Oct.  1895. 
Annual  Report  of  the  Director. 
15 
corresponding  to  the  numbers  of  the  catalogue.  Correspondence 
relating  to  offers  of  material  are  preserved  in  the  same  manner  and  an 
alphabetical  card  index  containing  all  names  that  enter  into  the 
correspondence  is  kept  for  each  set  of  files. 
The  catalogue  of  specimens  or  "  Department  Inventory"  is  pre- 
pared by  the  Curators  of  departments.  A  set  of  books  has  been  pro- 
vided each  department  and  the  inventorying  is  being  pushed  as 
rapidly  as  time  and  circumstances  permit.  The  cataloguing  of 
specimens  is,  of  course,  an  immense  undertaking,  but  the  progress 
thus  far  made  is  satisfactory.  In  this  direction  the  following  has 
been  accomplished:  Department  of  Anthropology,  15,000  cards; 
Department  of  Botany,  9,041  entries:  Department  of  Geology,  8,000 
entries,  4,000  cards;  Department  of  History,  1,455  entries;  Depart- 
ment of  Industrial  Arts,  3,261  entries;  Division  of  Transportation 
7,251  entries;  Department  of  Zoology,  388  entries;  Department  of 
Ornithology,  1,900  entries;  Library,  9,551  entries. 
Accessions. — A  detailed  list  of  all  of  the  accessions  received  for 
the  Museum,  either  from  donations,  loans,  deposits,  for  examination, 
Museum  expeditions,  and  purchases,  accompanies  this  report.  As 
will  be  observed,  the  number  of  the  accessions  during  the 
year  has  been  quite  large;  statistics  do  not  signify  much  where 
there  is  such  a  variation  in  the  size  and  character  of  the  accessions 
themselves.  Your  attention  is  therefore  directed  to  a  few  of  the 
larger  and  more  notable  acquisitions.  The  material  received 
through  Museum  expeditions,  especially  that  of  Mr.  Allison  V. 
Armour,  referred  to  elsewhere,  has  added  a  large  amount  of  valuable 
scientific  material  to  the  collections  of  several  departments.  The 
donations  and  purchases  in  Egyptian  archeology  has  enabled  the 
Department  of  Anthropology  to  devote  an  entire  hall  to  their 
exhibition,  and  helps  to  fill  the  great  need  of  material  illustrating  the 
archeology  of  the  Old  World.  Friends  of  the  Museum  have  been 
liberal  in  their  donations  to  the  Department  of  Botany,  and  particular 
mention  should  be  made  of  the  generous  contributions  of  Mrs.  M.  S. 
Snyder,  who  has  sent  extensive  collections  of  both  phanerogamic  and 
cryptogamic  plants.  The  Department  of  Geology,  besides  acquiring 
a  large  amount  of  new  material  by  the  recent  visit  of  the  Curator  to 
the  New  England  States,  has  been  the  recipient  of  numerous 
individual  specimens  and  complete  suites  of  ores  and  minerals.  An 
equipment  of  microscopic  and  scientific  apparatus  for  cutting  sections 
of  rock  and  mineral  for  microscopic  examination  will  enable  the  Curator 
to  carry  on  lines  of  investigation  that  would  otherwise  have  been  im- 
possible. In  the  Department  of  History  the  parts  of  the  group  of  the 
Columbus  Quadriga  were  assembled  in  the  Museum  model  room  and 
