REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, CHARLES D. WALCOTT, FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1920. To the BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to submit herewith the annual report on the activities and condition of the Smithsonian Institution and its branches during the year ending June 30, 1920. An account of the affairs of the Institution itself, together with a summary of the work of the several branches, are given on the first 26 pages of this report, while the appendixes are devoted to more detailed accounts of the operations during the year of the National Museum, the Bureau of American Ethnology, the International Exchange Service, the National Zoological Park, the Astrophysical Observatory, the Smithsonian Library, the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, and an account of the publications of the Institution and its branches. THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. THE ESTABLISHMENT. The Smithsonian Institution was created by act of Congress in 1846, according to the terms of the will of James Smithson, of England, who in 1826 bequeathed his property to the United States of America "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." In receiving the property and accepting the trust Congress determined that the Federal Government was without authority to administer the trust directly, and therefore constituted an "establishment," whose statutory members are "the President, the Vice President, the Chief Justice, and the heads of the executive departments." THE BOARD OF REGENTS. The affairs of the Institution are administered by a Board of Regents whose membership consists of " the Vice President, the Chief Justice, three Members of the Senate, and three Members of the House of Representatives, together with six other persons other than Members of Congress, two of whom shall be resident in the city of Washington and the other four shall be inhabitants of some State. but no two of them of the same State." One of the regents, usually the Chief Justice, is elected chancellor by the board, and a suitable person is chosen by them as secretary of the Institution, who is also secretary of the Board of Regents and the executive officer directly in charge of the Institution's activities. During the year Senator Medill McCormick was appointed a regent to succeed Senator Hollis, whose term as Senator had expired. Representative John A. Elston was appointed to succeed Representative Scott Ferris. Representatives Padgett and Greene were reappointed as regents, and Charles F. Choate, jr., was reelected a citizen regent by the Congress. The roll of regents at the close of the fiscal year 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: Charles S. Thomas, Member of the Senate; Medill McCormick, Member of the Senate; Lemuel P. Padgett, Member of the House of Representatives; Frank L. Greene, Member of the House of Representatives; John A. Elston, 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, citizen of Washington, D. C.; Henry White, citizen of Maryland; and Robert S. Brookings, citizen of Missouri. The board held its annual meeting on December 11, 1919. The proceedings of that meeting, as well as 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 the 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 accordance with the law. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. The usual routine operations of the Institution in the "increase and diffusion of knowledge among men" were continued during the year, including a mass of correspondence with individuals and scien tific establishments throughout the world. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the Institution with its extremely limited funds, in the face of greatly increased costs in every phase of its activity, to carry on effective work. However, in spite of the fact that the Institution's endowed funds have never been materially increased, it has been possible in some measure to advance knowledge and publish the results of scientific work, as noted in the following report on the year's activities. It is my sad duty to note here the death during the year of Mr. Charles L. Freer, of Detroit, an irreparable loss to the art interests of the country. As stated in previous reports, Mr. Freer presented his unrivaled collections of American and oriental art to the Smithsonian Institution in 1906, and provided $500,000 (later increased to $1,000,000) for the erection of a suitable building to house the collection. This building is now practically completed and nearly ready for the installation of the collections. That Mr. Freer did not live to see the fulfillment of his splendid art gift to the Nation is greatly to be regretted. An interesting article by Miss Katharine N. Rhoades on the recent additions to the Freer Collections appeared in Art and Archeology, October, 1919. In addition to allotments for the maintenance of the Smithsonian solar observing station at Calama, Chile, several small grants for original research have been made from the Hodgkins fund of the Institution-one to Dr. L. G. Hoxton, professor of physics at the University of Virginia, for research on the Joule-Thomson effect in various gases; another to Mr. Alexander Wetmore, of the Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture, for carrying on investigations of the body temperatures of birds; and a third to the Austrian Meteorological Association for the purpose of aiding in continuing the publication of the Meteorologische Zeitschrift and for the support of the meteorological observatory on the Sonnblick. Both of these were in danger of being discontinued on account of lack of funds, and their cessation would have been a great loss to meteorology. Working also under a grant from the Hodgkins fund, Prof. Robert H. Goddard, of Clark College, continued his researches on a multiplecharge rocket for reaching great altitudes mentioned in last year's report. The early results of his experiments were published during the year by the Institution under the title "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes," in which Prof. Goddard showed that it would be perfectly possible by means of his new type of high-efficiency rocket to send recording instruments to the hitherto unknown upper layers of the atmosphere and to provide for their safe return, thus obtaining new data of the greatest interest and scientific value to meteorology and solar physics. Prof. Goddard also showed that it was theoretically possible to send a mass of 1 pound of flash powder outside the earth's attraction and to the dark surface of the new moon, where, on impact, the flash would be visible through telescopes on the earth. This interesting speculation aroused great popular interest throughout the country, almost to the exclusion of the immediately apparent scientific value of the experiment, namely, the exploring of the unknown upper layers of the earth's atmosphere. Prof. Goddard was working on the further development of his researches at the close of the year. An important event in the art development of the country will be the creation of the National Gallery of Art as a separate administrative unit under the Smithsonian Institution, to take effect at the first of the coming year, instead of, as at present, a division of the National Museum, which action is made possible through a small appropriation in the sundry civil bill for 1921. Mr. W. H. Holmes, at present head curator of the department of anthropology in the Museum, will be appointed director of the National Gallery. FINANCES. The investments of the Institution are as follows: Deposited in the Treasury of the United States under authority of Congress‒‒‒ $1,000,000.00 CONSOLIDATED FUND. American Telephone & Telegraph Co. 4 per cent collateral trust bonds, due July 1, 1929__ Province of Manitoba 5 per cent gold debentures, due Apr. 1, 1922 15, 680.00 West Shore Railroad Co. guaranteed 4 per cent first mortgage bonds, due Jan. 1, 2361 Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. first mortgage 5 per cent gold bonds, due Apr. 1, 1939__. United States first Liberty loan__ United States second Liberty loan.. United States third Liberty loan.. United States fourth Liberty loan_ United States Victory loan United States war-savings stamps, series of 1918. Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co. 5 per cent notes, due July 1, 1918.. Total_-_-_ 1,935,00 37, 275.00 9, 430.00 200.00 100.00 10, 150.00 50.00 4,341.64 100.00 3,500.00 134.38 82, 896. 02 The sum invested for each specific fund and the manner in which held is described as follows: The $3,500 par value of the 5 per cent gold notes of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Co. are still held in the hands of receivers, no plan of reorganization of the company having yet been decided upon. Mr. B. H. Swales, honorary custodian, section of birds' eggs, has contributed an additional $300 to the Institution for the purchase of specimens, making a total contribution of $600 since January, 1919. Several small lots of unimproved land near Lowell, Mass., have been sold, and $440.07 was realized therefrom and invested for account of the Lucy T. and George W. Poore fund. Dr. William L. Abbott has contributed $4,000 during the year to the maintenance of a field party, the purpose of which is to procure archeological and natural history specimens in Australia. This sum is in addition to an unexpended balance which Dr. Abbott had previously furnished for similar work in Borneo and Celebes. The Institution has received for specific activities valuable contributions from Mr. John A. Roebling and the Rockefeller Foundation, the amounts being $11,000 and $2,500, respectively. Current funds not immediately required for expenditure are, when conditions will permit, deposited on time in local trust companies and draw 3 per cent interest per annum. The interest received in this manner during the year amounted to $1,320.60. The income during the year, amounting to $171,788.35, was derived as follows: Interest on permanent investments and other sources, $65,651.37; repayments, rentals, publications, etc., $14,525.09; contributions from various sources for specific purposes, $41,171.82; bills receivable, $50,000; proceeds from sale of real estate, $440.07. Adding the cash available July 1, 1919, $2,122.78, the total resources for the year amounted to $173,911.13. |