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5. WHAT SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS HAVE YOU COMMENCED, CONTINUED, OR COMPLETED, UPON THE MATERIAL UNDER YOUR CARE, DURING THE YEAR.

During the past year the Curator has studied the entire collection of the Museum and also gathered from other sources what information he could regarding the subject of Primitive Travel and Transportation. The following analysis will give some idea of the extent of this study.

All the catalogues of the Museum have been posted and such information as has been collected with the material has been brought together in systematic shape and [[strikethrough]] the whole written up and placed in the hand of the Government Printer before the first of July [[/strikethrough]] ^[[prepared for publication]]. In addition to this completed investigation the Curator has commenced to edit a manuscript of several thousand pages devoted to the elaboration, history and geographic distribution of the arts of all the American tribes. The analysis of this work would better come in the report of next year.

The accessions during the fiscal year, with the exception of the material gathered at the Chicago Exposition, will compare very favorably with that secured in the year before. Indeed, some of the collections have filled gaps in the previously existing material. Especial attention is called in this report to the collections separately, in the names of those from whom they have been received.

With regard to explorations the Curator reports, that excepting a little desultory work here and there, there is little exploration going on which have added to the collections under his care.