Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1910-10-14
The Government at
Work-Thc Smith
sOnian Institution.
Things You Want to Know

that half million different exhibits. ana
holds the worlds first rank among all ex-
hibits OF this kind one may find any
sort OF exhibit from a huge meteorto to
few grains Of sand Its collection Of
meteorites ranks next 20 the one In Vienna,
Scientists are continually studying II in
the hope OF finding the source OF their
origin. one may see the skeletons Of ex-
tinct animals, so large that the elephant
looks small In comparison. lie may stand
under the skeleton OF huge whale more
than a hundred feet long, and look through
a microscope at sea shells so small that
to the naked eye they seem but specks OF
dust
No collection in the museum is more I'm
terestinE to the ordinary visitor than the
anthropologicM exhibit, Here one may
trace human progress from the stone age
existence OF his autediluvian ancestors to
his own twentieth century civilization. Like
wise he may trace, in other collections,
the development OF the arts and sciences.
He may follow ship-butlding from the rude
hollowed-out log TO the perfected ocean
greyhound. He may trace the art a.
printing from the toughest wood-type TO
the finest steel engraving.
The collection OF birds in the National
Museum contains 2OOOOO different exhibits
There are 10 900 known species OF birds and
nearly every one Is represented. The coli
lection OF Insects Is also a large and valu'
able one. There may be seen huge bugt
as large as the hand and tiny ones as small
as pins head. Some OF them are un.
usually interesting Tho Hercules beetle
is the worlds original sawyer He has
manlbes which are fitted with saw teeth
He grasps a twig with these and tliei
round and round until he succeeds in saw
/ 1, VNnu httgr Ia hn ~
inal shooting instrument of the world
When attacked by an enemy It fires a wad
OF blue smoke with a report that serves
to give It protection.
Through the international exchange ser
ice OF the Smithsonian institution the
United states is able 20 keep in close touoh
with scientific progress in other parts OF
the world. 1t is the mission OF this SER
vice to supply other scientific institutions
of the world with such American scientific
literature as may be OF interest TO them. In
| exchange for this they deliver to the Smith
| sonian institution similar publications, ana
! these are deposited in the library or con-
! gress Fifty-three full sets and thirty par
tial sets OF all official publications OF the
! United states are now being sent to other
! countries In return, there is being deliV-
cred into the custody OF the Smithsonian
!
| the official publications OF other coun-
tries These are OF great value to stu
dents Of political and economic conditions
The American end of the work Of the In
ternational catalogue of scientific litera-
ture is carried on under the direction OF the
institution. This catalogue is classified
author and subject catalogue of all orig
inal scientific papers published throughout
the world since 1900 There is a regional
bureau in every principal country, which
indexes the scientific literature of that
country. All Of these regional indexes
are delivered to the central bureau in Lon
don, where they are assembled, edited.
and published annually in seventeen vol
numes The cost OF printing and publish
ing is met by the sale OF the catalogue,
Every scientific journal in the world is
examined with patience and a record made
of each article. This catalogue beginning
with the opening year of the twentieth
century, will be a complex index OF all the
scientific thought OF the world during the
years covered by It. AS II is to be a per-
petual catalogue the scientists OF the fu.
ture will be able to take advantage of all
! scientific information that accumuates
from the beginning Of the century.
1t is the aim OF the institution to diffus,
knowledge as well as to add to 1t. There.
FORE reports OF It's work are published and
placed in the libraries Of the country
where serious students may at all time'
have access to them. One Of its publica.
, lions is the annual report. This gives
synopsis Of the activities OF the Smith
sonian during the preceding year, and car
ries an appendix which is filled with i'm
portant papers on various subjects. Tn,
second class of publications is called thu
Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge
This is issued annually in several volumes
and represents the achievements OF thu
original Investigators Of the institution
The third, class of publications is called
the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection
and 1t covers every subject from the de
scription Of new species OF mosquito t,
researches in the attainment Of very low
! temperatures.
By FREDERIC J. RAsKTN.
Tomorrow-Ths Government at Worf
xII.-Interstate Commerce Commission.