February 29, 1888-Senate.

Passed with amendment.

March 2, 1888-House.

Referred to Committee on the Library.

NEUMANN'S SILK FLAG.

January 31, 1888-Senate.

The President pro tempore (Mr. JOHN J. INGALLS) presented the petition of Joseph Neumann, of San Francisco, Cal., praying for the preservation of the flag made of American, silk presented by him to the Government and deposited in the Smithsonian Institution. Referred to Committee on the Library.

SIR: My attention has been called to a resolution offered in the House of Representatives by Mr. Oates, February 6, 1888, and referred to the Committee on Rules, "That Rule XXXIV of the House of Representatives be so amended as to admit ofthe privileges of the floor to the Interstate Commerce Commissioners, the Commissioners of Agriculture, Pensions, Indian Affairs, Patents, Railroads, Education, Printing and Engraving, and the Public Printer."

I venture to suggest that the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution be also included in the list of those entitled to the privileges of the floor of the House of Representatives, and would state in this connection that this courtesy has been accorded by the Senate of the United States.

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,

March 26, 1888-House.

Mr. S. S. Cox submitted a resolution:

S. P. LANGLEY, Secretary.

That Rule XXXIV of the House of Representatives be amended by inserting after "foreign ministers," in line 14, "the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution." Referred to Committee on Rules.

STANLEY INDIAN PAINTINGS.

March 7, 1888-Senate.

Mr. THOMAS W. PALMER submitted a resolution:

That the Committee on the Library be, and it is hereby, directed to inquire into the propriety of purchasing from the administratrix of the late John M. Stanley the historical Indian paintings by the said John M. Stanley now in the custody of the Smithsonian Institution.

March 12, 1888-House.

Mr. J. L. CHIPMAN introduced a resolution same as that submitted by Mr. Palmer in Senate, March 7.

Referred to Committee on the Library.

METHODS OF GOVERNMENT WORK.

March 8, 1888-Senate.

Mr. F. M. COCKRELL, from Select Committee on "Methods of business and work" in the several Government departments, made a report (S. 507).

[Extract.]

From letter of J. W. Powell, Director of the United States Geological Survey, to the Secretary of the Interior, August 23, 1887:

THE MUSEUM SYSTEM.

*

*

The production of museum property.

* Although the building up of a museum is not a function of the Geological Survey, yet considerable collections of rocks, minerals, ores, fossils, etc., are made for purposes of necessary study in the prosecution of the work of the different divisions. Such materials are ultimately transferred to the United States National Museum, it being provided by law that all collections made for the Government of the United States, when no longer needed for investigations in progress, shall be deposited there.

It should be observed that the collections made by institutions or individuals engaged in investigating the natural resources of a country are of unequal value. There are certain collections, embracing rare and beautiful minerals, the ores of the precious metals, etc., which possess intrinsic value and are readily marketable; and there are certain other materials, embracing well-preserved fossils, typical rocks, ores, minerals, etc., for which there is a demand for educational and museum purposes. Of recent years museums, both independent and connected with educational and scientific institutions, have greatly multiplied; there is a constant demand for museum material, and a trade in such material has sprung up. Thus there is a class of museum material which has money value, and it is desirable that a definite system of preserving and accounting for such property shall be followed. But there is another class of material collected by the investigator, comprising rocks, soils, some ores and minerals, and common or ill-preserved fossils, which have no money value, would be worthless in a museum, and are useful only in elaborating the field notes of the geologist or paleontologist. It would manifestly be unwise to preserve such material in the National Museum, and it is accordingly destroyed. Since the collector is best able to judge of the value of his own collection, and will be very unlikely to underestimate it, provision is made for allowing each investigator to select from the material collected in the progress of his work that which shall be permanently preserved.

The acquisition, custody, and transfer of collections.

The employees of the Survey are provided with printed label blanks, which are filled out and attached to specimens as collected in the field, and a field number is given to each specimen upon the label and in the notebook of the collector. The labels used are appended.

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.-DIVISION OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.

Sometimes specimens are collected by persons not connected with the Survey, and are transmitted either as gifts or with requests for identification or for more extended information. When it is believed that the public interest will be subserved thereby, all such inquiries are answered as fully as seems to be desirable. If it is requested, the specimens are returned; but if no such request is made, they are either destroyed or, if of sufficient value, labeled by the collaborator by whom they are examined, and thus become Survey property subject to the regulations controlling the collections made by its employees.

The material collected by the specialists employed upon the Survey is of exceedingly diverse value and character; the specific purposes for which it is employed are also diverse; and it is therefore inexpedient to prescribe regulations for the use and disposition of the material so long as it remains in the hands of the collector. Frequently there is no record of the material produced by the collector, except in his own notebooks, lists, and catalogues, and he is not charged with it upon any of the general records of the Survey. If, however, the material in the possession of an employee has been acquired by gift through the Director, or has been transferred to him by another officer of the Survey for examination, a record of his acquisition of the property is contained in the correspondence files of the Survey, and he is held accountable for it. Moreover, when the collections are shipped at the expense of the Government they become subjects of record, and their custodians are accountable for them in a general way.

There are three ways in which collectors dispose of their acquisitions: First, if the material is worthless except for immediate study, it is preserved as long as may be required for that purpose and is then destroyed. In this case there is no account of the production and disposition of the material except in the records of the collector, and in the transportation records if it has been shipped as public property. Second, if the material is of value for museum purposes, if it promises to be useful in subsequent researches, or if for any other reason it is deemed wise to preserve it in the National Museum, it is transferred to that institution by one of the two methods described in a subsequent paragraph; and there is a record of such transfer both in the Geological Survey and in the National Museum. Third, if the maker of the collection is, for any reason, unable to investigate the material in the desired manner, it is transferred, through the Director, to some specialist, generally within but sometimes without the Survey, for the requisite examination; and the material thus becomes a subject of general record in the Survey.

The person to whom material is transferred, either from collectors or from outside parties, disposes of it after investigation in one of these ways; but since there is a record of his custody of the material, greater caution is always exercised in disposing of it when so obtained than when it is obtained by collection.

There are two modes of transferring material collected in the progress of the work of the Survey to the National Museum: (1) Certain of the collaborators of the Survey are honorary curators of the National Museum, and have charge in the Museum of the classes of objects which, as members of the Survey, they are engaged in investigating. When a collaborator has completed his investigation of a specimen or collection, and has prepared, identified, and suitably labeled it, he formally transfers it to the National Museum through the accessions clerk of that institution, and receives from him a Museum number which is inscribed upon the label or labels. The material then becomes the property of the Museum, and is arranged upon the shelves, or in the drawers provided for the purpose. To facilitate such transfer, some of these collaborators keep in their offices parts of the catalogue of the Museum, upon which there is a duplicate record of the transfer. The principal record of transfer is, however, that of the accessions clerk of the National Museum. (2) When a collaborator of the Survey who is not a curator of the National Museum desires to transfer specimens or collections to that institution, they are prepared, labeled, and packed, a suitable list

or catalogue is added, and the whole is transferred to the Museum by means of a formal letter addressed to the Director and by him referred to the officers of the Museum. Material so transferred is unpacked, entered into the Museum catalogue, numbered in the Museum series, and arranged for preservation or exhibition in the Museum in accordance with the plans of that institution; and the principal record of the transfer, in which all such collections are credited to the Geological Survey, is kept by the accessions clerk of the Museum.

The following officers of the Survey are honorary curators of the National Museum:

W. H. Dall

Paleontologist.. Cenozoic Division of Invertebrate IX. Mollusks.
Paleontology.

C. D. Walcott.. Paleontologist.. Paleozoic Division of Invertebrate

XII. A. Invertebrates.

The work of the Survey is greatly facilitated by the cooperation existing between it and the National Museum.

STATUE OF ROBERT DALE OWEN.

March 19, 1888-House.

Mr. A. P. HOVEY introduced a joint resolution (H. 134):

That the sum of $15,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary to carry out the object of this resolution, be, and the same is hereby, appropriated, to be paid out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of erecting on the grounds or in the building of the Smithsonian Institution, in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, under the direction of the Regents of the said Smithsonian Institution, a statue of the late Robert Dale Owen, a distinguished citizen and statesman of the United States, and one of the principal promoters and architects of the building of said Institution.

Referred to Committee on the Library.

May 11, 1888-House.

Mr. W. A. STAHLNECKER, from the Committee on the Library, submitted a report (H. 2091):

James Smithson, a son of the Duke of Northumberland, England, on the 26th of October, 1826, by his last will and testament, bequeathed to the "United States of America his property to found at Washington City, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."

When the bequest was received by the United States, June, 1829, it amounted to a little over $500,000, and was accepted as a trust under an act of Congress.

For many years this large sum was in the vaults of the United States or under its control, and several unsuccessful efforts were made in Congress to pass bills to carry the trust into execution.