Report of the President 51 



sylvania Railroad Companies generously transported, free of 

 charge, the material, aggregating 60,000 pounds (with pack- 

 ing), from Grottoes to New York. 



After much experimentation and discussion, a plan for the 

 installation of the general collection of the department was 



adopted which follows closely the method 

 New 



„ devised in the National Museum at Washington 



Exhibitions _ u 



some years ago. The shelves are done away 



with and the specimens are fastened to tablets which rest on 

 metal strips attached to an inclined false back in the upright 

 floor cases. A shelf four inches wide is left at the top of the 



,, . r sloping back for the purpose of sup- 



New Installation of \. s A , v . * „ rl F 



_ , ~ .. porting extra large specimens. When 



General Collection f s s f 



these are not available, the upper por- 

 tion of the case will be used for large photographs, maps and 

 diagrams. The time of Assistant Curator Reeds has been 

 devoted principally to this work. 



There was completed during the year the reproduction of 

 a portion of a cave in Queen Hill, near Bisbee, Arizona, which 

 was broken into during the summer of 1910 

 P p in course of prospecting work in the Copper 



QueenConsolidated Mining Company's grounds. 

 The exterior of this exhibit is made up for the most part of 

 weathered limestone from the surface of the ground near the 

 cave, and represents a weathered cliff with an opening through 

 which the cave itself may be viewed. This cave and the as- 

 sembled specimens from the Copper Queen Mine, which have 

 been for several years in the gem collection in the Museum, 

 now form part of the general Copper Queen Mine exhibit, 

 which is the most prominent and attractive feature in the 

 exhibition hall of the department. 



Early in the year the six small cases of meteorites were 

 removed from the Foyer and installed at the south end of the 

 exhibition hall of the department, where they 

 may be examined to better advantage and where 

 they constitute an attractive feature for the en- 

 trance to the hall. The entire collection of irons was polished 

 and re-etched, greatly improving the appearance of the speci- 

 mens and tending toward their preservation from rust. 



