REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT, 1914. 23 



Russia, and Switzerland. Departmental plans for pursuit of 

 peaceful studies in foreign archives, however, have suffered a 

 serious check in the onset of the European war, and much work 

 well started, or approaching completion, must now await devel- 

 opments from the pending conflict. 



Two bulky volumes of guides to the sources of American his- 

 tory have issued from the department during the year as Publi- 

 cations 90a and 90b of the Institution. These are, respectively, 

 "Guide to the Materials for American History to 1783, in the 

 Pubhc Record Office of Great Britain," and ''Guide to the 

 Materials in London Archives for the History of the United 

 States since 1783." It had been anticipated that a similar guide 

 to the data on American history in the archives and libraries 

 of Paris, in preparation under the charge of Mr. Leland of the 

 departmental staff, would be completed before the end of the 

 present calendar year ; but the exigencies of the war have required 

 the suspension of this work at Paris and the return of Mr. Leland 

 to the departmental office in Washington. Similarly, work 

 undertaken for the department in Holland by Professor William 

 I. Hull and in Spain by Mr. Francis S. Philbrick had to be sus- 

 pended. On the other hand, researches under way in Great 

 Britain and in Russia have suffered little interruption. Work 

 at the home office has proceeded without discontinuity. The 

 Director calls attention particularly to progress made in work 

 on the projected ''Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United 

 States." Tw^o divisions of this atlas, illustrating respectively 

 the history of presidential elections and the records of votes cast 

 in the House of Representatives for or against certain typical 

 measures of legislation, extending from 1789 to 1914, are already 

 well advanced. 



In accordance with plans recommended by the Director of 



the Department of Marine Biology and approved by the Trustees 



Department of ^^ 1912, an expedition to Torres Straits, Aus- 



Marine Biology, tralia, a rcglou already knov/n to be remarkable 



for abundance and variety of marine life, was undertaken in 



the latter part of the preceding fiscal year. Early in September 



