3 
INTRODUCTION. 
The Guide locates, by means of plans and a system of num- 
bers, the principal objects of interest in the Halls, Courts, Alcoves, 
and Galleries. The diagrams are accompanied by brief de- 
scriptions. The Columbian Rotunda and the Columbus Memorial 
Halls are described first because of the historical significance 
attached to them. The Departments are then taken up separately 
in the order of their usual sequence — Geology, Botany, Zoology, 
Ornithology, Anthropology and the Transportation collections. 
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 maybe 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 loi.) 
