160 ANNUAT. REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 30 



The annual report of the National Gallery of Art Commission was 

 presented. The report was accepted, and the board adopted the 

 followdng resolution: 



Resolved, That the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution hereby 

 approves the recommendation of the National Gallery of Art Commission that 

 W. K. Bixby, W. H. Holmes, Herbert L. Pratt, and Charles Borie, be reelected as 

 members of the commission for the ensuing term of four years, their present terms 

 having expired. 



The annual report of the executive committee was presented and 

 accepted. 



The annual report of the permanent committee was submitted. 

 This included a sufjgestion for the establishment of a department for 

 the arousing of public interest in the Institution and for increasing its 

 endowment, which was referred to the permanent committee with 

 power to act. 



The matter of the awarding of the Langley medal was next brought 

 up, and the following two resolutions were adopted : 



Resolved, That in view of the service rendered to aviation b}' his pioneer con- 

 tributions to the development of the airplane engine, the Board of Regents of the 

 Smithsonian Institution hereby posthumously awards the Langley gold medal 

 for aerodromics to the late Charles Matthews Manly. 



Resolved, That the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution award the 

 Langley gold medal for aerodromics to Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd, 

 United States Nav}', for his pioneer flights over the North and South Poles of 

 the earth, his nonstop flight over the Atlantic Ocean, and the scientific discoveries 

 associated with these flights. 



MEETING OF FEBRUARY 13, 1930 



Present: Vice President Charles Curtis, Senator Reed Smoot, 

 Senator Claude A. Swanson, Representative R. Walton Moore, 

 Representative Robert Luce, Mr. Frederic A. Delano, and the secre- 

 tary. Dr. C. G. Abbot. Dr. Alexander Wetmore, assistant secretary, 

 was also present. 



The secretary announced the resignation of the Hon. William 

 Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States, stating that this 

 action automatically terminated his service as a regent and con- 

 sequently as chancellor of the Institution. The following resolutions 

 were then adopted: 



Resolved, That the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution has 

 learned with deep regret of the illness and consequent resignation of its chan- 

 cellor, the Hon. William Howard Taft, from the office of Chief Justice of the 

 United States, thereby automatically severing his connection with this Board; 



Resolved, That the board hereby expresses its deep sense of the great service 

 rendered by Mr. Taft to the Smithsonian Institution, and of the loss in counsel 

 and in association which his departure entails; 



Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be communicated to Mr. Taft. 



