SECRETARY'S REPORT 13 



400 corals from the Great Barrier Reef ; in botany, plant collections 

 from Mexico, Central and South America, and Iraq; in geology, sev- 

 eral gifts of rare minerals and gems, 35 specimens of meteorites, 2,000 

 Silurian and Devonian fossils from Canada, about 3,500,000 mounted 

 foraminiferan specimens, 600 rare Paleocene and Eocene mammals 

 from Wyoming, and about 750 otoliths of Eocene teleostean fishes 

 from England; in engineering and industries, an early Curtis steam 

 turbine, the Dodrill-GMR mechanical heart, and important electro- 

 cardiograph equipment; and in history, much desirable material 

 needed to complete the settings for the First Ladies Hail, including 

 the loan of a piano used in the White House during the administration 

 of John Quincy Adams. 



Members of the staff conducted field work in Ecuador, Mexico, the 

 Belgian Congo, Panama, the Caribbean, and many parts of the United 

 States. Several studied collections in other museums in America 

 and in Europe. 



In the Museum's program of exhibit modernization, two new halls 

 were formally opened to the public during the year — the First Ladies 

 Hall and the American Indian Hall. Construction work was begun 

 on the hall depicting colonial life in North America, and the renova- 

 tion of the hall devoted to birds saw good progress. 



Bureau of American Ethnology. — The Bureau staff continued their 

 researches in archeology and etlmology : Dr. Stirling his Panamanian 

 studies. Dr. Collins his archeological work in the Canadian Arctic, 

 and Dr. Drucker his field researches of the La Venta culture in Mexico. 

 Dr. Roberts continued as Director of the River Basin Surveys. 



Astrofhyncal Ohservatory. — Solar radiation studies were con- 

 tinued at the Observatory's two field observing stations — Montezuma 

 in northern Chile and Table Mountain in southern California. Vol- 

 ume 7 of the Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory was published 

 in July 1954. Cooperative work with the U. S. Weather Bureau was 

 continued. In the division of radiation and organisms studies were 

 made on the photocontrol of the processes of plant growth and on the 

 mechanism of action of the plant hormone auxin in the control of 

 growth. 



National Collection of Fine Arts. — ^The Smithsonian Art Commis- 

 sion met on December 7, 1954, and accepted two oil paintings for the 

 National Collection of Fine Arts, one oil painting of President Eisen- 

 hower for the National Portrait Gallery, and one pastel for the 

 Smithsonian Institution. The Gallery sponsored 14 special exliibi- 

 tions during the year. The Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Serv- 

 ice circulated 68 exhibitions, 57 in the United States and 11 abroad. 



Freer Gallery of Art. — Purchases for the Freer Gallery collections 

 included Chinese bronzes, lacquerwork. paintings, and pottery ; Per- 



