4 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1884. 



charged with tbe representation of the interests of the General Govern- 

 ment at these expositions, I have devoted the greater portion of my 

 time during the latter half of the year to the work of preparation, an 

 account of which will be given in fuller detail hereafter. Nearly every 

 department of the Museum has necessarily been called upon to assist in 

 this work, and a large proportion of the activity of the force has con- 

 sequently been diverted to this channel. Although the progress of 

 regular work has thereby suffered much interruption and delay, it is 

 hoped that the service will eventually be benefited and final organiza- 

 tion accelerated rather than impeded. At the present time the exposi- 

 tion at New Orleans is in progress, and the collections sent thither by 

 the Museum cover a space fully equal to one-third of the entire exhibi- 

 tion space in the Museum building in Washington. 



In accordance with established custom, the exhibition work has been 

 carried on entirely under the direction of the regular Museum officers, 

 assisted by such additional workers as it was found practicable to en- 

 gage temporarily. Many of our officers accompanied the collections to 

 superintend their installation in the exposition building. Several of the 

 curators are at present absent in New Orleans and will be obliged 

 to return to that city at the close of the exhibition, in May, to attend to 

 the packing and return of the collections. 



Following established usage, I have reviewed the work of the several 

 scientific departments of the Museum, as well as that of the division of 

 administration. The reports of the curators of the several departments 

 are presented in full, their extent and importance being so great as to 

 render this necessary. In my own report I have included an account of 

 the operations of the department of arts and industry, for the present 

 assigned to my care, in preference to preparing a special curator's report 

 upon this department : the reports of certain of the curators of " sec- 

 tions" of this department are, however, furnished with the others. 



In the present report, as in those which have preceded it, certain 

 suggestions relating to the administration of the Museum are made for 

 which I desire to be held individually responsible, and which the reader 

 should not assume to be definitely determined elements of the policy 

 of the Museum, since they may, any or all of them, at some future time, 

 either in their present forms or with modifications, be recommended for 

 adoption, or pronounced undesirable. 



This being the first of the separately printed series of Museum reports, 

 some statements which have already been printed in previous reports are 

 repeated, in an abridged form, for the purpose of presenting a general 

 exhibit of the policy of the Museum. 



It had been the desire of myself and my associates to present in this the 

 first report of the new series a somewhat exhaustive statement of the 

 present condition of the Museum, together wit li a review of its past 

 history as a whole and of its several departments: the exigencies of 

 Exposition work having made this impossible, wo, hope to prepare such 

 a report for the coming year. 



