6 ANNUAIj report SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 193 9 



repairing of roads, and other similar work, were completed during 

 the year through W. P. A. assistance. The Public Works Adminis- 

 tration allotted $90,000 for a much-needed restaurant building. The 

 Director made a trip to the Argentine, bringing back 70 crates of 

 live animals numbering 316 individuals of 58 different species. Visi- 

 tors for the year totaled 2,201,080, including 37,220 students from 

 699 different schools in 22 States and the District of Columbia. As 

 usual, many specimens were received as gifts, among the most in- 

 teresting of which were 10 Louisiana herons and 11 snowy egrets 

 from A. E. Mcllhenny, Avery Island, La., and a fine collection of 

 Central American reptiles from Costello Craig, Washington, D. C. 

 Forty-eight mammals were born and 15 birds were hatched in the 

 Zoo during the year. The total number of animals in the collection 

 at the close of the year was 2,450. The Zoo now has four excellent 

 exhibition buildings, but there remain three that are old and unsat- 

 isfactory, namely, those housing lions, monkeys, and antelopes. The 

 greatest need of the Zoo is the replacement of these three buildings 

 with modern structures. 



Astrophysical Observatory. — The recomputation of all solar-con- 

 stant values since 1923 was practically completed, the only remain- 

 ing work being the final corrections and general discussion, which are 

 expected to be concluded by October 1939. The entire revision will 

 then be published. The Director spent considerable time in prepar- 

 ing a reply to criticisms of the solar-constant work published by 

 Dr. M. M. Paranjpe in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteoro- 

 logical Society. Observations of the solar constant were begun at 

 the new station on Burro Mountain, near Tyrone, N. Mex. Excep- 

 tional snowfall occurred there during the winter, but it is expected 

 that other years will be very favorable for observations. Solar-con- 

 stant observing has been continued at the other two stations at Table 

 Mountain, Calif., and Montezuma, Chile, on every favorable day. 

 W. H. Hoover set up apparatus in the 100-inch telescope building 

 on Mount Wilson for measuring the distribution of energy in the 

 spectra of the brighter stars and observed with considerable success 

 on August 31 and September 21, 1938. As a result, it is believed 

 that with certain improvements in the apparatus it will be possible 

 to obtain continuous, automatically recorded stellar spectrum energy 

 curves, probably at least 10 centimeters high at maximum, for the 

 brightest stars when the 200-inch telescope becomes available. 



Division of Radiation and Organisms. — ^The year 1939 marked the 

 tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Division. During that 

 period notable progress has been made both in developing physical 

 equipment and in building up a permanent scientific staff. Numerous 

 fundamental investigations have been carried out, with the result that 



