122 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1884. 



entry in the records is generally supplemented by a drawing of the 

 specimen. As many of the vases reach the Museum in a fragmentary 

 state, it is found desirable to have them carefully restored. In this 

 work Mr. Walther is extremely skillful. Care is taken that such res- 

 torations do not, in any way, falsify the original characters of the ves- 

 sel. 



The curator has been engaged during the year in the study of por- 

 tions of the collection, first, for the purpose of securing the best pos- 

 sible classification of the material for Museum purposes, and second, 

 with the view of publishing a monograph upon the aboriginal pottery of 

 America. One paper has been prepared on the " Pottery of the An- 

 cient Pueblos," and another upon the " Ancient Ware of the Middle 

 Mississippi Valley." They are supplemented by a third paper upon the 

 ''Origin of form and ornament in the Ceramic Art." These papers will 

 appear in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. In 

 addition, a short study of the ceramic products of a section exposed in 

 the city of Mexico has been made. This will appear in the proceedings 

 of the Anthropological Society of Washington. 



It will be seen that the collection, already an extremely valuable one, 

 promises in the near future to be worthy of a national museum, but 

 there are many gaps that must be filled up before it can be considered 

 satisfactory to students of American archaeology. The collections 

 from all parts of Mexico and the northern Central American states 

 need especial attention. In South American material we are still far 

 behind the museums of Europe. 



