REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT, 1913. 11 



year, affords an explanation at once of the high quahty and the great 

 quantity of the work accompHshed. 



Dr. Fletcher was a man of broad scholarship and of uncommon 

 critical acumen. In manners and customs he belonged to what is 

 often miscalled "the old school," but as a man of science he was 

 distinctly modern and progressive, keenly appreciative of all real 

 advances, and as keenly discriminating in dealing with unverified 

 hypotheses. He was profoundly interested in the more recent 

 researches of anthropology and he published a number of important 

 papers in this most complex of all domains of inquiry. These and 

 many scholarly papers on the history of medicine make a remarkable 

 list of contributions to contemporary science. He took a conspicuous 

 part in the development of the local scientific societies of Washington, 

 whose work has proved to be of signal value in the departments of 

 the United States Government. Thus he was in turn president of 

 the Anthropological, the Philosophical, and the Literary societies of 

 Washington, as well as president of that cosmopolitan social and 

 intellectual association fittingly called the Cosmos Club. Personally, 

 Dr. Fletcher was a most courteous and dignified gentleman, a model 

 of industry, fidehty, and devotion in all his relations to his work and 

 to his associates. His innate reserve and the habits acquired through 

 the exigencies of military training and experience rendered him 

 somewhat austere in appearance and in demeanor, and he did not 

 conceal a Carlylean contempt for the ephemeral fancies and the 

 popular shams of mankind, but his kindly counsel and his high sense 

 of honor and dutj^ made a lasting impression on all those who had the 

 good fortune to share his confidence and friendship. 



It is a source of satisfaction to record that the experience of the past 

 year supplements that of a year ago in showing a general improve- 

 other Events of ^"^^^'^^ "^ ^lie relations which the Institution sustains 

 the Year. to'other organizations and to the world of learning at 

 large. The obviously rational tendency to take an objective view 

 of the Institution and its work and to measure them by the more 

 permanent standards available is now everywhere distinctly visible. 

 This tendency is manifested in many ways: by an increasing demand 

 for exact information concerning the plan, scope, and development 

 of the Institution as a whole; by an increasing critical interest in 

 the investigations, the equipments, and the programs of work of our 

 departments of research; and by an increasing demand for precise 

 knowledge concerning special apparatus and special technique devel- 

 oped by our departmental staffs. In addition to these numerous 



