The Washington herald., 1907-07-21

In charge that not far in the future the
/ United States may boast of a gallery
Of American art truly national in its
character.
( While the museum Is the custodian Of
/ all government collections, and while 10
the public its main feature is the exhi-
/ bitiOn OF characteristic objects in its sew
eTal divisions. yet the law demands that
those materials shall be classified and
/ properly arranged. a task which involves
a large amount Of research work. Conse-
quently the museum scientific staff is
, made up, so far as means allow. Of ex-
/ perts on the several subjects represented.
/ The scientific work Is carried on continu-
ously and results in many Important con-
/ uibuti0ns to knowledge. Littles actual
! field work. however. is done. the museum
| relying for its material on the regular
government expeditions and contributions
/ from thousands Of private sOurces-gifts
and exchanges Some Of the assistants
/ in the museum are expert field workers.
and while the finances for this purpose
are very limited, opportunity often arises.
especially through explorations by the
/ Geological Survey, the Bureau Of Fish
cries, the Bureau of American EthnOlOgy,
and the Department OF Agriculture, TO
/ engage In work Of this sort.
Prof. MnsOn's Work.
/ Research is continuous under Prof. Otis
/ T. Mason, Of the department OF anthro-
pology; Dr. Frederic ". True. Of the de-
I.partment of biology. and Prof. George P.
! Merrill. of the department Of geology,
Prof. MasOn's researches are I'm the fields
I Of physical and cultural anthropology; In
! the former, study Of the crania. skeleton.
and brain, both specifically and compara-
lively; in the latter. study Of everything
/ resulting from the Development Of the
culture Of mankind. In this connection
much time this year VIII be employed
/ in examining material forwarded to the
museum by Mr.. w l. Abbott, who has
made extensive collections in the rich an
thropological fields Of Malaysia. Borneo.
and the Philippines: by the field work
ers Of the Bureau Of Ethnology, and by
various other correspondents and asso-
ciates of the museum
The work Of Dr. True's department OF
biology relates directly u classification Of
genera and species Of plants and animals
brought in by many government explor-
ing parties, such as the annual cruise of
the Fish Commission steamer AIbatrOss.
boundary commissions, and the like
Classification work of this sort is neces-
sarily irregular in its demands and re-
quires an immediate general knowledge
OF all special classes of life, whether
birds, mammals. reptlles fishes. insects.
marine invertebrates, or plants
The Department of Geology.
In the department of geology technical
studies Of the properties Of various min
erals forwarded from many government
explorations and surveys are made by
Prof. Merrill and Mr Tassin. Geo
logic problems must be solved, and 1t
often falls TO the lot of a geologist of
this department TO examine at close
range earth structures which have puz-
zled other scientific explorers. Prof. Mer-
rill has just returned from Canyon Diablo.
Ariz. with meteorological and geological
data TO determine the origin of a peculiar
crater-like formation in the earth's crust
In this department the Smithsonian
comes into close touch with the Geologi-
cal Survey, several members of the staff
Of the survey being at the same time ac-
scum.
The Bureau of American Ethnology.
under the charge of Mr.. w. H. Holmes.
is engaged entirely in systematic re-
searches among the tribes of American
Indians. These include the scientific
classification, distribution, and history
Of the tribes and the study Of their phys
ical and mental characters, languages,
social Institutions, religions, arts, and in
dustries economic resources, and welfare
in short. everything pertaining to the
American Indians. The scope of the bu-
reau has lately been extended to in
clude Hawaii. a photography of those
inlands being now in progress. For the
last few years the energies Of the staff
have been largely devoted to the compile
ton Of the Handbook of American In
dians, an encyclopedia Of all that eth
nologists know on the subject It is
probably the most ambitious work ever
published by a government bureau Be-
sides working on the Hand book, the SCI
entiflc staff has been cons tantly IN the
field gathering material Of a scientific
character The explorations Of DR.. J.
Walter Fewkes in the unearthing OF en-
American Pompeii about the historic Casa
Grande ruins in Arizona has recently
attracted much attention. Mr.. James