DEPARTMENT OF PREHISTORIC ANTHROPOLOGY. 125 



sion or to enlarge upon its importance, we may safely felicitate our- 

 selves that our labors in this direction have been of substantial benefit 

 in the world of American prehistoric anthropology, and that as a result 

 of these labors the year 1888 will hereafter be reckoned as the date 

 when the existence of a paleolithic period in America and the occupa- 

 pation of our continent by man during that period was definitely estab- 

 lished. 



In addition to the foregoing work I have been employed in the prep- 

 aration of the descriptive catalogue heretofore mentioned, of which I 

 have now a pile of manuscript, cuts, and photographs 6 or 7 inches in 

 height. 



From the 1st of June to the 30th, and continuing into the present 

 year, the force of the office has, after the current business, been occu- 

 pied with the preparation, arrangement, and installation of the prehis- 

 toric exhibit at the Cincinnati Centennial Exposition. 



The number of accessions to the collections of this department during 

 the year has been 109. The number of specimens received has been 

 6,972 ; specimens sent in exchange, 821 ,- net increase of specimens, 6,151. 



The principal accession (No. 19931) was the archiTeologic collection 

 of Dr. Rau, bequeathed by bim to the U. S. National Museum. He had 

 been an enthusiastic archaeologist and this was the collection of his 

 life-time. He added nothing to his private collection after his appoint- 

 ment as curator in this department. He bequeathed the following 

 objects : 



Four hundred and seventy-four European (137071-137546), prehis- 

 toric; thirteen hundred and sixty-seven North American (137618- 

 138984), prehistoric, and eighty-nine of our modern Indian. The Eu- 

 ropean objects he had procured by exchange ; the Indian objects were 

 for the most part those which he had procured either directly from the 

 Indians or from persons who had so received them. But the thirteen 

 hundred and sixty-seven North American prehistoric objects were for the 

 most part his own finds and the direct result of his own investigations in 

 the field. Some of his specimens were considered by him to be new 

 forms, those not theretofore known, and upon which he placed a cor- 

 respondingly high value. A spear-point, now displayed in the synop- 

 tical exhibit, from Washington County, Missouri, is of rose quartz. 

 The beauty of its material and the elegance of its workmanship caused 

 it to be prized highly by Dr. Eau, and it may be justly regarded as one 

 of the finest of its kind. 



During the year many accessions of paleolithic implements were re- 

 ceived in answer to Circular 36. The greater number of these consisted 

 of only a few specimens, but they aggregated a great number. Among 

 the accessions the following are of sufficient importance to justify special 

 mention : 



Mr. Elmer R. Reynolds, of Washington City, sent (accession 20497, 

 Catalogue Nos. 339401-139412) two hundred and fifty-nine specimens, of 



