scripts offered for publication by the Institution or its branches. During the past year 13 meetings were held, at which 68 manuscripts were considered and acted upon. The membership of the committee is as follows: Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, head curator of biology, National Museum, chairman; Mr. N. Hollister, superintendent of the National Zoological Park; Mr. A. Howard Clark, editor of the Institution, secretary of the committee; Dr. George P. Merrill, head curator of geology, National Museum; and Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology, who succeeded Mr. F. W. Hodge, resigned.

LIBRARY.

The library of the Smithsonian Institution is divided into (1) the main library, consisting chiefly of journals and transactions of learned societies and institutions throughout the world, which are in the custody of the Library of Congress and administered as the Smithsonian deposit; (2) the National Museum library; (3) the library of the Bureau of American Ethnology; (4) the National Zoological Park library; (5) the library of the Astrophysical Observatory; and (6) the office reference library. Some of these are subdivided into several sectional libraries.

The report of the assistant librarian in the appendix presents details of accessions. Mention should here be made of one exceptional and important addition to the Museum library, consisting of a large number of botanical and horticultural publications brought together at Biltmore, N. C., by the late Mr. George W. Vanderbilt and presented by Mrs. Vanderbilt.

NATIONAL MUSEUM.

The detailed account of the operations of the National Museum is recorded in an appendix to this report by Mr. Ravanel, the administrative assistant who had chiefly conducted the affairs for several months during the illness of Assistant Secretary Rathbun, whose death occurred shortly after the close of the fiscal year. It is therefore unnecessary here to do more than to review some of the principal activities of the Museum and to refer to the appendix for further information.

The exhibits are now housed in three buildings: (1) the arts and industries collection in what is known as the old Museum building, (2) the natural history collections and the National Gallery of Art in the large new building, and (3) the graphic arts and National Herbarium in the original Smithsonian building.

During the year 69,286 square feet of room in the Natural History Building were turned over to the Secretary of the Treasury for use of about 3,000 clerks of the War Risk Insurance Bureau. I may

mention here that a few weeks after June 30 the building was closed to the public, the exhibition cases were crowded into the least possible quarters, and all available space was temporarily given over to the Insurance Bureau. This course was gladly taken, in order to put into immediate effect the financial assistance provided by Congress for the families of our soldiers and sailors.

About 1,300 accessions to the Museum were recorded during the year, aggregating nearly 143,000 specimens and objects, including 11,000 pertaining to the department of anthropology, 61,500 to zoology, 38,000 to botany, 11,300 to geology and mineralogy, and 17,900 to paleontology; 168 paintings and other art objects were lent for exhibition in the gallery of art.

Among the most interesting additions of anthropological objects were over 400 specimens from Celebes, East Indies, illustrating agriculture and household economy in that region collected through the generosity of Dr. W. L. Abbott. A collection given by Mr. Alfred M. Erskine represented implements and costumes of the Dyaks of Borneo. A noteworthy addition to the division of American archeology was a collection of 83 specimens, mostly stone implements,. also relics from the cliff and cavern dwellings of New Mexico, Indian relics from the Virgin Islands, and a large number of relics from Utah. By an exchange with the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto there were acquired about 200 specimens of Babylonian tablets and prehistoric stone implements from Egypt, France, and England.

The division of mechanical technology was enriched by the addition of a large number of firearms and firearm appliances. Among the historical objects received were two flags pertaining to the present war, one of which belonged to Zeppelin 49 at the time of its capture in 1917; the other was the flag used at the funeral of the American soldiers lost on the transport Tuscania in 1918. A most interesting object is the original letter written by Gen. Grant demanding the unconditional surrender of Fort Donelson. There are also large numbers of souvenirs of American soldiers and statesmen, among which may be mentioned a number of personal relics of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, United States Army, consisting of swords, uniforms, and other objects owned by him during the Mexican and Civil Wars; also the well-known Robert Hewitt Collection of Medallic Lincolniana made up of some 1,200 medallions, medals, tokens, and badges. To the collection of musical instruments were added five American pianos and one organ, seven English pianos, two Austrian grand pianos, and a number of other instruments. To the numismatic collection was added a large number of replicas of United States service medals and to the collection of philatelic material, 3,186 stamps, 2,706 of which were received from the Post Office Department. In the appendix the administrative assistant enumerates

important additions in the departments of anthropology, biology, geology, and to the arts and industries collections which need not be repeated here.

In previous reports I have called attention to the rapid development since 1912 of the collection of textiles, woods, and medicines. The additions to the collection, showing the methods of making textiles and finished products, are must instructive, likewise the collection of materia medica, which has been largely increased.

The division of mineral technology during the year has published a number of unusually important pamphlets on the minerals of the United States, power, petroleum, nitrogen, and coal. Some interesting objects added to the exhibits in the division include models showing the occurrence and recovery of gold and the manufacture of lead and exhibits of coal-tar products.

The construction of the building for the Freer collection has progressed as rapidly as could be expected under present war conditions. The exterior walls have been erected to entablature height. Nine hundred and twenty-eight items have been added to the Freer collection, including 159 oriental objects. The National Gallery of Art received a bequest comprising 12 paintings, a number of miniatures and other objects, 140 items in all, from the estate of Mrs. Mary Houston Eddy, to be known as the A. R. and M. H. Eddy donation. It has also received from the Russian artist, Ossip Perelma, a portrait by himself of M. Boris Bahkmeteff, first ambassador of the Russian Republic to the United States.

The number of visitors to the Natural History building during the year 1917 aggregated 306,003 on week days and 95,079 on Sundays, and to the Arts and Industries building the number was 161,298. The number of visitors to the old Museum building since it was opened to the public in 1881 has been 8,000,000; to the new building since 1909, 2,643,654; and to the Smithsonian building since 1881, 4,734,492. Many meetings of various scientific societies were held in the Museum auditorium during the year. Special exhibits have also been shown, among the most interesting of which were the collection illustrating the united organizations of the United States Food Administration and the exhibit of etchings of war industries by Pennell.

Following the custom of many years there was a distribution of some 8,000 duplicate specimens to schools and colleges for educational purposes, all properly classified and labeled. These included sets of mollusks, ores, minerals, and objects of ethnology and archeology.

The Museum publications of the year comprised 6 volumes and 40 separate papers, including the annual report for 1916, volume 51 of the Proceedings, and 5 bulletins. Bulletin 102, on the mineral industries of the United States, is of particular interest to the public,

the four parts so far issued being devoted to coal products, fertilizers, sulphur, and coal.

Additions to the Museum library amounted to 3,230 volumes and 1,571 pamphlets, making the present aggregate of 52,534 volumes and 84,491 pamphlets and unbound papers. To the Biltmore collection of botanical works, presented by Mrs. George W. Vanderbilt, 2,000 volumes were added.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY.

The activities of the Bureau of American Ethnology are limited to the study of the past and present conditions of the North American Indians. Their main purpose is to perfect the existing classifications of the various stocks of these aborigines based on their language in order to discover their relationship, and to gain a clearer insight into the origin, history, and migration of man on this continent. The languages of the Indians are doomed to disappear in the near future; some have already gone and others will become extinct in a few years. Through intense, patient research the bureau is undertaking the task of recording these vanishing tongues before they disappear forever.

The bureau is also, through archeological work, resurrecting from the night of the past hitherto unrecorded chapters of the history of aboriginal Indian life that reached a high development and disappeared before recorded history began. One evidence of a prehistoric phase of Indian life is indicated by the pueblos and cliff dwellers. Through erosion by the elements and vandalism due to man these remarkable houses are rapidly falling into decay. The Bureau of Ethnology is cooperating with the Department of the Interior in the excavation and repair of these remains in order that they may be of educational value and preserved for posterity.

The field researches of the bureau the past year have been particularly important, both from ethnological and historical points of view. Hitherto unknown prehistoric monuments have been discovered and surveyed, while others previously known have been excavated and permanently preserved. The advances made in ethnological knowledge, although often slow, are always important and have opened up new problems pleading for solution, indicating that the work of the bureau has barely begun, and that much available information regarding our aborigines still remains to be gathered.

NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK.

Increasing popular interest in the Zoological Park is manifest by the number of visitors, which aggregated 1,593,337 in 1918 as compared with 564,634 in 1909 and 633,526 in 1913. The park is an edu

cational center as well as a place of resort for recreation and pleasure. This is shown by the fact that 78 schools and classes visited the park in 1918, with a total of 4,945 individuals. It is likewise a center for the life-history study of animals, for they are placed as nearly as practical in conditions of their natural environment, and as the collection increases in numbers or in kinds so does its value become of more importance as a source of scientific information.

There is now in the park a total of 1,247 animals, representing 345 distinct species. These include 483 mammals, 706 birds, and 58 reptiles. The several species are enumerated in detail in the superintendent's report in the appendix.

A most interesting recent accession is the first specimen of the glacier bear or blue bear ever known to have been captured alive. It has a very limited distribution in the region of the St. Elias Alps, near Jakutat Bay, Alaska. Being one of the rarest and least known of the great game animals of America, specimens have been eagerly sought for zoological gardens. Among other accessions may be noted keas, or sheep-killing parrots, and some flightless rails from New Zealand, and a large boaconstrictor, 11 feet long, from Trinidad. For several years I have urged the purchase of certain parcels of land along the western boundary of the park and in 1913 an appropriation was made by Congress for that purpose, but as the purchase could not be completed before the time limit of the appropriation, further legislation becomes necessary for renewal of the allotment.

The superintendent calls attention to a number of important needs, including roads, bridle paths, automobile parking space, grading and filling, a new aviary building, a reptile house, and outdoor quarters for mammals.

A striking mark of the appreciation and interest of the children of Washington in the National Zoological Park is the tablet placed in the elephant house to the memory of the elephant "Dunk," through subscription to a popular fund by the children of Washington, "whose favorite Dunk was for more than a quarter of a century."

ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY.

The general direction of the work of the Observatory has continued under Dr. C. G. Abbot, who, in addition to these duties, has been occupied during the year with a number of scientific investigations directly connected with the war.

The investigation of the absorption of long-wave rays by long columns of air containing known quantities of water vapor, reference to which was made in my last report, have been continued and the results to date published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. In describing his work Mr. Fowle says: