134 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1920. 



searches are also in progress at the observatory. Although this field 

 is more difficult even than that of the dependence of the earth's tem- 

 perature on the incoming solar radiation, yet good hope of progress 

 is entertained. 



The director is largely occupied with the preparation of Volume 

 IV of the Annals of the Observatory, which will include the results 

 obtained from 1912 to 1919 in the studies of solar and terrestrial 

 radiation. 



EXPEDITIONS. 



The Collins-Garner Congo expedition returned to this country in 

 May, after having spent more than two years in the collecting of 

 natural-history material in French Congo. Mr. C. R. W. Asche- 

 meier, who represented the Smithsonian Institution, brought back 

 with him a valuable addition to the museum collections, consisting 

 of about 2,500 birds and mammals. 



Borneo-Celebes- Australian expeditions. — The collection of natural 

 history and archeological specimens in Borneo and Celebes was 

 commenced under the direction of Mr. Harry C. Raven in 1912 and 

 was concluded in 1918, resulting in the addition of many thousands 

 of specimens to the museum collections. The expedition was financed 

 by Dr. W. L. Abbott, of Philadelphia, who contributed a total of 

 $21,000 for this purpose. He has quite recently made an additional 

 contribution of $4,000 for the purpose of outfitting and maintaining 

 an expedition to Australia under the direction of Mr. Charles M. 

 Hoy, who is already in the field, and who reports excellent progress 

 in the collection of the fast-disappearing Australian mammals and 

 birds. 



African expedition. — During the early summer an expedition to 

 Africa was arranged by the Smithsonian Institution and the direc- 

 tors of the Universal Film Manufacturing Co. to make general ex- 

 plorations and collections of natural-history material and to take 

 motion pictures. The expedition was to start from South Africa and 

 work northward through the entire length of the Continent. The 

 Institution had not the means to pay the expenses of its representa- 

 tives, but a few friends of the Institution raised the necessary funds. 

 Mr. Edmund Heller, who accompanied Col. Roosevelt to Africa, and 

 Mr. H. C. Raven, who spent six years in Borneo and Celebes col- 

 lecting for the Smithsonian, were selected as the Institution's repre- 

 sentatives. 



Word was recently received of a railroad accident in which two 

 members of the expedition lost their lives; but fortunately neither 

 Mr. Heller nor Mr. Raven was in the accident. 



Saskatchewan expedition. — The secretary gave a brief description 

 of his work in the Saskatchewan region of the Canadian Rocky 



