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332 storage and "items useless to current and future development of the Museum" there remained nearly 80,000 items in the working collection. 32 Upon the death of Dr. Sloan, Dr. Henry W. Edmonds served as Acting Curator until October 1952, when he resigned and was succeeded by Miss Purtle, also as Acting Curator, until the end of the year. At that time, Col. Hugh R. Gilmore, Jr., former Curator, returned to the Museum in the same capacity. 33

He continued in that position until after the main body of the Institute had moved away, leaving the Museum in the renovated temporary quarters in which it was to be housed for more than a decade.

With all the attention paid to the auxiliary departments of the Institute, the fact remained that it was primarily an Institute of Pathology and that its primary purposes were consultation, education, and research in pathology. In line with this purpose, the members of the staff were active in the preparation and publication of scientific papers on medical topics — the term "medical" as used here and elsewhere in this work being broad enough to cover dental and veterinary subjects as well. In furtherance of such publication, an Editorial Branch was set up in 1951, with a membership which included the Director of the Institute, the Chief of the Pathology Division, five senior pathologists, the Chief of the Medical Illustration Service, and an editor, who acted as recorder for the Board. The Board was to review manuscripts prepared for publication by staff members of the Institute, and to edit the Institute's own publications. 34

With somewhat the same objective of seeing that limited facilities were put to the best use, a screening committee was set up to evaluate applications for research projects to be carried on at the Institute. Although the nature of the facilities in the old building limited the range of research to "morphologic and statistical aspects of disease" the committee processed 36 applications in 1952, the first year of its existence, and added 42 in the following year. With projects previously initiated and new projects approved, the total number underway in 1954, the last year in the old building, came to 150. 35