BEPOBT OF DEPARTMENT OP METALLURGY. 247 



gion, in Michigan, and the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico. 

 Steps have been taken, in connection with the New Orleans work, to 

 gather material from some of these localities, hut so far nothing has 



been received, although I am very hopeful that something may be ac- 

 complished by the requests we have already made. 

 As pointed oat in my former annual reports, the representations of 



metallurgical processes have been the weakest portion of the collections. 

 This is a matter requiring the collection of sj T stematic series, in which 

 the various specimens are interdependent. The collections would not 

 necessarily be at all showy, and it is therefore not so surprising that 

 the Centennial material should have been deficient in this respect. 

 Fortunately, however, the necessity of collecting new material for the 

 New Orleans Exposition has furnished the much -desired opportunity of 

 strengthening the collections in this direction. It is not easy to get col- 

 lections of the kind required. In the first place, only a very few owners 

 of mines or works will take the necessary trouble to get full and com- 

 plete series, and when they do so they frequently do not wish to give 

 the necessary information in order that the specimens shall possess the 

 highest value in an educational series. This reluctance to give infor- 

 mation has been the most serious obstacle the department has met with 

 in its collecting. The design of the collecting has been to commence 

 first with the ore and take series of specimens in the mine taken at 

 various points, which shall be referred to some central starting point, 

 so that the position may be known and traced up afterwards if desira- 

 ble. These specimens are taken to show the various characters of ore 

 produced by a given mine. Again, series of specimens are taken to 

 represent the changes that the ore undergoes in going up and down 

 the mine, and also in going through it both lengthwise and crosswise. 

 The inclosing wall rocks are also thoroughly represented. 



In connection with this collection ns much information as possible 

 has been obtained as to the methods of mining and the habits of the 

 miners. 



After the ore is extracted from the mine it is followed through any 

 process of concentration that it may be subjected to, such as the crush- 

 ing and jigging of the sulphide of copper ores in Montana, the washing 

 of iron ores, or any other operation in preparation for smelting. Each 

 step in these operations is represented, when possible, by specimens of 

 the material that forms the basis of the operation, and by the products, 

 whether they be the valuable ones or the waste products. To the mate- 

 rial as prepared for smelting are added illustrations of all other mate- 

 rials entering into the smelting operation, such as fuels and fluxes. Each 

 step in the smelting operation is illustrated by the different materials 

 entering into the operation and by their products. This is followed 

 through as far as a given mine or works go, and if possible the material 

 is followed on through other works until it reaches its merchantable 

 form. These collections are accompanied and supplemented by all the 



