received an extensive series 
of specimens representing confections made by the Indians 
and Mexicans of the southwestern United States and adjacent 
Mexico, from the fruits and stem-pulp of various cactuses. 
Probably the most important addition of the year, from a 
strictly economic standpoint, is a large collection of india 
rubbers, presented by The India Rubber World, of this city, 
and forming an excellent illustration of what is now being 
