FUTURE SCOPE AND ARRANGEMENT OF EXHIBITIONS 



entirely practicable. Through our expeditions and through the gifts 

 of the late King Leopold of Belgium we shall soon be able to give a 

 complete synthetic treatment of this remarkable country. At the end 

 of the hall may be an exhibit of the entirely unique LIFE OF AUS- 

 TRALIA, its vegetation, its peculiar mammals, birds, and fishes, and 

 its inferior human tribes. Unfortunately the Museum possesses few 

 materials for this exhibit at present. 



Halls arranged on the same principle will extend in geographic 

 sequence around this entire floor. Thus the visitor passes, in the 

 Southeast Hall, into the SOUTH ASIATIC LIFE, materials for which 

 are already in the Museum and will be amplified in the course of the 

 next few years; this life is closely akin, in fact, it was only in recent 

 geologic time detached from, that of Africa. In the same hall we next 

 pass into the LIFE OF NORTHERN ASIA, which is closely akin to 

 that of the northerly region of America ; and thus by ai> entirely natural 

 transition we enter the BOREAL LIFE OF ALASKA AND BRITISH 

 COLUMBIA, vast materials for which are already in the possession 

 of the Museum or on exhibition. 



Passing around we enter the NORTH AMERICAN LIFE of the 

 South Hall, an extension of the collections already displayed there, 

 which may extend into the South Central Pavilion. This will lead 

 the visitor naturally into the Life of the Southern Portions of North 

 America, the so-called Sonoran Zone, which, in turn, will introduce us 

 naturally into the SOUTH AMERICAN LIFE, from the Andes to 

 the Pampas, Patagonia, and Terra del Fuego. Materials for the 

 exhibits are partly in the Museum, partly to be collected through our 

 proposed expeditions in South America. The remainder of this hall 

 may be devoted to the CIRCUMPOLAR LIFE, or LIFE OF THE 

 ARCTIC and ANTARCTIC regions, connecting with the LIFE OF 

 THE ESKIMO, which may be removed from the floor below. Superb 

 materials for the exhibits of Arctic life are already in hand through 

 the Peary expeditions. It is proposed to enter actively upon Antarctic 

 exploration to supplement our decidedly limited materials from this 

 region. 



[139] 



