SECRETARY'S REPORT 11 



tions of photomorpliogenesis in green plants which promise interest- 

 ing results. 



National Air Museum. — A number of outstanding accessions were 

 received by the National Air Museum during the year. Foremost 

 among these were the Bell X-1, the world's first supersonic, man- 

 carrying airplane, which has been installed on exhibit in the Aircraft 

 Building ; and a duplicate example of the world's first successful super- 

 sonic ram-jet engine and its rocket booster. In all, 99 specimens, 

 including four full-sized aircraft, were recorded from 30 sources. 

 Inasmuch as over two-thirds of the Air Museum's collection of full- 

 sized aircraft are in storage, providing and maintaining storage fa- 

 cilities remain a serious problem; and toward the end of the year 

 this became aggravated when the Museum was ordered to vacate its 

 storage facility at Park Ridge, 111., to make way for aircraft manu- 

 facture. The National Air Museum Advisory Board met on June 28, 

 1951, with this problem a primary concern. During the year, by means 

 of a special exhibit, shown first in the Navy Department and then 

 in the Pentagon Building, the Museum marked the fortieth anni- 

 versary of Naval Airplane Carrier Operations. 



Canal Zone Biological Area. — Contract was let during the year 

 for constructing a new laboratory building of modest design at the 

 Barro Colorado Island station. Thirty-three scientists made use of 

 the island's facilities during the period, carrying on studies in various 

 fields of biology. Some of the research projects under way are worth 

 noting : An exhaustive study of the spiders of the region ; a checklist 

 of Barro Colorado Island birds ; investigation of the population den- 

 sity and social organization of the island's howler monkeys ; a study 

 of the light-sensitive structures of animals; corrosion and deteriora- 

 tion tests ; and studies of fungi. The resident manager continued his 

 long-term termite-resistance tests and his fruit-fly studies. 



PUBLICATIONS 



Throughout the entire history of the Smithsonian, publications have 

 constituted the Institution's principal medium for the "diffusion of 

 knowledge," one of the two basic functions of the organization as 

 prescribed by James Smithson, the founder. The Institution issues 

 eight regular series of publications and six others that appear less 

 frequently. Embodying the results of researches of the Smithsonian 

 staff and collaborators, these publications are distributed free to more 

 than a thousand libraries, both here and abroad, as well as to a large 

 list of educational and scientific organizations and specialists in var- 

 ious fields. In all, 123,401 copies of Smithsonian publications were 

 distributed this year. 



