REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CARNEGIE INSTL 

 TUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



In conformity with Article IV, section 2, of the By-Laws of 

 the Carnegie Institution of Washington, I have the honor to 

 submit the following report on the work of the Institution for 

 the fiscal year ending October 31, 1915, along with recommenda- 

 tions of appropriations for the ensuing year and with sundry 

 suggestions concerning other matters of general or special interest. 



This report is the fourteenth annual report of the Institution 

 and is presented under the following principal heads : 



1. Sahent events of the year. 



2. Characteristics of the Institution. 



3. Financial records. 



4. PubUcations. 



SALIENT EVENTS OF THE YEAR. 



In the first month of the fiscal year to which this report appUes 

 the Institution lost by death two distinguished Research Asso- 



ciates, namely, Alfred Thayer Mahan, Rear 

 Research Admiral, U. S. N. (retired), and Charles Sedgwick 



Minot, professor of comparative anatomy in the 

 Medical School of Harvard University. By reason of his pene- 

 trating insight as a student of history, and especially by reason 

 of his unrivaled interpretation of miUtary and naval affairs, 

 Admiral Mahan had been invited to devote part of the year as 

 an adviser to the Department of Historical Research. He had 

 just undertaken this office with characteristic zeal and discern- 

 ment when he succumbed to an attack of pneumonia. His 

 interest in national and international development and his keen 

 perception of causes and consequences in the world of pohtics 

 made him an uncommonly effective counsellor in all matters his- 

 torical. To this competency there was added a rare combination 

 of philosophic clarity and modest candor which fitted him better 



