REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT 



OF THE 



CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



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

 the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the President has the 

 honor to submit the following report on the work of the Insti- 

 tution for the fiscal year ending October 31, 1917, along with 

 recommendations of appropriations for the ensuing year and 

 with sundry suggestions concerning other matters of general or 

 special interest. 



This report is the sixteenth annual administrative report of the 

 Institution and is presented under the following principal heads : 



1. Some noteworthj^ events of the yesir. 



2. The Institution and the pul^lic. 



3. Researches of the year. 



4. Financial records. 



5. Publications of the year. 



6. Proposals for budget for 1918. 



7. Bibliographical appendix. 



SOME NOTEWORTHY EVENTS OF THE YEAR. 



To the great majority, apparently, of our contemporaries 

 nothing could be easier than the successful launching of an 

 altruistic enterprise like that undertaken })y the Trustees of 

 the Carnegie Institution of Washington when they accepted 

 the Founder's remarkably favorable deed of trust in January 

 1902. The Trustees were given the largest liberties and what 

 appeared at the time to be the amplest, if not unlimited, 

 capital was placed at their disposal. Herein surely were con- 

 ditions affording unparalleled opportunities, and it seemed 

 essential only to sow the income broadcast in order to reap a 

 rich harvest of results in the advancement of learning. That 

 a careful, or even any, preparation of the ground was needed 

 or that deliberate attention should be given to preliminary plans 

 and specifications were considerations almost wholly ignored in 



