36 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 



Verde National Park, Colo., under authority from the Department of the In- 

 terior. The number of objects forwarded to Washington from the former 

 locality was 662 and from the latter 501. In these important undertakings, 

 justified by the great historical and scientific significance of the ruins, every- 

 thing that formed an integral part of the structures or could be safely left at 

 the sites was allowed to remain, only such objects being taken away as would 

 tend to attract looting or would be likely to fall into the hands of unwarranted 

 collectors. 



The division of historic archeology was enriched by a manuscript of the 

 Mahabarata, the great epic of India, containing 90,000 couplets, written in 

 Sanscrit characters on palm leaves, a gift from the learned Rajah Sir Sourindro 

 Mohun Tagore. Several interesting additions were made to the very valuable 

 loan collection of Jewish ceremonial objects by the generous friend of the 

 Museum, Haidji Ephriam Benguiat, of New York. 



The collections of physical anthropology, which are not restricted to the 

 human race, but also extend to other groups of the higher vertebrates, received 

 important additions from many widely separated regions. Mention should 

 especially be made of the generous action by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 

 of New York City, in allowing the National Museum to share, without expense, 

 in the results of its Egyptian excavations, which are in charge of Prof. Albert 

 M. Lythgoe. The skeletal remains of the ancient Egyptians found in the tombs 

 uncovered by the explorations, and hitherto not generally preserved, are now 

 being saved and in greater part turned over to the National Museum, where 

 their study should result in interesting contributions on the physcial character- 

 istics of these peoples. A large number of remains were received during the 

 year, and, on the invitation of the Metropolitan Museum, Doctor Hrdlidka, 

 assistant curator in charge of these collections, had the opportunity of visiting 

 Egypt last winter for the purpose of instructing the excavators as to the best 

 methods of preserving and packing the remains for shipment and of making 

 studies on the spot. 



The division of technology received numerous accessions, including many 

 objects transferred from the Patent Office. The subjects principally represented 

 were firearms (of wbich the Museum collection is now the finest in the coun- 

 try), electrical devices, calculating machines, printing presses, the early history 

 of the aeroplane, and watch movements. 



Two gifts of exceptional beauty and value from the Government of China 

 were added to the collections in ceramics. One was a celadon vase of large 

 size and graceful shape, the other one of the famous peachblow vases from the 

 imperial treasure house at Mukden. 



To each of the divisions of graphic arts and musical instruments a few addi- 

 tions were made. Plans were begun for broadening and enlarging the collec- 

 tions of medicine so as to meet the requirements of the recent extensive inves- 

 tigations into this subject, and they will be carried out as soon as additional 

 space becomes available. 



Among many gifts and loans to the division of history, mention should be 

 made of a number of valuable presents to the Hon. Gustavus Vasa Fox by the 

 Czar of Russia during his mission to that country in 1866, and bequeathed to 

 the Museum by his widow; also interesting relics of the Jeannette arctic expedi- 

 tion of 1879-1881, and memorials of Gen. Judson Kilpatrick, U. S. Army, 

 and Commander Harry H. Hosley, U. S. Navy. 



Department of Biology. — The largest amount of zoological material from any 

 single source was derived from the Bureau of Fisheries, and especially from 

 the explorations of the steamer Albatross among the Philippine Islands, in 

 which Dr. Paul Bartsch, assistant curator of mollusks, participated for about 



