REPORT OP THE SECRETARY. 15 
Ravenel, the administrative assistant, whose title was changed to 
administrative assistant to the secretary, and on November 1 was 
also designated director of arts and industries. 
The scope of the National Museum embraces many subjects, which 
may be classed under the following headings : 
1. Natural history. 
2. Applied science and art (Arts and Industries). 
3. The fine arts (the National Gallery of Art). 
4. American history. 
These various departments are combined under one administration, 
which insures greater economy and efficiency in management. 
During the war the Museum furnished the Bureau of War Risk 
Insurance with 138,600 square feet of space for its offices. Members 
of the Museum staff in all departments continued to render service to 
the various governmental agencies until the signing of the armistice, 
and their work was successful in bringing the Museum into closer 
relationship with the executive departments. 
The total number of accessions received during the year was 526,- 
845, classified and assigned as follows : Department of Anthropology, 
12,333; Zoology, 442,383; Botany, 40,357; Geology and Mineralogy, 
4,750; Paleontology, 26,050; Textiles, etc., 884; Mineral Technology, 
62 ; and National Gallery of Art, 26. Three thousand and ninety-six 
articles were loaned for exhibition, mainly for the divisions of 
history and American archeology and the Gallery of Art. Pur- 
chases were made from the Frances Lea Chamberlain fund and the 
Heni*y Ward Ranger fund. 
During the yenv the Museum began the collection of a most val- 
uable and interesting series of war relics. One of the most instruc- 
tive features of this collection is an exhibit showing the development 
of the airplane, from the original Langley models to the first Gov- 
ernment-owned aeroplane of the world, purchased by the United 
States from the Wright Brothers in 1909. Through the director of 
military aeronautics, Bureau of Aircraft Production, two types of 
planes used by the French at the front in 1917 were received, and a 
Curtiss training plane of the model used at flying fields all over the 
United States, as well as the first battle plane constructed in this 
country for the United States Government — the DH-4 — made by the 
Dayton- Wright Airplane Co. in 1917. This machine was flown over 
100,000 miles. 
The Department of Anthropology received exceptionally large 
additions relating to the war with Germany. They include the 
Combined Order of Battle Map, corrected to November 11, 1918, 
with its accessories, as used by Gen. Pershing and his staff at 
Chaumont, France, throughout the progress of the American military 
