16 WORKROOMS 



iii«;- tlic Musciiin McmlxTs of tlic work of tlic institution. ^i\'in^ 

 tlic results of tlic many expeditions, tellinj^ of the collections made, or 

 more important information «»;athered. It also describes at lenj!;th 

 interest in«> oi- noteworthy installati(;ns. and notes the accessions to the 

 various departments, chanj2;es in tiie i)ersonnel of the Museum, and 

 elections to Membership. The Illustrdtcd (luidc Lcdjlcts deal with 

 exhibits of ])articulai- interest or importance, such as t he Habitat ( Iroups 

 of Birds, the Evolution of the Horse, Meteorites, the Indians (jf Manhat- 

 tan, calling attention to imi)ortant objects on exhibition and giving 

 information in regard to them. The JIdndbooks, the first of which, 

 on the Indians of the Plains, has just been issued, deal with su})jects or 

 topics rather than ol)jects. Thus the Plains Indians Handbook, by 

 Dr. Wissler, is not merely a guide to the exhibition hall, but tells of the 

 life and customs of these Indians, their language, political organization, 

 religious beliefs and ceremonies. 



The distribution of these popular i)ul)lications is a part of the educa- 

 tional work of the Museum, as are the exhibits and lectures, and so far 

 they have been necessarily sold below the cost of publication, as is done 

 by other Museums. {Sec list at end of this Guide.) 



An important part of the Museum, not seen by the pul)lic, is the 



w k h workshops, located in the basement and i)rovided with 



machinery of the most improved pattern. Here, among 



other things, are constructed the various types of cases used in the 



Museum, including the light, metal-frame case, devised in the institution. 



Still other rooms, which, of necessity, are not open to the public, are 

 the laboratories, wherein is carried on the varied work of preparing 

 exhibits, work which calls for the services of a very considerable number 

 of artists and artisans. 



Here are cast, modeled, or mountinl the figures for th(> many groups 

 from Man to Myxine, here leaves are made to grow and flowers to })loom 

 as acces.sories for ])easts,* birds and fishes, to say nothing of reptiles 

 and amphibians, and here, with painstaking care, are slowly created 

 in glass and wax the magnificnl co]:)ies of invertebrates. 



P'rom all this it may be gathered that a museum is a very busy place, 

 nuich more so than the casual visitor is ai)t to imagine. In fact, a very 

 good nmseum man has said that a museum is nuich like an iceberg, 

 seven-eighths of it under water and invisible. We will now proceed 

 to the visible eighth. 



B(»fore entering the ^luseum one notices the "Bench ^lark'' estab- 



T> 1- n/r 1 lished bv the U. S. Geological Survev in 1911 on which 

 Bench Mark '^ ^ ^ . .. 



is inscribed the latitude and longitude, 40° 46' 47.17" N., 



73° 58' 41" W.. and lieight abovc^ s(^a \vyv\. 8() feet. 



*Sfi' (iui<i( LaiiUl So. SA 



