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^[[Koehler]]

4. Indicate briefly the present condition of the exhibition series and the study series, in your department.

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^[[The specimens on exhibition illustrate fairly well the technical side and the history of the multiplying (reproductive) arts. Necessarily, - the collections having been formed gradually, and almost wholly through solicitations of gifts, and the specimens thus received placed in position as they came in, - the quality of many of the specimens, as well as their arrangements, is open to criticism. By rearrangement and a judicious expenditure of money great improvement might be secured. But even as the collections stands to-day, it is the best of its kind anywhere in existence, and has received warm commendation from high authority. 

That part of the collection which is intended to illustrate the technique and history of drawing and painting, exists as the present in the germ only, and the same may be said of the division devoted to the industrial applications of printing. To develop these divisions appropriately is altogether beyond the reach of the museum, in its present crippled condition.

It is hardly permissible to speak of a "study series" in the section of Graphic Arts. As already stated, there are many interesting specimens locked away in the storage cases, but they are not in proper shape for reference, and, owing to the inforced absence of the curator during the greater part of the year, could not
be made accessible to the public, even if adequate facilities existed, which is not the case.]]