1. The commission does not undertake to act as a bibliographic or nomenclatural bureau, but rather as an adviser in connection with the more difficult and disputed cases of nomenclature.

2. All cases submitted should be accompanied by (a) a concise statement of the point at issue, (b) the full arguments on both sides in case a disputed point is involved, and (c) complete and exact bibliographic references to every book or article bearing on the point at issue.

The more complete the data when the case is submitted the more promptly can it be acted upon.

3. Of necessity, cases submitted with incomplete bibliographic references can not be studied and must be returned by the commission to the sender.

4. Cases upon which an opinion is desired may be sent to any member of the commission, but—

5. In order that the work of the commission may be confined as much as possible to the more difficult and the disputed cases, it is urged that zoologists study the code and settle for themselves as many cases as possible.

Museum publications.-There were published during the year the annual report of the assistant secretary in charge of the National Museum for 1911, 50 miscellaneous papers of the Proceedings, 3 Bulletins, and 5 parts of Contributions from the National Herbarium. Ethnological publications.-The Bureau of American Ethnology published the Twenty-seventh Annual Report, containing a paper on 66 The Omaha Tribe," and Bulletin 47 on the Biloxi and Ofo languages.

Reports of historical and patriotic societies.—In accordance with the national charters of the American Historical Association and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, annual reports of those organizations were submitted to the Institution and communicated to Congress.

Committee on printing and publication.—The advisory committee on printing and publication under the Smithsonian Institution has continued to examine manuscripts proposed for publication by the branches of the Institution and has considered various questions concerning public printing and binding. Twenty-one meetings of the committee were held during the year and 156 manuscripts were passed upon. The personnel of the committee is as follows: Dr. Frederick W. True, Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, chairman; Mr. C. G. Abbot, Director of the Astrophysical Observatory; Mr. W. I. Adams, disbursing officer of the Smithsonian Institution; Dr. Frank Baker, superintendent of the National Zoological Park; Mr. A. Howard Clark, editor of the Smithsonian Institution; Mr. F. W. Hodge, ethnologist in charge of the Bureau of American Ethnology; Dr. George P. Merrill, head curator of geology, United States National Museum; and Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, head curator of biology, United States National Museum. Allotments for printing. The allotments to the Institution and its branches, under the head of "Public printing and binding," during the past fiscal year, aggregating $72,900, were, as far as practicable,

expended prior to June 30. The allotments for the year ending June 30, 1913, aggregating $74,900, are as follows:

For the Smithsonian Institution, for printing and binding annual reports of the Board of Regents, with general appendixes‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒ $10,000 For the annual reports of the National Museum, with general appendixes, and for printing labels and blanks, and for the bulletins and proceedings of the National Museum, the editions of which shall not exceed 4,000 copies, and binding, in half turkey or material not more expensive, scientific books and pamphlets presented to or acquired by the National Museum library----

34, 000

For the annual reports and bulletins of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and for miscellaneous printing and binding for the bureau___ 21,000 For miscellaneous printing and binding:

For miscellaneous printing and binding for the Astrophysical Observatory, $400, and for 1,500 copies of volume 3 of the Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory, $2,000---

For the annual report of the American Historical Association.

Total____

2,400

7,000

74, 900

Distribution of publications.-There was under discussion before committees of Congress at the close of the fiscal year, and later enacted into law, certain proposed measures which particularly affect the practice of the Institution and it branches in the distribution of publications. As finally passed by Congress the law requires that all Government publications must be mailed from the Government Printing Office, mailing lists or labels being forwarded to the Superintendent of Documents for that purpose.

At the Regents' meeting in February last, the secretary called the attention of the board to the proposed legislation and stated that the publications of the Institution are not an incidental result of its work but something planned for and systematically executed. The Institution keeps in touch with all the principal scientific and art establishments of the world, and with experts in science and art who are promoting work in a line with its own, or who are in positions to help in securing collections, information, or advice. The actual labor of wrapping, labeling, and handling the Smithsonian report had been furnished by the Institution and not by the Government, and it was feared that the transfer of the actual work of distribution of the publications of the Institution and its branches to another establishment would distinctly tend to defeat the wellconsidered plans under which it has been conducted heretofore.

The law as enacted requires the transfer to the Public Printer by October 1 of all publications on hand, and that distribution shall thereafter be made from his office. This measure does not, however, apply to the two series of publications published at the private

expense of the Institution. The question in the main seems to be one affecting the promptness of distribution, which is of primary importance in the case of scientific works, and it is hoped no serious disadvantages may result by the adoption of the new law.

LIBRARY.

The library of the Smithsonian Institution is made up of several constituent parts. The most important of these are the Smithsonian deposit in the Library of Congress and the libraries of the National Museum and Bureau of American Ethnology. There was added to the Smithsonian deposit during the past year a total of 21,863 publications, the equivalent of 14,560 volumes, consisting very largely of works on the various branches of science and art.

To the Museum library there were added 1,791 books, 3,608 pamphlets, and 276 parts of volumes, making the present total in that library about 42,000 volumes, 70,000 unbound papers, besides manuscripts, maps, charts, and other material. Arrangements are being made to divide the Museum library into two principal parts by assembling all books on zoology, paleontology, geology, ethnology, and archeology in the new building.

LANGLEY MEMORIAL TABLET.

A design in plaster for the memorial tablet commemorative of the aeronautical work of the late Secretary Langley was submitted at the December meeting of the Regents by the sculptor, Mr. John Flanagan, and accepted by the committee appointed by the board. The tablet will be cast in bronze and erected in the vestibule of the Smithsonian building. The tablet, which is in relief, measures 4 feet 6 inches high by 2 feet 5 inches wide. It represents Mr. Langley seated on a terrace where he has a clear view of the heavens, and in a meditative mood is observing the flight of birds, while in his mind. he sees his aerodrome soaring above them.

The lettering upon the tablet is as follows:

SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEY

1834--1906

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution

1887-1906

Discovered the relations of speed and angle of inclination to the lifting power of surfaces moving in air

"I have brought to a close the portion of the work which seemed to be specially mine, the demonstration of the practicability of mechanical flight. "The great universal highway overhead is now soon to be opened."-LANGLEY, 1901.

HAMILTON LECTURE.

The third Hamilton fund lecture of the Smithsonian Institution was delivered by Dr. Simon Flexner, of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, in the auditorium of the United States National Museum, February 8, 1912.

The title of the lecture was "Infection and Recovery from Infection," an investigation to which Dr. Flexner has given especial study for several years.

In his treatment of this vital and interesting subject the speaker covered a broad field of medical science, and at the same time expressed himself in such a manner as to be intelligible to laymen. Dr. Flexner touched upon the following points:

The part played by bacteria, protozoa, and submicroscopic parasites in causing infection was described, and emphasis laid upon the occurrence on the surface of the body of many kinds of diseaseproducing germs. The manner in which they are excluded by skin. and mucous membranes was discussed, as well as their ability to enter the body by these channels when they were imperfect. In this way a variety of diseases is produced, including diphtheria, meningitis, and probably infantile paralysis. The germs that enter the body encounter a second and even more efficient set of defenses in the blood with its devouring white corpuscles. When disease appears, in spite of and because of inadequacy in the defensive mechanisms, then the body, under the influence of the parasitic germs, sets about creating new defensive principles through the process of immunization. It is immunization that vaccination produces, which is a protection to smallpox; and it is through purposive immunization of animals that the curative serums are prepared, that by injection. bringing about an artificial and premature cessation of such diseases as diphtheria and epidemic meningitis. The part played by insects in transmitting malaria, yellow fever, typhus fever, and relapsing fever was sketched, and the varying susceptibilities to disease of different races, species, and individuals dwelt on and in part explained, on the basis of known facts of immunity to and virulence of the germ causes of disease.

The above is the third of the series of Hamilton lectures. In 1871 James Hamilton, a retired lawyer of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, bequeathed $1,000 to the Smithsonian Institution, the interest of which was to be appropriated biennially by the secretary for some contribution, paper, or lecture on any scientific or useful subject which he might select. As the sum was somewhat limited to adequately carry out the donor's wishes, the interest was allowed to accumulate until the amount was doubled, and the Institution then created a series of lectures, known as the Hamilton Fund Lectures.

T

The first, by Dr. Andrew D. White, on "The diplomatic service of the United States, with some hints toward its reform," was given in 1905, and the second, by Dr. George E. Hale, on "Some recent contributions to our knowledge of the Sun," was delivered in 1908.

INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES AND CELEBRATIONS.

The Institution each year receives invitations to numerous scientific congresses and celebrations in the United States and abroad, but as funds are not available for the expenses of delegates few of these invitations can be accepted. In some instances, however, it is possible to arrange for representation by collaborators of the Institution who are visiting the localities on official or private business.

Congress of Americanists.-Dr. Aleš Hrdlička was appointed representative of the Institution and designated as delegate of the United States to the Eighteenth International Congress of Americanists held in London May 27 to June 1, 1912. In addition to Dr. Hrdlička, the State Department also designated Miss Alice Fletcher, Dr. George Grant MacCurdy, Dr. Edgar L. Hewett, Dr. G. B. Gordon, Rev. Charles W. Currier, Prof. Marshall H. Saville, and Dr. Charles Peabody as delegates on the part of the United States at that congress.

The Nineteenth International Congress of Americanists has been invited to meet in Washington in 1914, and Mr. W. H. Holmes, Mr. F. W. Hodge, and Dr. Aleš Hrdlička have been appointed an auxiliary committee to represent the Smithsonian Institution in connection with the preliminary arrangement of details respecting the proposed meeting.

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.-The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia held its centenary anniversary in Philadelphia, March 19, 20, and 21, 1912. At this celebration the Institution and its branches were represented by the secretary, Dr. Charles D. Walcott; Dr. Richard Rathbun, assistant secretary in charge of the United States Național Museum; Dr. Frederick W. True, assistant secretary in charge of Library and Exchanges; Mr. Frederick W. Hodge, ethnologist in charge, Bureau of American Ethnology; and Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, head curator of biology, United States National Museum; and Dr. Theodore N. Gill, associate in Zoology, United States National Museum. The secretary also represented the American Philosophical Society on this occasion. Archeological Congress.-At the request of the Institution, the State Department designated Prof. Arthur L. Frothingham and Prof. George M. Whicher as delegates on the part of the United States to the Third International Archeological Congress at Rome, October 9 to 16, 1912.

85360°-SM 1912- -3