supplement the other, and anyone visiting Washington at all interested in art will be obliged to visit both.

The most sincere and hearty cooperation has existed in the past between the two institutions, and it will continue in the future, the only rivalry being that each will endeavor to hold to a higher standard and uplift the art ideals in America.

In order to insure the maintenance of the gallery at a proper standard there has been organized a permanent honorary committee of men competent to pass judgment on the quality of such works of art as might be presented for acceptance by the gallery and who are also so identified with the art interests of the country as to assure to the public and especially to the lovers and patrons of art the wholly worthy purpose of this movement on behalf of the nation. This advisory committee is constituted as follows:

Mr. Francis D. Millett, president; Mr. Frederick Crowninshield, representing the Fine Arts Federation, of which he is president; Mr. Edwin H. Blashfield, representing the National Academy of Design; Mr. Herbert Adams, representing the National Sculpture Society, of which he is president; and Mr. William H. Holmes, of the Smithsonian Institution, secretary of the committee.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY.

The Bureau of American Ethnology has in the past accomplished much in its study of the habits, customs, and beliefs of the American. aborigines. The results of these researches have in considerable measure been permanently recorded in annual reports and bulletins. that contain a mass of valuable information on aboriginal arts and industries, forms of government, religious and social customs, languages, and mental and physical characteristics. Although a large body of material still awaits final study and arrangement and much remains to be done both in field and office work, yet the investigations of the Bureau have reached such a stage as to render it possible to summarize some of the results in the form of handbooks designed especially for the use of schools and nonprofessional students. The demand for the handbooks already issued or in preparation has been very large.

The Indians form one of the great races of mankind, and the world looks to the Government for all possible knowledge that is still available concerning this race before it shall have vanished by assimilation in the great body of the American people.

The Bureau has likewise done much in the exploration and preservation of antiquities, especially the prehistoric ruins in the southern Rocky Mountain region, and will continue work in this direction. and press it more rapidly while there is still opportunity to save them

97578°-SM 1910-3

from vandalism and to preserve them for the benefit of future generations.

There is present need of ethnological researches among the tribal remnants of the Mississippi basin, since the opportunities for making and preserving a permanent record of the aborigines which played such an important part in the early history of the Middle West are rapidly passing.

Ethnological researches should also be made in the Hawaiian Islands and in Samoa. Little reliable information regarding the ethnology of these insular possessions has been recorded, and it is hoped that Congress may soon provide the means for initiating among their natives researches of the same general character as those now being conducted among the American Indian tribes.

The various lines of ethnological studies carried on by the Bureau during the past year are presented in detail in the appendix to the present report.

The removal of some divisions of the National Museum to the new Museum building afforded an opportunity for the transfer in December last of the offices and library of the Bureau of American Ethnology from rented quarters to the Smithsonian building. It was found desirable at the same time to reorganize the office force, Mr. Holmes, Chief of the Bureau for several years, having resumed the office of head curator of the Department of Anthropology in the National Museum.

With a view to economy in the transaction of the routine business of the Bureau, much of the clerical and all the laboring work was concentrated by placing the routine correspondence and files, the accounts, the shipment of publications, and the care of supplies and other property in immediate charge of the office of the Smithsonian Institution. It was thus found possible to render a larger proportion of the annual appropriation available for research work.

INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES.

Several additional governments have entered into the immediate exchange of their parliamentary records during the past year, 26 countries now taking part in this exchange with the United States. A list of the countries to which the daily issue of the Congressional Record is sent will be found in the appended report on the exchanges. The Institution is still in correspondence with other governments regarding this immediate exchange, and from time to time additions. will no doubt be made to the list of those countries participating. It may be stated, in this connection, that the exchange here alluded to is separate and distinct from the exchange of official documents which has existed between the United States and other countries for a number of years.

While the number of packages handled during the past year was 7,250 less than during the preceding twelve months, there was a gain in weight of 8,515 pounds. The number of packages passing through the service was 221,625, and the total weight 484,684 pounds.

The total available resources for carrying on the system of exchanges during 1910 amounted to $36,646.74--$32,200 of which were appropriated by the Congress and $4,446.74 were derived from exchange repayments to the Institution.

His Imperial Japanese Majesty's residency-general at Seoul having consented to act as the exchange intermediary between Korea and the United States, the interrupted exchange relations with that country have been resumed.

Under the exchange arrangements entered into in 1898, through the Imperial Academy of Sciences, in Vienna, with the Statistical Central Commission, it has been necessary for the Smithsonian Institution to bear all the expenses for freight on consignments both to and from Vienna. The government of Austria has now signified its willingness to assume its share of the cost of conducting the exchanges between the two countries, and in the future the Institution will, therefore, be relieved of this extra burden upon its resources. In bringing this matter to the attention of the Austrian Government, the Institution has had the assistance of the presidents of the Imperial Academy of Sciences and of the Statistical Central Commission, to both of whom thanks are due for their kind cooperation.

During the past year the Institution discontinued sending exchange packages to correspondents by registered mail. This step was taken with a view to reducing the work in the exchange office and also to relieving the Post-Office Department of the extra expense involved in handling the large amount of registered matter sent out by the exchanges.

There were 975 more correspondents on the records of the exchange office than at the close of last year, the total now being 63,605.

The circular containing the exchange rules has been revised during the year and a new edition printed. For the information of those who may wish to make use of the facilities of the service, the circular is given in full in the report on the exchanges..

German bureau of exchanges. As has been mentioned in previous reports, the German Government has never undertaken the distribution of exchanges between Germany and the United States, and, in order to conduct the very large interchange of publications between the two countries, it has been necessary for the Smithsonian Institution to maintain a paid agency in Leipzig. During the year 1907, Germany was again approached, through the Department of State, on the subject of the establishment of a governmental bureau of exchanges in that country. It is gratifying to note here that the repre

sentations of the department through the American ambassador at Berlin, have been given favorable consideration on the part of the German authorities, in connection with the establishment, under the direction of that Government, of the America Institute in Berlinan institution for the fostering of cultural relations between Germany and the United States. While the Smithsonian Institution has not thus far received definite information of the actual establishment of this institute, it is learned through Dr. Hugo Münsterberg-Harvard exchange professor to the University of Berlin, who is to be the first director of this America institute, and who has taken a very active interest in the whole matter-that it is intended to have the institute assume, as one of is functions, the interchange of publications between Germany and the United States.

NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK.

peo

The National Zoological Park was established in 1890 "for the advancement of science and the instruction and recreation of the ple." The area covered by the park is 167 acres along the Rock Creek Valley, about 2 miles north of the center of Washington, in a region well adapted by nature for the purpose for which it is used. During the past twenty years improvements have gradually been made as appropriations have permitted by the laying out of driveways and walks and the construction of bridges to render access easy for visitors through connections with the city thoroughfares and with the roadways of Rock Creek Park to the north of the Zoological Park. From year to year likewise the comfort and care of the collections have been improved by the laying out of ponds and yards and the construction of bird cages, bear dens, and buildings suited to the habits of the various animals. Among the improvements of the past year I may mention that six new large cages were built for the lions and other large cats; the antelope house was enlarged by an extension 50 by 50 feet, furnishing 10 additional stalls with commodious yards, and a new entrance to the building; and a suitable pool 47 by 96 feet was made for the sea lions and seals.

There remains, however, much to be done to provide adequate accommodations for the collections that are gradually increasing in number and in value, as well as improved facilities for the great and increasing number of visitors to the park.

To a large extent the animals still have to be kept in temporary quarters, which are insufficient and unsuitable, and are costly to maintain because of the repairs that are constantly required. This is especially true of the temporary building used for birds. The park has a fine series of birds, some of them of great rarity and interest, and they would make a most valuable exhibit if properly housed.

Only a part of the collection can now be shown for lack of room, and it is practically impossible to maintain the birds in a healthy condition when kept in such unsuitable quarters.

The collections in the park were enriched during the year by the addition of a number of East African animals, including five lions, two cheetahs, a leopard, a Grant's gazelle, a wart hog, and several smaller mammals and birds, which were the gift of Mr. W. N. McMillan, of Nairobi; also a pair each of eland and Coke's hartebeest, a Grant's zebra, a water buck, and a Lophiomys, which were secured in the same region. These animals were of such interest and value as to render it desirable to send the assistant superintendent of the park to Africa to arrange for their safe transfer to Washington.

ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY.

The work of the Astrophysical Observatory during the year has brought two important results:

(1) The first result is the establishment of an absolute scale of pyrheliometry within three parts in one thousand as the result of a long series of experiments with various pyrheliometers. The establishment of this scale through Mr. Abbot's standard pyrheliometer has been supplemented by the distribution abroad and at home of several secondary pyrheliometers constructed through a grant from the Hodgkins Fund. The constancy of the scale of these secondary pyrheliometers has been established and it is desirable to compare this scale with those in use elsewhere. It is hoped that finally all pyrheliometric observations will be made on the same scale as that used here.

(2) The second result of the year's work is the agreement within 1 per cent of the "solar-constant" observations obtained by Mr. Abbot at the Smithsonian Mount Whitney station in California at an elevation of 14,500 feet with those obtained simultaneously at the Mount Wilson station in California at an elevation of only 6,000 feet. This determination, in combination with the above-mentioned establishment of an absolute scale of pyrheliometry, gives 1.925 calories per square centimeter per minute as a mean value, for the period 1905-1909, of the rate at which the earth receives heat from the sun when at its mean distance. Determinations made with various forms of apparatus show no systematic difference in this value of the "solar constant." In 1905 this "constant," according to various authorities, was stated at values ranging between 1.75 and 4 calories.

It is improbable that observations would have been continued since 1902 on "solar-constant" work but for a suspected variability of the radiation sent to us from the sun. The laws governing this variability are of extreme importance for utilitarian purposes apart from