DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 
NATURE AND PURPOSE OF COLLECTIONS.— The 
collections brought together in the Department of Anthropol- 
ogy are intended mainly to illustrate the more primitive or un- 
civilized phases of the development of the human race. There 
are two well-marked divisions of the subject, and the materials 
illustrating them are separately installed. One relates to man 
himself, to his physical and mental constitution and powers, and 
the other to the works of his hands, to the visible phenomena 
of culture. 
The first division consists of apparatus used in studying the 
greatly varied physical phenomena, and extensive collections of 
crania, casts and other objects, articles and materials, illustrat- 
ing the physical characteristics of the race. These exhibits are 
arranged in the gallery of the East Court. 
The second division comprises very extensive exhibits of 
the handiwork of man, which are placed on the main floor of 
the courts and the halls of the southeast section of the build- 
ing. 
The works of living or historic peoples, are for the most 
part, assembled according to the tribe or nation to which they 
pertain; those of prehistoric peoples are brought together in 
groups according to the locality from which they are derived, 
or to the people, time, or stage of progress they are thought to 
represent, or, otherwise, with reference to some other special 
subject to be illustrated. 
The various groups thus indicated are placed in the halls 
in an order corresponding as far as possible with their original 
geographic relations. In this way the various objects and ar- 
ticles, and through them the people represented, are convenient- 
ly studied and compared. It is also possible, with this arrange- 
ment, to illustrate the striking and profound effect .of environ- 
ment — the local animal, vegetal and mineral resources and the 
varied geographic and climatic conditions — upon the people and 
culture of each region. 
