zens, "two of whom shall be residents in the city of Washington and the other four shall be inhabitants of some State, but no two of them from the same State." In the personnel of the board the only change was the appointment on January 15, 1917, of Hon. Henry White, of Maryland, to succeed Dr. Andrew D. White, of New York, who because of the infirmities of age felt compelled to resign after serving as Regent for nearly 29 years. The roll of Regents on June 30, 1917, was as follows: Edward D. White, Chief Justice of the United States, Chancellor: Thomas R. Marshall, Vice President of the United States; Henry Cabot Lodge, Member of the Senate: William J. Stone, Member of the Senate; Henry French Hollis, Member of the Senate; Scott Ferris, Member of the House of Representatives; Ernest W. Roberts, former Member of the House of Representatives; James T. Lloyd, former Member of the House of Representatives; Alexander Graham Bell, citizen of Washington, D. C.; George Gray, citizen of Delaware; Charles F. Choate, jr., citizen of Massachusetts; John B. Henderson, jr., citizen of Washington, D. C.; Charles W. Fairbanks, citizen of Indiana, and Henry White, citizen of Maryland. The board held its annual meeting on December 14, 1916. The proceedings of that meeting, as also the annual financial report of the executive committee, have been printed, as usual, for the use of the Regents, while such important matters acted upon as are of public interest are reviewed under appropriate heads in the present report of the secretary. A detailed statement of disbursements from Government appropriations, under the direction of the Institution for the maintenance of the National Museum, the National Zoological Park, and other branches, will be submitted to Congress by the secretary in the usual manner. in compliance with the law. FINANCES. By the deposit of $4,000 derived from revenues during the year, the permanent fund of the institution deposited in the Treasury of the United States now amounts to $1,000,000, the limit authorized by Congress, and is divided as follows: Other resources. Registered and guaranteed 4 per cent bonds of the West Shore Coupon 5 per cent bonds of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co., due Coupon 6 per cent bonds of the Argentine Nation, due Dec. 15, Total invested funds______ With the exception of $4,000 deposited in the Treasury, above noted, no other permanent investments were made during the year. These deposits consisted of interest accumulations and rentals only. The principal revenues of the Institution being collectable July 1 and January 1 each year, a surplus of cash is accumulated at these times. Instead of allowing this surplus to be idle in the Treasury, the plan has been adopted to invest such sums as may be spared in time certificates of deposit issued by strong financial institutions of this city. The rate of interest obtained on these certificates is three per cent per annum and it is believed that approximately $1,000 can be gained each year by this method. The income of the Institution during the year, amounting to $88,649.52, was derived as follows: Interest on the permanent foundation, $61,490.59; contributions from various sources for specific purposes, $16,630, and from other miscellaneous sources, $10,528.93. Adding the cash balance of $44,711.02 on July 1, 1916, the total resources for the fiscal year amounted to $133,360.54. The disbursements, which are given in detail in the annual report of the executive committee, amounted to $124,127.98, leaving a balance of $9,232.56 in cash and on deposit in the Treasury of the United States June 30, 1917. In addition to the above specific amounts to be disbursed by the Institution there was included under the general appropriation for printing and binding an allotment of $76,200 to cover the cost of printing and binding the Smithsonian annual report, and reports and miscellaneous printing for the Government branches of the Institution. The Institution was charged by Congress with the disbursement of the following appropriations for the year ending June 30, 1917. International exchanges. International exchanges, deficiency act of Apr. 17, 1917_ American ethnology.. Astrophysical observatory National Museum : Furniture and fixtures.. Heating and lighting.. $32, 000 3, 500 42, 000 13, 000 25,000 46,000 Throughout its history the Smithsonian Institution has constantly cooperated with the executive departments and other establishments of the Government in all matters pertaining to scientific activities. Particularly during the period of the present world war has the Institution been of service in connection with many important measures. Every member of its scientific staff, every one of its 500 or more employees has aided the Nation to the utmost in every possible manner. The laboratories and workshops of the Institution and its branches have been utilized to their fullest extent and routine affairs have taken second place whenever important national matters have needed attention. Your Secretary, as president of the National Academy of Sciences, as chairman of the military committee of the National Research Council, and as chairman of the executive committee of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, has had opportunity to keep in close touch with the needs of the Nation and to give such advice as has been in his power, especially in connection with the development of aeronautics. The Institution was particularly fortunate in having as former Secretary Prof. S. P. Langley, who in 1896 gave to the world a practical demonstration of the feasibility of mechanical flight by a machine heavier than the air propelled by its own power. To him the Nation to-day owes more than can be told, and as an indication of that debt his memory is fittingly preserved in the name "Langley Field," a tract of some 1,800 acres near Hampton, Va., where extensive experiments of the highest importance to the art of aviation are now being carried on. The Government has now been aroused to the supreme worth of airplanes, machines which Prof. Langley 20 years ago foresaw would be of great service in times of war as well as peace. His prophecy has been fulfilled far beyond his hopes or dreams. The large machine with which his personal experiments ceased in 1903 proved its worth and its capability of actual flight during the past year. Change after change in the design of airplanes to adapt them for scouting, for fighting, and other military purposes has followed in rapid succession until now aerial battles are of daily occurrence and nations are looking ahead to their extended use under peace conditions. As stated in my last report, the organization of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics has made unnecessary for the present the permanent establishment by the Smithsonian Institution of the Langley Aerodynamical Laboratory. Every facility continues, however, to be afforded to Federal bureaus to study aviation models and records possessed by the Institution and, in particular, to consult the large Smithsonian Library on Aeronautics, together with a general card index of aeronautical literature. There has recently been erected adjacent to the Smithsonian building a temporary structure for the use of the United States Signal Service especially for housing aeroplanes of various designs and aviation appliances. The executive committee of the National Advisory Committee has held monthly meetings during the year, and many problems of deep importance have been discussed. Upon the recommendation of the committee there was organized by the Council of National Defense the "Aircraft Production Board." "to consider the situation in relation to the quantity production of aircraft in the United States and to cooperate with the officers of the Army and Navy and of other departments interested in the production and delivery to these departments of the needed aircraft in accordance with the requirements of each department." The committee also recommended to the Government the adoption of a continuing program for the training of aviators and the production of airplanes and the establishment of schools and an adequate organization and personnel of regular officers, both in the Army and Navy for the efficient use of aircraft and direction of the aviators provided for. As a result of the committee's activities the advance in aerial preparedness has been accelerated. The committee has established a research laboratory at Langley Field, Virginia, for the carrying on of scientific investigations. Among the several subcommittees engaged in the study of aeronautic problems are those on aerial mail service, aero torpedoes, aircraft communicating, airplane mapping, relation of the atmosphere to aeronautics, standardization of specifications for aeronautic materials and aeronautic nomenclature, specifications for aeronautic instruments, radiator design, motive power, and safe design, construction, and navigation of aircraft. The second annual report of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was published during the year in a volume of 630 octavo pages, including technical reports on "General Specifications Covering Requirements of Aeronautic Instruments," "Nomenclature for Aeronautics," "Mufflers for Aeronautics."" Gasoline Carbureter. Design," and "Experimental Researches on the Resistance of Air." RESEARCHES AND EXPLORATIONS. The usual activities were continued during the past year in advancing one of the fundamental objects of the Smithsonian Institution, the increase of knowledge. In this work various explorations and researches were inaugurated or participated in by the Institution and its branches, covering practically all divisions of astronomical, anthropological, biological, and geological science. The extent of these explorations and researches during the history of the Institution covers a wide range, although a great deal more of most important work could have been accomplished had adequate funds been available. Friends of the Institution have generously aided this work, particularly during the last few years, through the contribution of funds for specific purposes, but much yet remains undone, and opportunities for undertaking important lines of investigation are constantly being lost through lack of means to carry them into execution. Several proposed expeditions to various parts of the world have been temporarily delayed by the war in Europe. I will here mention only briefly some of the recent activities of the Institution in these directions, and for details of other researches and explorations may refer to the appendices containing the reports of those directly in charge of the several branches of the Institution and also to the accounts given in the customary pamphlet review of this work published each year in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES. In continuation of geological work carried on by me for several years past in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, I was engaged during the summer and early fall of 1916 in field investigations on the Continental Divide forming the boundary between Alberta and British Columbia, south of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The very heavy snowfall of the previous winter together with frequent snow and rain squalls during the summer, had made the conditions unusually favorable for taking photographs, the air being exceptionally pure and clear during the field season, conditions, however, very unfavorable for geological investigations. A large number of photographs were secured, including a number of panoramic views made on continuous films eight feet in length. The sections examined and measured extend from the Mount Assiniboine region southwest of Banff, Alberta, northwest to the Kicking Horse Pass, where the Canadian Pacific Railway has bored a double loop through the mountains on the north and south sides of the pass. |