30 EEPOET OF :N"ATI0NAL. museum, 1925 



ACCESSIONS DESERVING SPECIAL NOTICE 



Ethnological material collected by the Marsh-Darien expedition 

 in southeastern Panama was presented to the Museum through R. O. 

 Marsh, of Brockport, N. Y. The Smithsonian Institution was repre- 

 sented on this expedition by John L. Baer, who, before his tragic 

 death, studied the ethnology and anthropology of the Choco Indians 

 of the Pacific slope and of the Cuna tribes of the Darien interior. 

 The collection is representative of the two tribes mentioned, as well 

 as of the Caribbean coast Tule or Towali of southeastern Panama. 

 It includes several hundred articles employed in the daily life of 

 these Indians in their industrial and ceremonial arts and affords a 

 valuable guide to their technique and decorative design. Included 

 are decorated calabashes, domestic utensils of calabash, wood, and 

 stone; hunting and fishing weapons; boats and paddles; pottery 

 objects, such as vases, canteens, stove censers, and globose bowls; 

 toys and figurines of carved wood and pottery ; carved and decorated 

 spirit images; a spirit house of the Choco Indians built of balsa 

 wood, mortised and joined, and profusely decorated with designs in 

 red, yellow, and black vegetable dyes; amulets and fetishes consist- 

 ing of prehistoric stone celts ; basketry ; bark cloth ; musical instru- 

 ments; featherwork; basketry and woven cotton headdresses — in 

 general, a representative selection of the material culture of aborig- 

 inal southeastern Panama. 



A beautiful selection of South American decorative art in feather- 

 work and in the metallic green elytra of a species of beetle was re- 

 ceived as a loan from J. G. Culbertson. This collection also includes 

 a shrunken human head prepared by the Jivaro Indians of Ecuador. 

 A collection from southeastern Panama, presented by William Mark- 

 ham, included gold disk earrings, brass nose rings. Pan's pipes, 

 weapons, ba^^k cloth, and examples of applique embfoidery in picto- 

 graphic designs from the San Bias coast. The gift of a beautiful 

 ancient Mexican serape by Mrs. H. M. Packard is a valuable addition 

 to the Museum collection of Central American textile art design. 



The bequest of 124 California Indian baskets by Miss Ella F. 

 Hubby, through Rollin G. Hubby, completes a series begun several 

 years ago by Miss Hubby and serves to make the Hubby collection 

 in the National Museum the most outstanding collection of California 

 Indian baskets in existence, both in variety of types represented and 

 in beauty of individual specimens. The collection is accompanied 

 by a carefully prepared catalogue and a scientific description of each , 

 basket. 



The private ethnological collections of United States Army oflS.cers 

 who participated in Indian wars and in campaigns in the Philip- 

 pines are often quite extensive. Two such collections were received 

 during the year by the Museum. One of these, presented by Gen. 



