Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-16

of fight of certain insects. To Mr.. A.
Lawrence Rotch of Blue Hill. Mass, to
continue investisations into the air at the
and self-registering instruments Mr.
Rotch has secured records nearly ten
miles from the earth, which will help In
ology The Smithsonian table at the
Naples geological station. Italy, has been
maintained. and a number Of eminent
American biologists have conducted in
| vestigations there.
| Statements of the operations Of the va
rious governmental branches administered
| by the institution are included In the sec
retary's report.
| The National Museum.
In the National Museum. the attention
| of the officials has been devoted, aside
| from the routine Of securing. studying,
| classifying and exhibiting specimens and
relics. to matters relating to the compile
ton of the new museum building which
| is now partly under roof. 1t is planned to
house in the new structure the scientific
and historical collections, which now, for
want of space, are only partly accessible.
The present museum building will then
be turned into a museum of arts and in
dustries. The large upper hall OF the
Smithsonian building will probably be al.
Art, part of which is now temporarily
housed in the National Museum. and
the lower hall will be devoted to part of
the institutions library.
National Gallery Of Art.
In view of the recent Recommendation
of the President and the action Of the
boa I'd of regents of the institution in urg-
! ing that proper quarters be provided for
| the present and future National Gallery
of Art. the plans of the secretary in this
respect are of particular interest. He
says:
THE responsibility assumed by the In
| stitution for the nation in bringing to-
gether a worthy gallery of art has Gre
ated widespread interest and comment
| in magazines and journals on the part
of artists and art critics. and, with hardly
| an exception. has been cordially received.
| The institution recognizes the deep re-
sponsibility entailed by this new move
ment and fully appreciates that the art
world and the public have right to ex-
pect that the future gallery SHAH be
worthy of the nation. Mr.. Rathbun mas
taken deep interest in the promotion OF
| of personal attention to 1t, and MI. w;
II. Holmes, member OF the stan, ana
| himself a professional artist. has given
valuable advice in the matter of selection
and installation. 1t will. Of course. be
| considerable time before the Institution
can command the services of stan ex-
| perienced in the fine arts. But there
seems to be no reason why the princinles
which have for years guided the institu-
ton in administering upon scientific mat
| ters should not be applied with equal sue
| cess to the fine arts. The secretaries
have never relied exclusively upon their
own judgment. nor even upon the juds-
ment of the very able staff to pass upon
scientific memoirs or to administer funds
for scientific purposes; but they nave We
| the most distinguished specialists through
out the country.
Hardly a single scientific man through
| the course of more than half century
has ever declined to act upon such
committee, and it would seem feasible
to carry out the suggestion informally
made to the board of regents by Mr..
Rathbun nearly a year ago. that the &C
ceptance Of paintings and. indeed, the
general policy of the National Gallery
of Art should have the advice of a com
mittee composed of the most distinguished
artists sculptors and students Of art In
| the country. which body might. for pur-
| subcommittee to deal with the various
aspects of the National Gallery. Steps
| have already been taken to organize such
| a committee, and conferences have been
| held looking to that end, and l hope be-
| fore very long to bring definite plan for
| it's constitution to the attention Of the
rege nts.
The Bureau Of American Ethno1ogy.
| Thu bureau of American ethnology has
continued it's Investigations among the
Indian tribes of the country begun over
e. quarter of century ago. Besides get
ting together much information of value
| to the government in dealing with the
| Indians of this country, 1t has extended
| it's study to Porto Rico and Hawaii. 1t
| has published during the year the first
part OF handbook summarizing all that
| is known about the American Indian
1t has assisted other departments of the
government in the preservation of archie
ologfcab sites containing relics of early
Americans.
The International Exchanges.
The International exchange service. by
means of which government and scientific
publications are transmitted to all parts
of the world. and similar publications
are received in return. handled during
ing over oOO tons. There were used nearly
1000 packing boxes to send exchanges
to other countries. The institution.
| through this service. has on Its, list of
individuals. 1854 of which are outside
| the United States.
other Branches.
The National Geological Park now cares
for 1000 animals of all sorts placed as
fa- as possible in surroundings that are
homelike to them. The Zoo affords not
acres for the people and visitors Of Wash
| ingtm, but valuable material for stu
| dents of biology in many of its forms.
The efforts of the astrophysical OBJ
servatory have been directed during the
year mainly to a study of the so-called
| solar constant" This study has resulted
| in the determining of definite relation
| ship between the amount of heat given off
| by the sun during a season "a measurable
| quantity and the temperature of the
earth during the following season. When
more thoroughly worked out, forecast
of this sort may prove very valuable to
| farmers OF to any whose business Is af-
| fected by heat or cold.
| The International catalogue of scientific
! literature. of which the regional bureau
| for the United States is administered by
| the Smithsonian Institution. was enlarged
during the year by some $4,000 references
| to American scientific publications.
| Through this catalogue investigators are
enabled to find out just what is being
done In every country Of the world in any
special line Of sce ntific research.