The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-07-21

Aoi Weru py european 8eOiO8ists.
 Plans have been made for Smith Mir. c. c. Abbot. director of the Astro- physical Observatory, to observe from Flint Island in the Southern Pacific, the total eclipse of the sun to occur
 January B. 1908. MT. Abbot is to ob- aerve the heating effect of the suns l corona and to decide. If possible, more particularly the causes of coronal
 light. MT. Abbot will work with Pro-
 lessor W. W. Campbell of the Lick Ob- servatory.
 In connection with examinations of the boundary surveys of the ;orty- ninth parallel, the United States, part of which has been placed in charg, of Mr. Ttttman of the Coast and Geod stic survey, and Secretary Walcott of the Institution, MT. Walcott will make a geological study of the Cambrian and pro-cambrian sections of British Co., lumbia, and endeavor to trace the con- l tinuance of the rocks comprising them | Southward into Montana and Idaho. Investigations along technical lines l are being conducted through the
 Hodgkins fund by a number of corre- | spondents of the Institution. A Hodg- I kins grant was' recently approved in favor of Dr. R. von Lendenfeld of the 1ooiogfcal Institute at Prague, to en- able the continuance of his studies of
 the organs of flight of birds and in- sects which in this period of experi- menting in aerial navigation are of vital present interest.
 The most comprehensive government branch of the Smithsonian Institution
 IS the National Museum, which also in-
 cludes the National Gaallery of Art, under the immediate direction of Mir. Richard Rathbun. Interest in this d.
 rection Is most lively upon the subject | or the erection of the new Museum building. which 1t is hoped will be un- der roof by the close of this calendar year. In the new building 1t Is planned
 to house mainly the scientific collec- tions, which include natural history, geology. ethnology. archaeology and
 allied subjects. The present Museum
 building will then be turned over to | the department of arts and industries and the building of the Institution it. | self Will become a museum of fine arts
 and until the growth of collections de- | mands larger quarters, will be the seat | Of the National Gallery of Art. Since
 the National Gallery during the past l year has had remarkable and surpris- | ing growth through the gifts of MT. | George Evans and others. there is in-
 creased the hope of those directly in
 charge that not far In the future the United tates government may boast of
 gallery of American art truly nation
 al in its character.
 While the Museum Is the custodian | Of all government collections. and l while to the public its main feature is
 the exhibition of characteristic objects
 in its several divisons. yet the law de- ! mands that these materials shall be | classified and properly arranged, a | task which involves a large amount of
 research work. Consequently the Mu- scum scientific stan is made up, 50 far | as means allow. of experts on the sev- | erai subjects represented. The scien- 1 tihc work Is carried on continuously | and results in many important contri- buttons to knowledge. Little actual | field work, however. Is done, the Mu- scum relying for it's material upon the | regular government expeditions and | contributions from thousands of pri- l vate sources-gifts and exchanges. | Some of the assistants in the Museum
 are expert field workers and while the l finances for this purpose arc very Him. | ited opportunity often arises especial l ly through explorations by the Geolog- | ical Survey, the Bureau of Fisheries, the Bureau of American Ethnology,
 and the Department of Agriculture to engage in work of this sort.
 Research is continuous under Prof | Otis T. Mason of the Department of Anthropology, Dr.. Frederick W. True
 Prof George P. Merrill of tho Depart
 ment of Geology.
 | Professor Mason.s researches are in | the fields of physical and cultural an
 thropology: in the former. study of the
 crania. skeleton and brain. both specifl-
 cally and comparatively; in the latter
 study of everything resulting from the l of ko ~A H< | In this connection much time this year
 will be employed in examining material l forwarded to the Museum by MT. W. | L. Abbott, who has made extensive col
 lections in the rich anthropological
 fields of Malaysia, Borneo and the
 Philippines. by the field workers of the
 Dufeau of Ethnology. and by various
 other correspondents and associates ot | the Museum.
 The work of Dr.. Trues Department
 of Biology relates directly to classifica- | tion of genera and species of plants
 and animals brought in by many gov
 eminent exploring parties such as the
 annual cruise of the Fish Commission
 steamer Albatross. boundary commits
 sions, and the like. Classification work | of this sort is necessarily irregular in
 demands and requires an immediate
 general knowledge of all special
 classes alike. whether birds. mammals, | reptiles. fishes, insects, marine inver-
 tebrates, or plants.
 In the Department of Geology tech
 nical studies of the properties of vari- | ous miners forwarded from many gov | ernment explorations and surveys are
 made by Prof. Merrill and MT. Witt | Taassln, Geologic problems must be | solved. and 1t often falls to the lot of l a geologist of this department to ex- anime at close range earth structures which have puzzled other scientific ex- | plorers. Prof. Merrill has just return
 ed from Canyon Diablo. Ariz., with
 mineralogical and geological data to | determine the origin of a peculiar cra- | ter-like formation In the earth's crust l In this department the Smithsonian | comes into close touch with the Geo. 1 logical Survey. several members of the | staff of the Survey being at the same | time actively engaged in the inter | ests of the Museum.
 The Bureau of American Ethnology | under the charge of MT. W. H Holmes | Is engaged entirely in systematic re- l searches among the tribes of American l Indians. These include the scientific | classification, distribution and history | of the tribes and the study of their | physical and mental characters, lan- 1 guages. social institutions, religions, | arts and industries, economic resources | and welfare, in short everything per | taining to the American Indians The | scope of the Bureau has lately been ex- tended to include Hawaii, a bibliog- raphy of that island being now in pro-
 gress. For the last few years the en- | ergies of the staff have been largely