REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 81 



William T. Hornaday, president, and Mr. F. A. Lucas, secretary, gave 

 their personal attention to obtaining and arranging the material. The 

 exhibit was large and instructive, occupying a floor space of nearly 

 600 quare feet. It contained specimens of the best work of the leading- 

 members of the society, including Messrs. Hornaday, Lucas, Fraine, 

 Webster, William Palmer, Joseph Palmer, Hedley, Forney, Bailly, 

 Wallace, Jeremiah, and Eichardson. 



THE MINERAL EXHIBIT. 



The exhibit of minerals was collected and arranged under the di- 

 rection of Prof. F. W. Clarke, curator of the department of minerals, 

 and Mr. W. S. Yeates, assistant curator. From the annual report of the 

 curator the following account of the exhibit is taken : 



The department of minerals was represented at the New Orleans Exposition by a 

 collection of the minerals which afford gems and ornamental stones, and by a collec- 

 tion of cut and polished stones. The minerals were classified after Dana's system, and 

 were displayed in seven flat-top table cases. The gems were more difficult to classify, 

 it not being possible to arrange them with advantage, according to their chemical 

 constitution. The best arrangement seemed to be one which would have reference 

 to their intrinsic value ; but it was found more convenient to allow the more un- 

 common stones a place near the lower end of the case in which the gems were exhib- 

 ited. The second and last cases began with quartzes, and was followed by the feld- 

 spars and other ornamental stones. The specimens in these two cases were mounted 

 on white and black velvet pads, which displayed them to great advantage. 



The exhibit was arranged by Mr. Yeates, who visited New Orleans for that purpose. 



THE LITHOLOGICAL EXHIBIT. 



Under the direction of Mr. George P. Merrill, acting curator of the 

 department of lithology and physical geology in the National Museum, 

 a large collection of materials was prepared for New Orleans. Many 

 of the specimens in this exhibit were taken from the duplicates belong- 

 ing to the National Museum, but in order to complete the series Mr. 

 Merrill visited numerous quarries and obtained suitable specimens, 

 many of them being cut and polished before shipping. Mr. Merrill has 

 given the following account of the exhibit prepared by him : 



This exhibit consisted of (1) a collection of three hundred and fifty-eight speci- 

 mens of building and ornamental stones in the form of 4-inch cubes ; (2) a collec- 

 tion of some twelve specimens of foreign and native marbles in the form of polished 

 slabs ; (3) a collection of one hundred and fifty specimens of rock-forming minerals; 

 (4) a collection called a " structural series," intended to represent all the more com- 

 mon forms of rock structure and texture ; (5) a collection of one hundred and ninety- 

 eight specimens of rock illustrating the geology and lithology of the Comstock Lode 

 and Washoe district, Nevada; and (6) a lithological collection comprising five hun- 

 dred specimens of rock of various kinds and from many sources, both native and 

 foreign, this last, together with collections number three and four, forming a part of 

 the regular educational series of the Museum. 



Mr. Merrill went to New Orleans and arranged his exhibit, which was 

 neatly installed, the collection occupying a floor space of nearly 400 

 square feet. 



H. Mis. 170, pt. 2 6 



