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 NORTHEEN ASIA, which is closely akin to 
that of the northerly region of America ; and thus by an entirely natural 
transition we enter the BOREAL LIFE OF ALASKA AND BRITISH 
COLUMBIA, vast materials for which are already in the possession 
of the Musemn 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 hfe 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] 
