234 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1384. 



Butte, Utah, to which reference has already been made; two specimens 

 of glacial polished mica, received from Prof. F. W. Clarke ; one large 

 block glacial polished marble, gift of the Gouverneur Marble Company: 

 a plate of sand-eroded glass, of especial interest as showing the remark- 

 able eroding power of sand when blown by the wind, and sundry slabs 

 of sandstone with ripple-marks and sun-cracks upon their surfaces. 

 There is also an interesting series of models, which may be referred to 

 here, including the Grand Canon of the Colorado; the Yellowstone 

 National Park; the Elk Mountains, Colorado; the Gulf of Mexico ; the 

 Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and Mount Vesuvius, Italy. Owing to 

 the large size of the material that would be requisite for a display, 

 phenomena of this class must necessarily be shown to a great extent by 

 photographs, or illustrations of some sort, and models. 



Routine ivork of the year. — Since the middle of July my entire time has 

 been devoted to the preparation of exhibits for the New Orleans Expo- 

 sition. To aid in this work a force of three stone-cutters, one stone- 

 polisher, one laborer, and two clerks was employed for periods varying 

 from six weeks to six months. During this time there were prepared 

 and shipped to New Orleans the following collections: A type collection 

 of the building and ornamental stones of the United States, comprising 

 358 specimens; an educational series of rocks in the form of hand speci- 

 mens, 3 by 4 by 1 inches, comprising 500 specimens; and the structural 

 series of rocks and collection of rock-forming minerals already referred 

 to. There was also obtained for this purpose, from the U. S. Geological 

 Survey, a series of 198 specimens of rocks illustrating the geology of 

 the Com stock Lode and Washoe district, Nevada. 



Other work of the year which may be mentioned here was the prep- 

 aration of 1,557 labels for the exhibition series and 1,174 cards for the 

 card catalogue. There have also been prepared some 200 thin sections 

 of rocks, making the entire number of these now in the collection some 

 3,200. Prior to May 31 I was assisted in this and other clerical work 

 by Mr. John H. Fillmore, U. S. N., and since July 11 by Mr. L. H. Mer- 

 rill. 



Owing to the pressure of the routine work of the Museum and the 

 preparation for the New Orleans Exposition but little time could be 

 given to original work or investigations with a view to publication. 

 But two, and these very brief, papers have been prepared by myself. 

 These are "On Prochlorite from the District of Columbia" (Proc. U. 

 S. N. M., 1884, p. 67), and "On Hornblende Andesites from the new 

 Bogosloff Volcano" (Science, December 12, 1884, p. 524). No papers 

 have been published on material belonging to the department by parties 

 not connected with the Museum, 



Present condition of the collections. — The present condition of the col- 

 lection may be briefly stated as follows : The total number of specimens 

 in the reserve series is not less than 15,000, of which some 3,000 are 

 now on exhibition (this includes the collections sent to New Orleans); 



