DEPARTMENT OF ETHNOLOGY. 127 



of Belgium, and, in the upper story, the Raveustein collection of gems 

 and antiquities. In Amsterdam, Leyden, and the Hague are world- 

 famed collections. In the first-named city the museum building is quite 

 imposing and the representations of Dutch life are worth studying. The 

 curator was extremely unfortunate in missing Dr. Schmeltz and other 

 ethnologists. The historical and ethnological collections here rank with 

 those of London, Paris, Berlin, and Copenhagen. In Antwerp is the 

 Plantinian collection, perhaps tbe most complete technical unit exhibit 

 in the world. In the National Museum at Washington a perfect speci- 

 men includes three requisites : a genuine object, pictures of the object 

 in process of manufacture and in use, and finally, full description of its 

 origin, structure, and function. These lay the foundation for the cab- 

 inet, the portfolio, and the archives. The Plantinian museum shows 

 the history of the art of printing, in machinery and appliances, in pic- 

 tures and in histories of printing and apparatus. 



Time would not allow the curator to extend his visit further than to 

 the museums mentioned. The prevailing impression left upon his mind 

 is that, varying as they do in their stock of material and genius of their 

 directors, there is no one classific concep t in which all should be arranged 

 The best results are reached in those collections where the material is 

 servant to a master mind. 



PRINCIPAL ACCESSIONS. 



The accessions to the ethnological collections of the National Museum 

 during the year to which special attention should be called are the fol- 

 lowing : 



Mr. Bomyn Hitchcock, returning from Japan, after a two-years' so- 

 journ, has enriched the ethnographic series with many most desirable 

 specimens, gathered on the spot with the view of illustrating the life of 

 the people. Costumes were secured which truly represent Japanese 

 common life. The full contents of a kitchen, the apparatus of character- 

 istic crafts, weights and measures, furniture, and a large series connected 

 with Japanese religion, help to illustrate the true Japanese life. Mr. 

 Hitchcock spent much time among the Ainos, utilizing his talent as an 

 artist to add value to his material secured by meaus of many pictures. 

 This Aino material, fully labeled, is installed together in the Museum. 

 A life-sized figure of a man in costume, models of the house, granary, 

 bear-cage, and sacred hedge in miniature, specimens of Aino handicraft, 

 and a series of photographs enable the visitor to gain a slight concep- 

 tion of the Aino manners and customs. 



The Museum African material has been enriched by accessions from 

 the Inhambane Zulus, collected by the missionary, Rev. E. H. Richards, 

 and presented by the Oberlin College. 



The United States Eclipse Expedition was able, through its natural- 

 ist, Mr. W. H. Brown, to secure for the Museum its first material from 

 Angola. To this must be added the generous gift of Mr. J. H. Camp 

 from the Congo. Fortunately, while these three collections were being 



