Department of Arts and Industries 



REPORT ON THE DIVISIONS OF MINERAL AND MECHANICAL TECH- 

 NOLOGY 



By Carl W. Mitman, Curator 



COMPARISON OF INCREMENT OF SPECIMENS OF 1923-24 WITH THAT OF 1922-23 



For educational value, enhancement of the National Collections and 

 intrinsic money value, the accessions received by these divisions dur- 

 ing the fiscal year just closed far surpass those received during any 

 of the five years of the writer's incumbency as curator. A total of 38 

 accessions was recorded as over against 32 the year before ; of these, 

 29 were assigned to mechanical technology and 9 to mineral tech- 

 nology. The total number of specimens included in these accessions 

 is 638, of which 429 were assigned to mechanical technology and 209 

 to mineral technology. In comparison Avith last year this is only 

 about one-half as many objects. These, however, cover a wider 

 range of subjects ; for example, of the 1,357 objects received in 1922- 

 23, 969 were assigned to the section of communication, whereas of 

 the 638 specimens received this year but 157 were assigned to this 

 section. In furtherance of the policy inaugurated several years ago 

 of separating from the divisions all strictly biographical material, 

 there were transferred to the division of history 46 specimens per- 

 taining to S. F. B. Morse. 



ACCESSIONS DESERVING OF SPECIAL NOTICE 



The facts stated in the opening sentence of this report make it 

 extremely difficult to make a selection of accessions deserving of 

 special notice, for all of them fall within this category. For the past 

 20 years Emile Berliner, of Washington City, assisted by his son 

 Henry, has engaged in experimental research with a view toward 

 perfecting an aircraft of the vertically lifting type, known as the 

 helicopter. Their efforts were within the past few years crowned 

 with success in that they were able, using a man-carrying plane, to 

 rise vertically from the ground and proceed in a horizontal direc- 

 tion, all under complete control. The airplane which made these 

 successful flights now forms part of the aircraft collection, having 

 been presented to the Museum by Mr. Berliner. In 1911, there was 

 held the initial official demonstration of the feasibility of using air- 



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