XIV INTRODUCTORY. 



tions sent over by their respective departments. Mr. E. I. Geare also 

 accompanied the party as stenographer for work upon the report. 



The collections arrived in London in excellent condition. It was soon 

 found that the space of 10,000 feet asked for by the United States was 

 entirely inadequate for the purposes, being inconveniently arranged and 

 badly cut up by partitions and passage-ways. Additional but insuffi- 

 cient space was subsequently obtained in various parts of the Exhibition 

 grounds, the most useful portion being a section of about 2,500 feet 

 graciously conceded by the Danish commissioner, Mr. Howitz. The 

 life-boats were placed in a shed, erected by us, in one of the gardens, 

 three of the fishing-boats upon the lake, and the salted, smoked, and 

 preserved fish in a special building, put up for articles of this descrip- 

 tion, in au unfortunately remote- portion of the grounds. 



After the opening several weeks were occupied in attaching labels and 

 finally adjusting the collections, but by June 1 everything was in thor- 

 ough order, and the section was generally admitted to possess great in- 

 terest and to be the most important single division of the entire exposi- 

 tion, both on account of its contents and the manner in which they were 

 displayed. 



I desire, in behalf of my associates and myself, to acknowledge the 

 courtesy and aid received at the hands of the managers of the Exhibi- 

 tion, particularly Mr. Edward Birkbeck, chairman of the executive com- 

 mittee, to whom indeed the inception and the success of the Exhibition 

 are mainly to be attributed, Professor Huxley, Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen, 

 Mr. A. J. E. Trendell, literary superintendent, Surgeon-General Francis 

 Day, Mr. Fell- Woods, Mr. W. Oldham Chambers, the Earl of Lauder- 

 dale (Sir James Gibson -Mai tland), the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earl 

 of Ducie. 



Special acknowledgments are also due to Mr. James Eussell Lowell, 

 minister to the court of St. James. 



General E. H. Merritt and Col. L. G. Mitchell, consul-general and vice- 

 consul of the United States in London, and Mr. W. J. Hoppin, secretary 

 of legation, and Mr. William Wesley, should also be mentioned as hav- 

 ing rendered important aid. 



From the opening of the Exhibition, on May 12, to its close, October 

 30, the buildings and grounds were thronged with visitors, not only in 

 the day, but at night, when the buildings and grounds were illuminated 

 by electric lights. The Exhibition was a favorite resort for the London 

 people through the summer, and was rendered more attractive by two 



