Oct. 1 90 1. 



Annual Report of the Director. 



21 



department, having been placed in order, was occupied for the first 

 time this year by a collection illustrating the games of the North 

 American Indians. In Hall 8 were placed seventeen large upright 

 cases and in these the Wattron collection and portions of the col- 

 lections secured by Assistant Curator Owen were installed. The col- 

 lection of relics from the Swiss Lake dwellings, presented by the Vice- 

 President, as noted in the last Report, was placed in new cases in an 

 alcove in the North Court, where it forms a valuable addition to the 

 Archaeological collections of Europe. The collection secured by 

 Assistant Curator Simms from the tribes of the Paiman and Yuman 

 stocks was identified and labeled and now occupies Hall 15. An eth- 

 nological group of six figures, illustrating the more important domes- 

 tic activities of the Puget Sound Indians, was completed and placed 

 on exhibition. 



The Curator of the Department of Zoology reports that several 

 of the divisions are exceedingly cramped for room and that further 

 installation of specimens in these divisions will be difficult. The 

 overhauling and re-installation of the Conchological collections has 

 been completed so that they now occupy thirty-two table cases, all 

 identified and labeled. A striking group of the northern Wart Hog 

 was placed on exhibition in the West Court and has already attracted 

 much attention. In other divisions of Zoology, more attention has 

 been paid to the study collections, which are all in a highly meritor- 

 ious and accessible condition. 



In order that a systematic re-installation of the large economic 

 collections might be pushed and augmented, and this valuable mate- 

 rial, which has only had a geographic installation since the opening of 

 the Museum, might be brought into a more fitting condition, two new 

 office rooms for the Curator of Botany and his assistant have been 

 built upon the main gallery and types of three styles of cases, 

 designed for economic installation, viz.: (i) wall cases, (2) floor cases 

 and (3) table cases. Two floor cases and twelve wall cases have been 

 built, and fourteen more are in process of construction. The time of 

 the Curator since the first of May has been employed in filling gaps in 

 various groups of economic material, writing descriptive labels and 

 installing in monographic completeness such material as it has been 

 possible to acquire. The cases finished to date are : The utilization 

 of cocoanut fiber (2 cases); licorice and vegetable waxes case); 

 the destructive distillation of wood (j4 case); the utilization of pine 

 needle fiber (i case); the utilization of cork (2 cases); Paraguay and 

 Japan tea (i case); Indian corn (i case). Several others are brought 

 near to completion. Several entirely unique designs in graphic 



