2 ANNUAL REPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1912. 



In regard to the personnel of the board I may here record that 

 Dr. James B. Angell, of Michigan, resigned on January 15, 1912, 

 after an honorable service as Regent for 25 years. The vacancy thus 

 caused was filled by Congress by the appointment of Hon. Charles W. 

 Fairbanks, of Indiana, who as Vice President of the United States 

 had formerly been a Regent from 1904 to 1909. Representatives 

 Scott Ferris and Irvin S. Pepper were appointed Regents to succeed 

 Representatives Howard and Mann. The roll of Regents at the close 

 of the fiscal year was as follows: James S. Sherman, Vice President 

 of the United States, Chancellor; EdAvard D. White, Chief Justice 

 of the United States; Shelby M. Cullom, Member of the Senate; 

 Henry Cabot Lodge, Member of the Senate; Augustus O. Bacon, 

 Member of the Senate; John Dalzell, Member of the House of 

 Representatives; Scotc Ferris, Member of the House of Representa- 

 tives; Irvin S. Pepper, Member of the House of Representatives; 

 Andrew D. White, citizen of New York; Alexander Graham Bell, 

 citizen of Washington, D. C. ; George Gray, citizen of Delaware; 

 Charles F. Choate, jr., citizen of Massachusetts; John B. Hender- 

 son, jr., citizen of Washington, D. C. ; and Charles W. Fairbanks, 

 citizen of Indiana. 



The annual meeting of the board was held on December 14, 1911, 

 and the usual supplementary meeting on February 8, 1912. The 

 proceedings of these meetings and the annual report of the executive 

 committee are printed in the customary form and the details need 

 not therefore be repeated here. 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



The affairs of the Institution and of its branches have been con- 

 ducted during the year with success and, I trust, to the satisfaction 

 of all interested. The work covers practically the entire field of 

 natural and physical science, as well as anthropological and archeo- 

 logical researches. The extent of that work is limited only by the 

 amount of the funds available. I referred in my last report to the 

 establishment of a trust fund by Mrs. E. H. Harriman for carrying 

 on certain research work, and I desire here to mention the generosity 

 of several friends of the Institution who have provided means for 

 engaging in certain biological expeditions. 



The equipping of the new National Museum building with cases 

 and the installation of the collections progressed satisfactorily. It 

 is anticipated that during the fiscal year 1913 the building will be 

 entirely occupied and all the exhibition halls opened to the public. 

 The great extent of this Avork may be best understood by the state- 

 ment that the exhibition halls embrace an area of about 220,000 square 

 feet, or 5 acres. The installation had been so thoroughly planned 

 by Assistant Secretary Rathbun and his associates that the work in 



