EEPOET OF THE SECRETARY. 27 



by the Museum during the last 30 years, had therefore necessarily 

 been held in storage, but the transfer of objects of natural history 

 to the new building has now released large halls for the installation 

 of instructive collections pertaining to art textiles, silk, wool, and 

 cotton manufactures, to arms and armor, ceramics, mineral tech- 

 nology, and to some other general manufacturing industries, in- 

 cluding an exposition of the processes and of the raw materials and 

 finished products. 



The responses received from requests for objects desired to com- 

 plete particular series in this department are very gratifying and 

 indicate a public interest in its still broader development. The 

 educational character of these exhibits, and, in fact, of all objects 

 displayed in the National Museum, is kept constantly in mind. 

 Thus, a small number of specimens or objects well arranged is found 

 to be far better than a large display where the educational feature 

 is overshadowed by what may be termed a picturesque method of 

 installation. The style of cases, the color of the background, and 

 many other details must be carefully studied and worked out with 

 a view to proper harmony in every respect. 



There has been added to the Museum collections an approximate 

 total of 302,133 specimens and objects, as compared with 238,000 

 during the year preceding. The accessions included 140,015 botani- 

 cal, 113,509 zoological, and 14,716 paleontological specimens, besides 

 a number of paintings, art textiles, useful plant products, and objects 

 illustrative of American history. 



In geographical range the accessions covered practically the 

 entire world, ethnological, archeological, biological, and geological 

 objects being received from all parts of North and South America, 

 from Alaska, Siberia, China, Oceanica, Dutch East Indies, Africa, 

 and other lands, the results in large measure of explorations under- 

 taken by the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum either 

 directly or in cooperation with private individuals or Government 

 departments. Among individuals who have thus served the Museum 

 during the year, some of whom I have already mentioned, were Mr. 

 Ghilds Frick, who made collections, especially of birds, in Africa; 

 Dr. Theodore Lyman, who hunted animals in the Altai Mountains in 

 Asia ; Dr. W. L. Abbott, who continued his collecting work in Kash- 

 mir and generously provided for field work in Borneo; Mr. D. D. 

 Streeter, jr., who explored the interior of Borneo; Mr. George Mix- 

 ter, who visited Lake Baikal in Siberia; and Mr. Copley Amory, jr., 

 who made collections of mammals and of fossil species in Alaska. 



One of the interesting additions to the mammal division was a 

 mounted specimen and skeleton of the rare okapi of Africa. Sev- 

 eral noteworthy collections of fossil invertebrates were also received, 

 and among accessions of vertebrate remains were a large series of 



