ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  DIRECTOR. 
1898-1899. 
To  the  Trustees  of  the  Field  Columbian  Museum: 
I  have  the  honor  to  present  a  report  of  the  operations  of  the 
Museum  for  the  year  closing  September  30,  1899.  The  same  careful 
attention  to  the  details  and  routine  of  departmental  work  has  been 
continued,  and  the  customary  regime  sustained.  A  greater  amount  of 
new  material  has  been  placed  on  exhibition,  and  the  improvement  in 
the  general  appearance  of  the  Exhibition  Halls  has  been  more  notice- 
able than  during  any  twelve  months  of  which  a  report  has  been  made. 
This  statement  applies  almost  equally  to  each  department,  although 
to  those  associated  with  the  Museum  it  is  more  apparent  in  the  De- 
partments of  Anthropology  and  Zoology.  Few  changes  have  been 
made  in  the  working  staff  of  the  Museum,  and  those  changes  have 
concerned  only  subordinate  positions.  The  discipline  of  the  Institu- 
tion has  been  creditable,  its  progress  ,  has  been  steady  and  definite, 
and  it  is  believed  that  consideration  of  the  minutiae  following  will 
demonstrate  the  wisdom  of  the  carefully  devised  plans  of  the  execu- 
tive committee,  and  the  fidelity  with  which  those  plans  have  been 
executed. 
Income  and  Maintenance. — The  annual  budget  approved  by  the 
executive  committee  provided  the  sum  of  $102,000.00  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Museum  for  the  fiscal  year.  The  actual  amount 
expended  was  $92,736.25,  leaving  a  balance  within  the  anticipated 
expenses  for  the  year  of  $9,263.75.  In  addition  to  the  cost  of 
maintenance,  sums  were  expended  upon  authority  of  the  executive 
committee,  for  collections  and  new  installations,  expeditions,  etc., 
that  brought  the  total  to  $128,936.50.  The  deficit,  as  on  previous 
years,  has  been  met  by  individual  contributions  and  by  the  further 
sale  of  securities.  Comparing  the  expenditures  of  maintenance  this 
year  with  those  of  last  year,  there  is  discovered  a  slight  increase  in 
the  compensation  of  departmental  assistants,  in  part  balanced  by  a 
reduction  in  that  of  the  general  staff  and  in  the  lesser  amount  ex- 
pended for  materials  for  maintenance  and  repairs  to  the  building. 
The  difference  in  the  total  expenditures  for  maintenance,  comparing 
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