PEOCEEDINGS OP THE REGENTS. 121 



The best efforts of the staff were being directed toward expediting 

 the instaHations in the exhibition halls. This work was advancing 

 as rapidly as possible, but the preparation and mounting of speci- 

 mens and the building of cases was requiring much more time than 

 had been expected. 



The secretary then presented the following statements relating 

 to explorations conducted, or participated in, by the Institution: 



BIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE. 



" The secretary's report contained a statement of what had been 

 accomplished in connection with this survey up to the end of June. 

 It seemed desirable that the work should be continued for another 

 year, and tlie secretary requested the Secretaries of the Departments 

 of Agriculture and of Commerce and Labor to renew the details of 

 specialists for the purposes of the survey. The requests have already 

 received favorable consideration. 



" Special attention will be given during the coming season to ver- 

 tebrate animals, insects, crustaceans, rotifers and other minute fresh- 

 water animals, and also to the microscopic plants knoAvn as diatoms. 



THE TAUL J. RAINEY AFRICAN EXPEDITION. 



"Announcement w^as made at the meeting of the board on Feb- 

 ruary 9, 1911, that Mr. Paul J. Rainey, of New York City, had in 

 contemplation an expedition in Africa for the purpose of collecting 

 natural history specimens which he desired to present to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. At his request, Mr. Edmund Heller, one of the 

 naturalists who went with Col. Roosevelt on a previous expedition, 

 was designated to accompany Mr. Rainey. Mr. Heller left Wash- 

 ington on February 17 with the expectation of remaining abroad 

 about a j^ear. 



" The regions in which these explorations have been made lie 

 mostly to the north of the territory covered by the Smithsonian 

 African expedition, though short trips were made to the southward, 

 nearly to the border of German East Africa. Several isolated moun- 

 tains not hitherto visited by naturalists were carefully explored and 

 the scientific results can not fail to be of great importance. 



"At the date of his last report, November 3, 1911, Mr. Heller had 

 secured about 700 large mammals, 3,000 small maunnals, and 250 

 birds. Thanks to Mr. liainey, this magnificent collection has cost 

 the Government only its transportation from Africa and Mr. Heller's 

 salary and outfit. In the field Mr. Heller has been supplied wliolly 

 at Mr. Rainey's expense with a corps of from '20 to 30 assistants and 

 with every facility that money could procure. Tliis unique oppor- 

 tunitv has been utilized to the fullest extent bv Mr. Heller, and the 



