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tain approved railroad bonds which form part of the fund established by Mr. Hodgkins.

At the beginning of the fiscal year July 1, 1904, there was a deficit of $362.80 instead of a credit balance of $46,648.33, as stated in my report for the year ended June 30, 1904. On June 2, 1905, it was discovered that the accountant of the Institution was a defaulter, and that by the aid of false entries and erasures he had been able to conceal his misdeeds from detection. He was immediately placed in the custody of the law and an examination of the books and accounts was commenced, but the total amount of the defalcation had not been determined at the close of the fiscal year, and a more complete statement will be submitted in a special report.

During the year the total receipts deposited in the Treasury of the United States in behalf of the Institution were $74,761.72. Of this sum $57,060 were derived from interest, $10,000 from a temporary loan, and the balance of $7.701.72 from miscellaneous sources. The disbursements during the year amounted to $69,245, the details of which are given in the report of the executive committee. The balance remaining to the credit of the Secretary on June 30, 1905, for the expenses of the Institution, was $5,153.92.

During the fiscal year 1905 the Institution was charged by Congress with the disbursement of the following appropriations:

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The following estimates were forwarded as usual to the Secretary of the Treasury for carrying on the Government's interests under the charge of the Institution for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906. This table shows the estimates and sums respectively appropriated:

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In accordance with the original plan of the Institution that its Secretary should devote his time to scientific matters as well as administrative," research work in various fields has been continued under my direction by the Institution and its dependencies.

In the Astrophysical Observatory I have continued work believed to be important, and inaugurated some experiments of novel interest, which are referred to later.

Through the Museum and the Bureau of American Ethnology the Institution has been enabled to carry on various biological, geological, and ethnological researches, which will be found fully described elsewhere in this report.

HODGKINS FUND.

Frequent applications for grants from the Hodgkins fund are received; and while, as noted in previous reports, the conditions establishing the foundation are such as to measurably restrict the scope of its activities, all requests for aid are carefully considered and acted on. In addition to the researches here mentioned, reports on several interesting investigations, already noted as in progress, are still awaited and will be published later.

A grant has been approved on behalf of Mr. A. L. Rotch, of Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, whose investigations of the upper

a Resolved, That the Secretary continue his researches in physical science, and present such facts and principles as may be, developed for publication in the Smithsonian contributions. (Adopted at meeting of the Board of Regents, January 26, 1847.)

SM 1905--5

air currents by means of kites have been aided by the Hodgkins fund. Mr. Rotch conducted a series of experiments at the St. Louis Exposition with ballons-sondes, which carry instruments only, these recording automatically the temperature and pressure of the air, the duration of flight and the place of landing, indicating also the velocity and direction of the air currents traversed. The success of these first experiments in America with recording balloons was such as to warrant their continuance under the same direction, and on their termination the results will be embodied in a report by Mr. Rotch for publication by the Institution.

A paper on the Construction of a Vowel Organ, by Dr. E. W. Scripture, has been recently published by the Institution. This article gives the details of work under a Hodgkins grant approved for the purpose and mentioned in my last report.

In extending his researches in connection with speech or phonetics Doctor Scripture has been fortunate in securing individual gramophone voice records of much historical interest. A voice record of the Emperor of Germany was transmitted by Doctor Scripture in January, 1905, for preservation in the United States National Museum. This record gives, in about two hundred words, the Emperor's conception of the aims and beauty of true manhood and of man's duty to his fellow, and recognizes the wisdom of the Almighty and Omniscient Creator. At present only one other record of His Majesty's voice exists, namely, one made at the same time for preservation in the library of Harvard University.

The experiments conducted by Mr. Alexander Larsen, of Chicago, in connection with the photography of lightning flashes, with a special effort to measure their duration, mentioned in my last report as having been aided by a limited grant from the Hodgkins fund, have been continued during the year and the results carefully reported. An interesting research on the fluorescence of minerals has also been carried on by Mr. Larsen, more than 100 specimens, sent for the purpose by the Institution, having been examined and reported on. During these experiments many interesting facts have been noted, which may prove the basis of further investigation.

A moderate additional grant has been approved during the year on behalf of Doctor von Lendenfeld, of the K. K. Zoologisches Institute, Prague, to assist in defraying the cost of the construction of an improved apparatus for taking the serial instantaneous photographs required for studies of the flight organs of animals. Doctor von Lendenfeld has given serious and protracted attention to this subject, in connection with which numerous articles prepared by him, or under his direction, have been published. A paper by Doctor Mascha, supervised by Doctor von Lendenfeld, on "The Structure of WingFeathers," has recently been printed in the Smithsonian Miscella

neous Collections, and the translation of an article by Doctor von Lendenfeld on the "Relation of Wing Surface to Weight of Body," published originally in the Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift, appeared in the Smithsonian Report for 1904.

In May, 1905, a grant was approved on behalf of Prof. W. P. Bradley, of Wesleyan University, for an experimental investigation of the expansion of air through a nozzle. As all practical forms of apparatus for the production of liquid air depend, so far, upon this type of expansion, the research is deemed an important one, the more so from the fact that the theory of the nozzle expansion of gases is in dispute and must apparently remain so until more complete data are secured. The results of previous experiments in the liquefaction of air, carried on by Professor Bradley at Wesleyan University, show conclusively that he is in an exceptionally favorable position for the direction of an extended inquiry into the factors which make for efficiency in such a research, and as it is expected that further investigation will materially aid a decision as to certain questions concerning which experimentalists are not fully agreed, the report to be submitted by Professor Bradley is awaited with interest.

Early in the year 1904 a third grant was approved on behalf of Dr. Carl Barus to aid in preparing the completed report of his recent research for publication. This memoir, "A Continuous Record of Atmospheric Nucleation," is in press, as one of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, and will be the third and last volume of the series giving a detailed account of the investigation of Doctor Barus. A request that a summary of the work should be prepared by the author for presentation before the first international congress on ionization and radioactivity at Liège in September, 1905, was approved, thus enabling an investigation on a subject of much immediate interest, prosecuted under the auspices of the Institution, to be brought to the attention of this notable gathering.

The subscription to the Journal of Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity has been renewed for the present year, with the understanding that the publication will be maintained in the future without such aid, a stipulated number of copies being forwarded this year, as heretofore, to addresses designated by the Institution.

Among the miscellaneous investigations aided by the Institution during the year I may mention that Dr. Edward L. Greene, associate in botany, United States National Museum, has undertaken to prepare for publication by the Smithsonian Institution a monograph to be entitled "Landmarks of Botanical History." Doctor Greene expects to complete this work in two years. Dr. Albert M. Reese, of Syracuse University, received a small grant to assist him in his

work of collecting in Florida the materials for the study of the embryology of the alligator, and in subsequent investigations. Mr. W. A. Bentley, of Jericho, Vt., has from time to time made numerous photographs of snow crystals and has recently turned over to the Institution 500 glass positives of his best and most interesting photographs, together with a descriptive paper relating to them.

NAPLES TABLE.

The Smithsonian seat in the Naples Zoological Station has been continuously occupied for the greater part of the present year and, as heretofore, the reports submitted at the close of appointments mention the exceptional opportunities for special research afforded at Naples.

To avoid the confusion and inconvenience likely to result from the duplication of appointments, Doctor Dohrn has recently made a request that two students should not be assigned to Naples at the same period without previous consultation with the management of the station. In order, therefore, to meet the wishes of the always courteous and accommodating director, it is desirable that those wishing to occupy the Smithsonian seat should enter their applications as long a time as possible in advance of the period decided on. This will permit the necessary correspondence in regard to each appointment, when, as is not infrequently the case, there are more applicants than can be readily provided for, and will perhaps also at times afford the opportunity for the extra occupation of an unassigned seat. It may be added that appointments covering twelve months of the year-June 30, 1905, to June 30, 1906-have already been approved, but as two students are to be received during the same period for one limited appointment, it may be possible to approve additional brief sessions during the year. As before announced, applications for the ensuing year may be taken up for consideration at any time within six months of the period desired.

The appointment of Prof. J. B. Johnston, of the University of West Virginia, terminated March 1, 1905. While at Naples Doctor Johnston obtained and prepared a large amount of material for future experiment and study. Being an experienced teacher, he hopes to embody the results so far secured in a more complete and exact account of the brain, which will be incorporated in a text-book on The Nervous System of Vertebrates, now in course of preparation. In April Doctor Johnston was succeeded at the station by Dr. Stewart Paton, a former member of the teaching staff of Johns Hopkins University, on whose behalf a second appointment of six months from November 1, 1905, has since been approved. A previous investigation to determine the time when the first spontaneous movements and definite reactions to external stimulation occur in the embryo

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