The Detroit times., 1910-10-21
i4E GOVERNMENT AT WORK
fHE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
BY FREDERIC J. HASKfM

search is to be found anywhere in the
maintained under the jurisdiction of
the Smithsonian Institution. Here
one may see men and women from
every part OF the world engaged In
studying the various collcctions. The
more than q half-million different ex-
hibits. and holds the worlds first rank
among all exhibits OF this kind One
may find any sort OF exhibit from a
huge meteorite TO a few grains of
sand. It's collection OF meteoritee
ranks next 70 the one In Vienna
Scientists are continually studying II
In the hope OF finding the source of
their origin. One may see the skele-
tons OF extinct animals. 80 large that
the elephant looks small In compari-
son. He may stand under the skele-
ton of a huge whale more than a hun
dred feet long, and look through
microscope at sea shells so small that
to the naked eye they seem but
specks OF dust.
No collection in the museum is
more interesting TO the ordinary visi.
tor than the anthropological exhibit
Here one may trace human progress
from the stone age existence OF his
antediluvian ancestors 20 his own
twentieth century civilization. Like
wise he may trace. In other collec-
tons, the development OF the arts and
sciences. He may follow ship-build-
ing from the rude hollowed-out log 10
the perfected ocean greyhound. He
may trace the act of printing from
the toughest wood.type to the finest
steel engraving.
The collection Of birds In the ma
tional museum contains 100000 diff
ferent exhibits. There are $4,000
known species of birds and nearly
every one ID represented. The col
lection Of insects In also q large and
valuable one. There may be seen
huge bugs AZ lnrge az the hand and
tiny ones as small as pins head.
Some Of them are unusually interest.
ing. The Hercules beetle Is the
worlds original sawyer. He has man
dibles which are fitted with saw teeth.
He grasps q twig with these and flies
round and round until he succeeds in
saving IL on. The Bombedier bug Is
the original shooting instrument OF
the world. When attacked by an
enemy It fires q wad Of blue smoke
with a report that serves to give 10
protection
Through the International exchange
service Of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton the United States il able to keep
In close touch with scientific prog.
ress IN other parts Of the world. II Is
the mission Of this service 70 supply
scientific institutions OF the world
with such American scientific htera-
ture 10 may be Of interest to them.
In exchange for this they deliver TO
the Smithsonian Institution similar
publications, and these are deposited
IN the nbvaxy Of congress. Fffty-three
full sets and thirty partial sets OF all
ofnciRl publications Of the United
States are now being sent to other
countries. In return, there IL being
delivered into the custody Of the
Smithsonian Institution q similar
number Of sets Of the Official publ
cations Of other countries. These are
Of great value 70 students of political
and economic conditions.
The American end of the work of
the international catalogue of scien-
tic literature IL carried on under the
direction OF the institution. This
catalogue 10 Q classified author and
subject catalogue Of all original scien-
tific papers published throughout the
world since 1900. There ID 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 London, where they are
assembled, edited, and published an
nuaily In seventeen volumes. The
cost Of printing and publishing 10 met
by the sale Of the catalogue. Every
scientific Journal In the world IL
examined with patience and a record
made OF each article. This catalogue,
beginning with the opening year of
the twentieth century, will be a COM
plete index of all the scientific
thought OF the world during the years
covered by Il. As II IL TO be a Der.
petual catalogue the scientists of
the future will be able TO take ad.
vantage OF all scientific information
that accumulates from the beginning
of the century.
II Is the aim OF the institution TO
diffuse knowledge as we'll as to add
to IL. Therefore, reports of it's work
are published and placed In the II
braries of the country where serious
students may at all times have access
10 them. One OF It's publications is
the annual report. This gives a
synopsis OF the activities of the
Smithsonian during the preceding
year, and carries an appendix which
is filed with important papers on
various subjects. The second class
of publications is called the Smith
sonian Contributions to knowledge
This is issued annually in several vol.
umes and represents the achieve