Evening star., 1905-10-28
BUILT UP BY GIFTS
Remarkable Advance of the
National Museum.
IT COSTS LITTLE MONEY
COLLECTION has TWICE OUT
GROWN ITS QUARTERS.
Many Cases Of Specimens Stored Away
for Lack Of Reinforcement
Appropriation Suspended.
T COSTS LITTLE MONEY

National Museum on the acquisition OF
exhibits since its inception than by many
| another similar institution. and yet its
| collection is now considered one Of the
| most complete in the world. Beginning
| In 1916 with a cabinet Of minerals be-
queathed to the United States by the be-
| neficent James Smithson, a few histori-
cal and natural history specimens collect
ed by local societies and a group Of curios
obtained by government officials. 1t has
come to number its exhibits by the thou
sands. and so great is the continual in
! fiux that for only a short period, it is
thought, will the nine and half acres Of
| floor space provided in the building now
under construction be adequate for the
purpose of their exhibition. Twice al
ready the collection has outgrown its
quarters; and now, as recently noted in
The Star, there are many cases of speci-
mems stored away for lack Of room, in
accessible, and, therefore, valueless. One
clerk has been kept busy for years day
after day recording acquisitions; the ma
jority Of which. strange as it may seem.
have come without cost to the institu-
tion
Through the genrosity of individuals
the great collection has been made. Pri-
| vate persons. universities, foreign gov
ernmentS and the national government it
self have been pressed into the service,
and in lending aid to the great enterprise
one has We'd with another.
Obtained From Expositions.
Beginning with the centennial, much VAL
liable material has come from each Of the
great expositions. Many Of the foreign
nations have given to the museum their
entire exhibits, and in several instances
American participants have made gener-
Gus donations. The extent to which this
has been carried can best be illustrated
Nv a a ma oh
| ed to appropriate $4,000 to cover the cost
| Of freight on material acquired recently
at the St. Louis fair.
Private individuals also have contrib
Ited largely to the museum collection.
There are today number of wealthy
scientists who are spending not only their
entire time, but their means, in the work
| Of collecting for the nation. Notable
among these is DR.. w. L. Abbott, who for
several years has been making investi-
cations in the far east. especially on the
Malayan peninsula, and is contributing
constantly much valuable material to the
national collection.
| Not only from all parts Of America, but
| from all parts of the world. these gifts
| have come During the past year several
| rare birds of paradise, found on the Gal
apagos Islands, were received from Mr..
Bouchard Of the Isle Of Wight; and a
series of stone implements collected in
| the lateritic deposits near Madras, India,
were presented by Mr.. H. W. Seton-Karr
+, of London, England.
visitors to the museum OFTEN become
| contributors The Spanish war exhibit
had Its origin in this way. cane cary
ed by a soldier in a retention camp at
Fort Myer. was consp1cuously displayed
| in an otherwise empty case labeled Span
| ish war relic" Almost Immediately in
! quiries were received as to whether or
| not the museum would accept sundry ar
| ticles sent or brought home by Spanish
| war veterans. In some instances the prof
! fered gifts were useless but from the
| aggregate really valuable collection
| has been made.
Collected by Employees.
| The museum is the lawful place of de-
posit for all objects of scientific, artistic
or historical interest acquired by the gov
eminent or it's officials, through public
channels, but beyond this many indivId-
uals in the employ of the nation have per-
| sonally constituted themselves collectors
and added, voluntarily, much to Its wealth.
| The naval officers have from the earliest
| time been noteworthy contributors, and
| since our territorial possessions have ex-
| tended beyond the sea the officers of the
| army have ably done their share. The ac-
| tive members of the American diplomatic
and consular service abroad have also
| lent valuable assistance, and not few de-
| sirable accessions have been got through
| the intervention Of the foreign diplomats
| residing in Washington. The government
| surveys. such as those for the establish
ment of the Canadian and Mexican bounda-
ries, have made good returns, and the Off
| GERS of the Signal Corps have rendered
| the museum laudable service
| Through the private funds OF the Smith
sonlan lnSttutlon-and occasionally through
appropriations of Congress-the museum
! has been able to send out collectors from
time to time. Parties have been dispatched
independently to Africa, Alaska South
America and various sections Of the United
States, but more often collections have been
made through the agency of government
expeditions Thus the greater part of the
Indian exhibit was acquired by men sen.
out by the bureau of ethnology and by
| members of the geological survey. The
bureau of fisheries and the Department of
Agriculture have also contributed capable
workers in the field.
These men. 1t must be understood, are
In most cases volunteer collectors receiy-
ing no additional pay for their musuem
service and assuming sometimes really diff
ficult duties. One of the first of the In
dian relic collectors, a man on the staff of
the bureau of ethnology, recounts inter
estingly his negotiations with the aborIg-
ines. He was allowed by the museum
limited credit at Chicago wholesale es-
tablishment, but no money to use in bar
ter. This credit he converted, in New
Mexico, into white cotton, fancy calico and
brown sugar, with which he consummated
his purchases. In some instances the braves
were suspicious and broke off negotiations
but the brown sugar invariably brought
the squaws to terms.
Special Expeditions.
1t sometimes happens that when the eov-
ernment is getting up a special expedition
the museum is given the privilege of de-
failing to 1t one of its regular staff work.
ters, and occasionally this privilege is ex-
tended by private Institutions Thus DR.
D. G. Dyar and Mr.. RolIa p Currie ac-
companied an expedition to British Column
bia in 1908 which was conducted under the
auspices of the Carnegie Museum of Pitts
n N he
Bean and Mr.. ]. H. Riley were enabled.
through the courtesy of the Geographical
Society of Baltimore, to become members
of expedition to the Bahama Islands
The former brought home 10000 specimens
of insects, and the latter obtained for the
museum a large number of mammals
birds, reptiles and fishes.
Much valuable material has been procured
by the means of exchange with other IN
stitutions and individuals, duplicate specf-
mems being utilized in this manner to great
mutual advantage. Among the foreign IN
stitutions with which the museum is thus
kept In constant touch may be named the