Appendix VIII. 



REPORT ON THE TENNESSEE CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION, NASHVILLE, 



TENN.. 1897. 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the exhibit of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, the National Museum, and other bureaus under the direction of 

 the Institution, at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition. 



In an act of Congress approved December 22, 1896, provision was made for partici- 

 pation in the exposition by the Executive Departments of the Government, the 

 Smithsonian Institution and National Museum, and the United States Fish Com- 

 mission. ' 



The exhibit of the Smithsonian Institution was intended to illustrate as fully as 

 possible the character and scope of the work accomplished by the Institution and 

 the several bureaus under its direction. For obvious reasons the activities of the 

 National Museum could be represented in a more complete manner than was possible 

 in the case of the Institution proper, or of any of the other bureaus under its 

 direction. Almost every department of the National Museum furnished an exhibit, 

 although some of the latter were much fuller than others. 



The space assigned to the Institution was in the northeast corner of the Govern- 

 ment building and comprised about 5,000 square feet. There was a frontage of 101 

 feet on the main aisle running east and west, with a width of 48 feet. At the west 

 end of the space there was a series of alcoves, but otherwise the cases were placed 

 in rows. Two short aisles led from the main aisle, at right angles with it, their 

 inner ends joining an aisle which ran parallel to the main thoroughfare. 



Against the east wall were installed the exhibits of the Institution proper, the 

 Bureau of International Exchanges, the National Zoological Park, and the Astro- 

 Physical Observatory. 



In the center of the north hall was the exhibit of the Bureau of Ethnology. The 

 remainder of the space was devoted to the collections of the National Museum. 



In the windows were transparencies showing the seal of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion; the Smithsonian and National Museum buildings, with interior views of each; 

 four views of the National Zoological Park ; four geological subjects — an Australian 

 coral reef, the Yosemite Valley, the Devil's Tower in Wyoming, and the Mammoth 

 Hot Springs; four zoological subjects — a deep-sea fish, a cuttlefish, a hydroid, and 

 sea-lilies; and eight ethnological subjects. 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



A complete set of the publications of the Institution, including those of the 

 Bureau of Ethnology and the National Museum, formed one of the principal features 

 of the exhibit. Adjoining this was an exhibit of title-pages and some of the more 

 important illustrations in these publications. 



Portraits of James Smithson, the founder of the Institution ; of Secretaries Joseph 

 Henry, Spencer Fullerton Baird, and Samuel Pierjiont Langley, and of the late 

 George Brown Goode, Assistant Secretary, were hung upon the wall. 



In a separate case was displayed a photographic portrait of Thomas G. Hodgkins, 



1 The act referred to is given in full in the Report of the Smithsonian Institution 

 for 1897, Pages xlv-xlvii. 

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