Appendix 1. 



REPORT ON THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the opera- 

 tions of the United States National Museum for the fiscal year 

 ending June 30, 1912 : 



SUMMARY OF THE TEAR'S PROGRESS. 



By the close of the year the natural history departments of the 

 Museum had been quite fully established in the new building, only a 

 small amount of exhibition material remaining to be transferred. 

 The laboratories had been occupied for some time, and the reserve 

 collections brought over from the older buildings had been mainly 

 arranged in the more ample and convenient quarters provided for 

 them. The work of classification had necessarily to be in large part 

 suspended during the period of moving, but the opportunity was 

 availed of to expedite the labeling and recording, and these collec- 

 tions are now, as a whole, in much better condition and far more 

 accessible for reference and study than at any previous time in the 

 history of the Museum. The task of moving was both arduous and 

 delicate^ involving, as it did, the handling of several million speci- 

 mens of all sizes and all degrees of hardiness without injury and 

 without the loss or disarrangement of labels. That it was accom- 

 plished satisfactorily in such a remarkably short space of time is 

 especially gratifying, in view of the fact that the exigencies of the 

 current work were fully met and no cessation occurred in the receipt 

 of new material. 



The installation of the exhibition collections, however, could not 

 be hastened in the same way. A much greater time is required for 

 the construction of the cases, which are more elaborate in character 

 than those intended for storage, and but few of the cases used in the 

 older buildings are adapted to the new building, though many have 

 been temporarily employed. It has also been necessary to reject a 

 large number of the older exhibition specimens as of inferior quality 

 for the purpose, and of those which are being utilized many require 

 to be thoroughly renovated if not entirely done over. The new ex- 

 hibitions, however, are intended to consist in great measure of fresh 

 materials, much of which has been recently acquired, and to represent 

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