KEPOET OP THE SECKETARY. 39 



ing mainly of historical and ethnological objects and jjaintings, were 

 also received. 



The additions in ethnology came mainly from the Philippine 

 Islands and other parts of the Far East, from Paraguay and Dutch 

 Guiana, and from the middle and western United States. Maine, 

 Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky were chiefly rep- 

 resented in the contributions to prehistoric archeologj^^, while Egyp- 

 tian and Greco-Roman antiquities and small lots of materials from 

 various European localities composed the principal acquisitions in 

 historic archeology. The division of physical anthropology received 

 valuable accessions, mainly of skeletal remains, from many sources, 

 the most noteworthy consisting of a large collection made by the 

 curator in Mongolia. In the division of mechanical technology the 

 most extensive additions were to the section of firearms and other 

 weapons, and included several early and rare pieces; while in the 

 division of graphic arts they were illustrative of recent methods of 

 pictorial reproduction. Most prominently to be noted in connection 

 with the division of history was the gift by Mr. Eben Appleton of 

 "The Star Spangled Banner," which had been exhibited as a loan 

 since 1907. This witness of the gallant defense of Fort McHenry 

 during its unsuccessful bombardment by the British fleet on Sep- 

 tember 13 and 14, 1814, immortalized by the stirring verses of Francis 

 Scott Key, has been accorded a conspicuous place of honor in the 

 principal hall of history. Among other notable acquisitions were 

 memorials of the Washburn family and of Generals U. S. Grant and 

 Frederick D. Grant; a bronze cannon, with its wooden carriage, 

 brought to America by General Lafayette and used in the Revolution ; 

 over 21,000 postage stamps and postal cards, added to the large collec- 

 tion from the Post Office Department; the Titanic memorial gold 

 medal issued by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission; and, as a 

 loan, the collection of historical china assembled by the late Rear 

 Admiral F. W. Dickins, United States Navy, consisting of about 500 

 pieces, and including a large number of fine examples of presidential 

 china from the administration of Washington to that of Benjamin 

 Harrison. 



For some of its most important acquisitions the department of 

 biology was indebted to several expeditions to distant regions, con- 

 ducted at private expense. The most extensive of these, undertaken by 

 Mr. Childs Frick, who was accompanied by Dr. E. A. Mearns, United 

 States Army (retired), and others, visited Abyssinia and British 

 East Africa, and was absent from January to September, 1912. 

 The birds obtained, numbering over 5,000, have been deposited in 

 the Museum. On a hunting trip to the region of the Altai Moun- 

 tains, in Asia, Dr. Theodore Lyman, of Harvard University, with 

 the assistance of Mr. N. Hollister, of the Museum staff, secured about 

 650 specimens of mammals and birds, which have been shared be- 



