3 
INTRODUCTION. 
The Guide locates, by means of plans and a system of num- 
bers, the principle objects of interest in the Halls, Courts, Alcoves, 
and Galleries. The diagrams are accompanied by brief des- 
criptions. The Columbian Rotunda and the Columbus Me- 
morial Halls are described first because of the historical sigmfic- 
cance attached to them. The Departments are then taken up sep- 
arately in the order of their usual sequence, beginning with Nat- 
ural History — Geology, Botany and Zoology — and concluding with 
the Departments relating to Man and his Works— Anthropology 
and Industrial Arts. 
If a general view of the entire Museum is desired, it is sug- 
gested that the Departments be visited in the order above indi- 
cated. After viewing the Columbian Rotunda (see page 9) the 
visitor may proceed through the Reading Room and Lecture 
Hall to the West Pavilion, where are installed the collections 
of Geology (see page 23). The Halls should be visited in the fol- 
lowing order: 35, 36, and 59— Paleontology; 60 and 61— Geo- 
graphic Geology; 62, 63, and 64 — Meteorites and Mineralogy; 
65 — Dynamic Geology; 66 Lithology; 67 to 80 inclusive — Econ- 
omic Geology and Metallurgy. 
Returning to the West Court through Hall 35 the Botanical 
Department may be reached by the stairway in Alcove 102. The cir- 
cuit of the galleries should be made from the West to the North, 
then to the East and finally to the South Gallery. The Botanical 
collections are arranged on a geographical basis, and begin on the 
South Gallery with specimens from Asia, Europe, Africa, and 
follow with the South and North American Series. (See page 95.) 
The Laboratory of Physical and Psychical Anthropology will 
be found on the gallery at the extreme end of the East Court. 
(See page 187.) 
