REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 13 



wing of the Smithsonian building alter their reconstruction, a work 

 which occupied about a year from its commencement in the spring of 

 1883. 



For many years past the small number of rooms available for the ad- 

 ministrative offices of the Institution has greatly impeded its business 

 and interfered with the effectiveness of the work of all the employes. 

 The stock of publications was widely scattered in different i)arts of the 

 Smithsonian building, and the rooms were overcrowded with clerks and 

 assistants. The records were necessarily kept in places more or less 

 inconvenient of access, with a constant fear of their destruction and 

 that of other property of the Institution by fire in a building so con- 

 structed that should a fire break out it would be almost impossible to 

 prevent the combustion of the entire edifice. Thanks to the liberality 

 of Congress in furnishing the necessary means, these inconveniences 

 and dangers are all things of the past ; the offices have been re-ar- 

 ranged, everything brought together in convenient approximation, and 

 every necessary provision made for the comfort of the employes and 

 the efficiency of their work. 



The Secretary transferred his office from his temporary quarters in 

 the National Museum building early in May, and a few days after the 

 chief clerk, corresponding clerk, and others moved from their impro- 

 vised rooms in the lower hall of the Institution. By the end of the year 

 the work was finished and everything in good running order. 



The personnel of the Institution continues to be the same as hereto- 

 fore, apart from the addition of one or two subordinate employes re- 

 quired to meet the increase of work. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



This continues to increase in about the usual ratio, and represents a 

 very large part of the operations of the Institution. The range of sub- 

 jects presented for consideration covers every branch of speculation 

 and of human knowledge; and there are very few subjects upon which 

 the advice and opinion of the Institution are not asked. In accordance 

 with its uniform rule, all communications are treated wdth respect; and 

 where the information asked for cannot be furnished directly, the let- 

 ter is referred to some exi)ert. 



EXPLORATIONS. 



From the very beginning of its work a large part of the attention of 

 the Institution has been directed towards increasing our knowledge of 

 the physical condition and natural history of various parts of the globe, 

 especially on the continent of America, and almost every report con- 

 tains some account of w^ork accomi:)lished in this direction. No single 

 agency has done as much as the Smithsonian Institution in developing 

 a knowledge of the region ii question, whether as the result of observa- 



