Report of the President. 2 1 



of the hall are filled with collections secured by the Jesup North 

 Pacific Expedition on the Island of Vancouver and in British 

 Columbia and Alaska ; the other collections from the same 

 region are so arranged as to particularly illustrate different sub- 

 jects pertaining to the manufactures, arts, ceremonies and mode 

 of life of the people. This hall was re-opened to the public on 

 Thanksgiving Day. 



In December the arrangement of the west hall (No. 408) on 

 the fourth floor was completed, and it was immediately afterward 

 thrown open to the public. This hall is devoted to the archaeology 

 of Mexico and Central America, and contains the instructive and 

 imposing series of casts presenting in fac-simile the great stela?, 

 altars and other large stone sculptures, and many slabs with finely 

 carved bas-reliefs. The numerous hieroglyphic inscriptions on 

 these sculptured stones, the representations of mythical animals 

 and the symbolic carvings, furnish a mass of material for the study 

 of the ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America which 

 is unsurpassed in any museum. Added to this are many original 

 specimens of sculptured stones, of pottery and of ornaments, 

 together with a remarkable collection of carvings and ornaments 

 of jadeite and an exhibit of copper objects. To further facilitate 

 the study of the Mexican pictograph writing and the Maya hiero- 

 glyphs, there are here placed on exhibition reproductions of a 

 number of ancient Mexican and Maya codices. The student is 

 thus provided in this single hall with materials for study which, 

 before this collection was brought together, he could not have seen 

 except by traveling long distances in America and Europe in order 

 to find a sculpture here and a codex there. In this hall he can 

 compare the objects directly one with another as he carries on his 

 investigations. It is unquestionably an unequaled exhibit for the 

 encouragement of research, — one that will naturally lead to the 

 further study of ancient American civilizations. As the difficulty 

 of securing such material increases from year to year, the value of 

 such a collection is correspondingly enhanced. We are greatly 

 indebted to the Duke of Loubat, the generous patron who has 

 made it possible for the Museum to make this unique exhibit, — 

 the most important collection in existence for the study of the 

 ancient civilizations of Mexico and Central America. 



