12 REPORT OxN NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1885. 



D.— REVIEW OE THE ADMINISTRATIVE WOEK OF THE 



YEAR. 



9. ACCESSIONS TO THE MUSEUM. 



Accessions to the Museum are acquired by gift, by exchanges with 

 home or foreign institutions, by the deposit of the collections of various 

 surveys and Government departments, from special expeditions, or as a 

 result of the explorations carried on, in whole or in part, by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, U. S. Fish Commission, and National Museum. 



The total number of packages recorded by the registrar as received 

 during the period covered by this report was 10,591. Of this number, 

 3,884 contained specimens for the National Museum, forming 658 ac- 

 cessions (Nos. 15551-16208), an accession frequently including the con- 

 tents of many boxes or packages. The remainder were intended for the 

 Smithsonian Institution and the U. S. Fish Commission, or for officers 

 connected therewith. The increase in the number of incoming packages 

 may be illustrated by the statement that during the entire year 1884 

 the number received was 5,507, only a little more than half the number 

 (10,591) received during the first six months of 1885. The above fig- 

 ures also show a proportional increase in the number of accessions, 

 there being 658 received during the first half of 1885 against 1,084 for 

 the entire year 1884. An annotated list of the accessions will be found 

 in Part IV of this report. Some of the most important are discussed 

 at greater length in the curators' reports, in Part II. 



There is a great increase in the number of ores, minerals, &c., sent 

 for analysis. The curators are always willing to furnish careful identi- 

 fications of specimens sent, but cannot, of course, undertake detailed 

 analyses unless the Museum should be ordered by Congress to make 

 special provisions for work of this character. 



Upon receipt of an accession the registrar writes upon an accession 

 card the name and address of the sender, together with the nature of 

 the specimen or specimens forming the accession. This card is sub- 

 mitted to the management for assignment to one of the scientific de- 

 I)artments. When assigned, the accession is transferred to the labora- 

 tory of the department, together with the card and all papers bearing 

 upon it. If an accession contains objects of more than one kind, the 

 collections are sent to the assorting-room, where they are separated 

 before leaving the hands of the registrar. As soon as the curator has 

 examined the accession he indorses a brief statement as to its charac- 

 ter and value upon the card, returning this, with the papers, to the 

 registrar. These are transmitted to the office of the executive clerk, 

 whose duty it is to attend to the necessary correspondence. Finally 

 the x)apers are returned to the registrar to be filed. 



