organize the scientific resources of educational and research institutions in the interest of national security and welfare." The President accepted the offer and requested the academy to proceed with the organization. An organizing committee was accordingly appointed, and on June 19 the council of the academy, acting upon recommendations of that committee, voted That there be formed a National Research Council whose purpose shall be to bring into cooperation existing governmental, educational, industrial, and other research organizations with the object of encouraging the investigation of natural phenomena, the increased use of scientific research in the development of American industries, the employment of scientific methods in strengthening the national defense, and such other applications of science as will promote the national security and welfare. That the council be composed of leading American investigators and engineers, representing the Army, Navy, Smithsonian Institution, and various scientific bureaus of the Government; educational institutions and research endowments; and the research divisions of industrial and manufacturing establishments. After the close of the fiscal year the National Research Council was fully organized, the President of the United States appointing the representatives of the Government and authorizing the appointment of other members by the president of the National Academy of Sciences. OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Chairman, George E. Hale; vice chairmen, Charles D. Walcott and Gano Dunn; secretary, Cary T. Hutchinson; executive committee, John J. Carty (chairman), William H. Welch (ex officio), George E. Hale (ex officio), Edwin G. Conklin, Gano Dunn, Arthur A. Noyes, Raymond Pearl, Michael I. Pupin, S. W. Stratton, V. C. Vaughan (others to be appointed). MEMBERS OF NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL. Dr. L. H. Baekeland, Yonkers, N. Y. Dr. Marston T. Bogert, professor of organic chemistry, Columbia University. Dr. John A. Brashear, Allegheny, Pa. Dr. John J. Carty, chief engineer, American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Dr. Russell H. Chittenden, director, Sheffield Scientific School, Yale University. Dr. Edwin G. Conklin, professor of zoology, Princeton University. Dr. Simon Flexner, director, Rockefeller Medical Institute. Major General William Crawford Gorgas, Surgeon General, U. S. Army. Dr. W. F. M. Goss, dean of engineering, University of Illinois. Dr. George E. Hale, director, Mount Wilson Solar Observatory. Mr. Clemens Herschel, president American Society of Civil Engineers. Prof. William H. Holmes, head curator of anthropology, United States National Museum. Dr. W. W. Keen, president American Philosophical Society. Mr. Van H. Manning, Director U. S. Bureau of Mines. Prof. Charles F. Marvin, Chief United States Weather Bureau. Prof. A. A. Michelson, director, Ryerson Physical Laboratory, University of Chicago. Dr. Robert A. Millikan, professor of physics, University of Chicago. Dr. Arthur A. Noyes, director, research laboratory of physical chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Raymond Pearl, director, Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. Prof. E. C. Pickering, director, Harvard College Observatory. Dr. Michael I. Pupin, professor of electro-mechanics, Columbia University. Mr. Charles F. Rand, president United Engineering Society. Prof. Theodore W. Richards, director of the Wolcott Gibbs Memorial Laboratory, Harvard University. Mr. C. E. Skinner, director, research laboratory, Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co. Lieutenant Colonel George O. Squier, Chief of Aviation, U. S. Army. Dr. S. W. Stratton, Director U. S. Bureau of Standards. Mr. Ambrose Swasey, Cleveland, Ohio. Rear Admiral David W. Taylor, Chief Constructor U. S. Navy. Dr. Elihu Thomson, Swampscott, Mass. Dr. C. R. Van Hise, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Victor Clarence Vaughan, director, medical research laboratory, University of Michigan. Dr. Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. William H. Welch, president of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. W. R. Whitney, director of the research laboratory, General Electric Co. The council will be gradually enlarged by the addition of new members who are to serve as chairmen of important committees or who are otherwise to engage in some special work. To carry out the work of the council committees are being appointed, including (a) committee on rules and procedure; (b) committee on publication; (c) committee on research in educational institutions to consider general plans for the promotion of research in educational institutions and to arrange for local committees in each institution; (d) committee on promotion of industrial research with functions in the field somewhat similar to those of the preceding committee; (e) committee on a national census of research to prepare a national census of equipment for research, of the men engaged in it, and of lines of investigation pursued in cooperating Government bureaus, educational institutions, research foundations, and industrial research laboratories. It has also been decided to form joint committees in various branches of science in cooperation with the corresponding national scientific societies. THE LANGLEY AERODYNAMICAL LABORATORY. In view of the organization of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, provided for by act of Congress approved March 3, 1915, it has appeared unnecessary at present to proceed further toward the permanent establishment of the proposed Langley labora tory. As secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, I was appointed a member of the National Advisory Committee and elected chairman of its executive committee, and in this connection I have been able to cooperate toward the solution of many important problems pertaining to the science and art of aviation. One of the chief advantages already being realized by the establishment of the advisory committee is a closer cooperation between the Army and Navy and other Federal departments and coordination of work in the general advancement of aviation. The Institution published during the year two pamphlets on aeronautics, one, a series of reports on wind tunnel experiments, and the other on "Dynamical stability of aeroplanes," both of them by J. C. Hunsaker and associates. PUBLICATIONS. The publications of the Institution proper include three series: Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge; Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections; and Smithsonian Annual Reports. Under the direction of the Institution there are also issued the Annual Reports, Proceedings, and Bulletins of the United States National Museum, including the Contributions from the National Herbarium; Annual Reports and Bulletins of the Bureau of American Ethnology; and the Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory. All of these series except the "Contributions" and "Collections" are printed through annual Congressional allotments. In all of these series there was published during the year a total of 8,498 pages and 623 plates of illustrations. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge.—This series is intended to show results of original research constituting important contributions to knowledge. One memoir of the series was in press at the close of the year giving the results of an extended study on the comparative histology of the femur. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections.-Twenty-two papers, forming parts of five volumes of this series, were issued, among them three papers on Cambrian geology by your secretary. In this series the annual exploration pamphlet was issued, giving brief accounts of the explorations and field work of the Institution in geology, biology, and anthropology, covering every continent on the globe, and illustrated by 141 photographs taken in the field by the scientists themselves. The Smithsonian Physical Tables, which together with the Mathematical and Geographical Tables have become standard works of reference in educational and research institutions, are published in this series. The sixth revised edition of the Physical Tables, issued during the preceding year, was quickly exhausted, making it necessary to print additional copies. Still another edition is now in press, indicating the constant demand for this work. Smithsonian report.-The complete volume of the 1914 report was received from the printer and distributed at the beginning of the year. Material for the 1915 report was sent to press in December, and was completed just before the fiscal year closed. In the general appendix are 22 papers showing recent progress in various branches of science, including "The utilization of solar energy," "Evidences of primitive life," by your secretary, "Heredity," "Linguistic areas in Europe," and " Recent developments in telephony and telegraphy." The custom of printing special editions in pamphlet form of papers in the general appendix has proved of great advantage; in several cases there has been a demand for a very large number of copies, which was especially noticeable in connection with an article on "The value of birds to man" in the 1913 report. Special publications.-Opinion 67 of the Opinions of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature was issued as a special publication. A special paper by Chester G. Gilbert of the National Museum, on "Sources of nitrogen compounds in the United States" attracted considerable attention. Among other conclusions, he states: The evolution of a practicable process for the oxidation of by-product ammonia to render present resources available, with the development of an atmospheric nitrogen fixation output by the Cyanamide process carefully timed to meet growing demands following a reduction in the retail price of nitrogenous fertilizer, would appear to be the desirable governmental procedure as being the one least liable to disastrous consequences. National Museum publications.-The National Museum issued an annual report, 2 volumes of the proceedings, 52 separate papers forming parts of these and other volumes, and 4 bulletins. Bureau of Ethnology publications.-The Bureau of American Ethnology published 2 annual reports, separates of 4 accompanying papers in these reports, and 2 bulletins. Reports of historical and patriotic societies.-The annual reports of the American Historical Association and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution were submitted to the Institution and communicated to Congress in accordance with the charters of these organizations. Allotments for printing.-Most of the allotment to the Institution and its branches for printing was used during the year, though it was impracticable to complete a large amount of material in press at the close of the year in the National Museum and Bureau of American Ethnology series. The allotments for the year ending June 30, 1917, are as follows: For the Smithsonian Institution: For printing and binding the annual reports of the Board of Regents, with general appendices, the editions of which shall not exceed 10,000 copies-- $10,000 For the annual reports of the National Museum, with general appendices, and for printing labels and blanks, and for the Bulletins and Proceedings of the National Museum, the editions of which shall not exceed 4,000 copies, and binding, in half morocco or material not more expensive, scientific books, and pamphlets presented to or acquired by the National Museum library_. $37,500 For the annual reports and Bulletins of the Bureau of American Ethnology and for miscellaneous printing and binding for the bureau___ 21, 000 For miscellaneous printing and binding: Committee on printing and publication.-All manuscripts submitted for publication by the Institution or its branches have, as usual, been referred to the Smithsonian advisory committee on printing and publication. During the year 18 meetings were held and 96 manuscripts examined and passed upon. The personnel of the committee was as follows: Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, head curator of biology, National Museum, acting chairman; Dr. C. G. Abbot, director of the Astrophysical Observatory; Dr. Frank Baker, superintendent of the National Zoological Park; Mr. A. Howard Clark, editor of the Smithsonian Institution, secretary of the committee; Mr. F. W. Hodge, ethnologist in charge of the Bureau of American ethnology; and Dr. George P. Merrill, head curator of geology, United States National Museum. LIBRARY. The accumulation of a scientific library has always been an important phase of the Institution's work in the "increase and diffusion of knowledge," and the collection has increased in size from year to year until at present it numbers well over half a million titles. The accessions of the year aggregated about 13,000 books and pamphlets. The main Smithsonian library is assembled in the Library of Congress and is known as the Smithsonian deposit. In addition the Institution maintains the Smithsonian office library, the National Museum library, the library of the Bureau of American Ethnology, the Astrophysical Observatory library, and the National Zoological Park library, besides some 35 specialized sectional libraries maintained in various offices for the use of the scientific staff of the Institution and its branches. The Smithsonian office library contains a collection of books relating to art, the employees' library, and an extensive aeronautical library. This collection of aeronautical works has been notably increased by additional gifts from Dr. Alexander |