10 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1932 



accessioned, including a gold nugget weighing 81 ounces troy; also 

 important collections of fossils, particularly of mammals. The out- 

 standing addition in history was a series of 71 paintings illustrating 

 events in American history, by the late J. L. Gerome Ferris, pre- 

 sented by Mrs. Ferris. Twenty-three scientific expeditions relating 

 to the Museum were in the field during the year, bringing back 

 valuable material for study and exhibition. The number of visitors 

 for the year totaled 1,630,030. 



National Gallery of Art. — Two special exhibitions were held dur- 

 ing the year — one a collection of paintings made in Spain by Wells 

 M. Sawyer and the other an exhibition in honor of the bicentennial 

 of the birth of George Washington, which consisted of paintings, 

 sculpture, plans of Washington City, etc., and was held under the 

 auspices of the United States Bicentennial Commission and the Na- 

 tional Commission of Fine Arts. Accessions of art works included 

 a number of portraits, including those of Henry Ward Kanger and 

 Kear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, and two water-color paintings 

 by William Spencer Bagdatopoulos. Fifteen paintings were pur- 

 chased by the Council of the National Academy of Design; under 

 Mr. Ranger's will, any of these may be claimed by the National Gal- 

 lery during the 5-year period beginning 10 years after the artist's 

 death and ending 15 years after his death. 



Free?' Gallery of Art} — Additions to the collections include ex- 

 amples of Persian bookbinding; Chinese bronze; Chinese and Per- 

 sian ceramics; Chinese jade; Arabian, Persian, Armenian, and In- 

 dian manuscripts ; and Chinese silver-gilt. Curatorial work has been 

 devoted to a study of a Japanese Qriandara painting; to a study of 

 the Indian manuscript, Vasanta Vildsa; to a critical study of an 

 ancient Armenian manuscript of the Four Gospels ; and to the study 

 of inscriptions on Buddhist stone sculptures and of inscriptions and 

 seals on Chinese paintings. The total attendance of visitors for the 

 year was 122,940. A full report of archeological work undertaken 

 by the field staff of the gallery in Shansi Province, China, is now 

 being published in Shanghai. It will be printed in both English 

 and Chinese and will be fully illustrated. 



Bureau of American Ethnology. — Much of the work of the bureau 

 depends upon field expeditions, which obtain needed information and 

 collections connected with its investigations of the Indians. The 

 chief, Mr. Stirling, as a guest of the privately organized Latin 

 American expedition, visited the Tule Indians of Panama and the 

 Jivaros of Ecuador. Doctor Swanton had considerable success in 



1 The Government's expense in connection with the Freer Gallery of Art consists mainly 

 in the care of the building and certain other custodial matters. Other expenses are paid 

 from the Freer endowment funds. 



