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5
[[strikethrough]] though [[/strikethrough]] and I am glad to be able to state that we are visibly approaching a point when we shall be able to see the end of the ancient arrearages of which such a mass existed a few years ago. Once cleared away, the Department as at present constituted will be able to keep abreast of accessions with ordinary diligence [[strikethrough]] in most years, and [[/strikethrough]] to systematize our duplicate material, [[strikethrough]] recognize [[/strikethrough]] ascertain what are the important gaps in our collection and take the necessary steps for filling them. Already our collection ranks among the most important in the world, and if two or three other collections surpass it in some respects, there is no existing collection which it does not surpass [[strikethrough]] in [[/strikethrough]] from many other standpoints, [[strikethrough]] respects [[/strikethrough]], especially [[strikethrough]] in [[/strikethrough]] as regards the scientific data associated with the material it contains and the thorough system of registration & identification