Graham Bell, consisting of 33 books and 37 portfolios of periodicals, and by a number of reference works from the library of Major Baden-Powell.

The National Museum library received 4,840 accessions, among them 207 titles contributed by Dr. William Healey Dall to his collection of works relating to mollusks; and the scientific library of Dr. Theodore Nicholas Gill, numbering about 3,000 volumes, presented to the Institution by his brother, Mr. Herbert A. Gill, which is a valuable addition to the natural history series, especially in ichthyology.

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES AND EXPOSITIONS.

SECOND PAN AMERICAN SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS.

The Second Pan American Scientific Congress, which held its sessions in Washington from December 27, 1915, to January 8, 1916, was the fifth of a series of scientific congresses, the first three of which included only the Latin American countries. At the first strictly Pan American Congress, held in Peru in 1908, in which the United States was invited to participate, it was unanimously voted to hold the next meeting in Washington. The congress held-its inaugural session at 10 a. m., December 27, at Memorial Continental Hall, and business sessions and social affairs were arranged for every day thereafter until January 8. The following are the sections into which the congress was divided:

I. Anthropology.

II. Astronomy, Meteorology, and Seismology.

III. Conservation of Natural Resources, Agriculture, Irrigation, and Forestry. IV. Education.

V. Engineering.

VI. International Law, Public Law, and Jurisprudence.

VII. Mining and Metallurgy, Economic Geology, and Applied Chemistry.
VIII. Public Health and Medical Science.

IX. Transportation, Commerce, Finance, and Taxation.

At the meetings of these sections a great number of papers of scientific and economic importance were read.

The Institution proper was represented in the congress by your secretary and Prof. W. H. Holmes, head curator of anthropology, United States National Museum, as delegates. Of the branches of the Institution, the Bureau of American Ethnology was represented by the ethnologist in charge, Mr. F. W. Hodge, and Dr. J. W. Fewkes, delegates; and the Astrophysical Observatory by Dr. C. G. Abbot, delegate, and Mr. F. E. Fowle, alternate. A reception was held for the Latin American delegates by the Board of Regents and the Secretary of the Institution in the new building of the National Museum on the evening of December 29.

This highly successful and important congress was attended by approximately 100 official delegates from the 21 American Republics, and 60 by special invitation, or representing societies or universities. The United States was represented by approximately 1,000 unofficial delegates or members.

NINETEENTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF AMERICANISTS.

The Nineteenth International Congress of Americanists, which was to have been held at Washington on the invitation of the Smithsonian Institution in October, 1914, was postponed on account of the war in Europe until a more favorable time for an international gathering. When it became evident that a fully attended meeting would be out of the question in the near future, it was decided to hold the congress in affiliation with the section of anthropology of the Second Pan American Scientific Congress and jointly with the American Anthropological Association, the American Folk-Lore Society, the American Historical Association, and the Archaeological Institute of America. In consequence the date of the meeting was definitely fixed for December 27-31, 1915.

Mr. John W. Foster, ex-Secretary of State, former minister to Mexico and Russia, ex-president of the Washington Society of the Archaeological Institute, etc., served as president of the congress. The honorary presidents were the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; Mr. Clarence B. Moore, of Philadelphia; and Prof. William H. Holmes, of the National Museum. Mr. Clarence F. Norment, of Washington, served as treasurer, and Dr. Aleš Hrdlička, of the National Museum, as secretary of the Congress. There was a long list of honorary vice presidents, a general (honorary) committee, associate foreign secretaries, and an organizing committee (with the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution as chairman). Official representatives of foreign Governments were in attendance from Austria, Chile, Cuba, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, Russia, Sweden, and Uruguay, and about 100 official delegates from various learned societies and universities in the United States and foreign countries.

The headquarters of the congress were at the National Museum, and most of the sessions were held there.

Nearly 100 papers relating to the study of somatology, archeology, ethnology, folklore, history, and linguistics were read at the sessions of the congress, among them papers by several members of the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology and of the National Museum.

PANAMA-PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION.

Only a very small allotment was allowed the Smithsonian Institution and its branches from the congressional appropriation for Government exhibits at San Francisco in 1915. It was possible, however, to make a small display showing in a general way the scope and activities of the Institution, and an ethnological exhibit illustrating the characteristics and culture status of typical primitive peoples. The exhibits were located in the Liberal Arts Palace, covering a floor space of about 6,000 square feet.

The exhibit of the Institution proper consisted of a series of photographs of its founder, James Smithson, the four secretaries, pictures of the building and departments, and a complete set of its publications. There was also displayed an exact reproduction of the Langley experimental steam flying machine which performed the epoch-making flights over the Potomac River, May 6, 1896, together with photographs taken at the time. Langley's success as a pioneer in aviation was commemorated on the Column of Progress at the exposition (pl. 1) by a tablet with the following inscription:

To commemorate science's gift of aviation to the world through Samuel Pierpont Langley, an American.

The principal exhibit by the National Museum dealt with ethnology, or the scientific study of the races of men, their origin, distribution, relations, and culture. It included four family lay-figure groups, the Eskimo of Alaska, the Dyak of the Eest Indies, the Zulu-Kaffir of South Africa, and the Carib of South America; also village groups in miniature illustrating the houses and house life of various peoples, together with cases of specimens relating to the primitive arts and industries.

The remaining departments or branches of the Institution, including the International Exchange Service, the Bureau of American Ethnology, the Astrophysical Observatory, the Zoological Park, the Hodgkins fund, the Aerodynamical Laboratory, and the Regional Bureau of the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, were represented by charts, photographs, maps, instruments, and publications illustrative of their various functions.

Mr. W. de C. Ravenel, administrative assistant of the United States National Museum and secretary to the exposition board, acted as the representative of the Smithsonian Institution and its branches, with the assistance of Dr. Walter Hough, curator of ethnology, United States National Museum.

The exhibits were enumerated in detail in a descriptive catalogue of 120 pages.

LANGLEY TABLET ON COLUMN OF PROGRESS AT PANAMA-PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL

EXPOSITION, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., 1915.