REPOET OF TTTE SECRETARY. 7 



A bill providiiiii' for the orcctiou of a lire-prool' l)uikliii,ii' for the 

 ^STatioiialMusemn was introduced in the Senate by the lion. J. S. Mor- 

 rill, and passed the Senates on A])i'il 1."), 18!»li, but failed to seeure 

 favorable action in the House. 



The work of flre-proo ting- the so-called "chapel'' of the west wing- 

 of the Smithsonian building; has been practically completed, and I 

 would especially urge that the balance of this ap])ro))riation, unex- 

 I)ended, by reason of a limiting clause introduced in the act, on account 

 of which the money is not available for certain repairs originally con- 

 templated, should be now made available by Congress for increasing 

 the storage room in the east wing' of the building', and at the same 

 time that certain rooms be fitted for the special needs of the Govern- 

 ment Exchange Bureau, now occu])ying' rooms in the Main l>uilding, 

 urgently needed for other purposes. 



The new buildings erected or in x>i'Ogress of erection for the collec- 

 tion of living animals, being all in the Zoological Park, are mentioned 

 in the report upon the park. 



RESEARCH. 



In pursuance of the long established policy of the Institution, finan- 

 cial aid has, during the past year, been extended to original investi- 

 gators in the domain of science, and considering the modest sum that 

 it has been found possible to devote to this purpose, the results are 

 gratifying. 



The subscripticm for twenty copies of the Astronomical Journal, 

 which are distributed abroad as exchanges of the Institution, has been 

 continued. 



To the Lick Observatory, through its director. Prof. Holden, an addi- 

 tional grant has been made for the continuance of experiments in lunar 

 photograpiiy. 



Prof. E. W. Morley is still engaged in his determinations of the 

 density of oxygen and hydrogen, for which some special a])paratus has 

 been jn'ovided by the Institution. 



Mention has been made in previous reports of the aid exteiuled to 

 Prof. A. A. Michelson, of Clark University, in his experiments with the 

 refractometer, and in tlu^. determination of a uiuversal standard of 

 length founded on the wave length oi light. In furtherance of the 

 latter project, the Institution will, during the coming summer, send one 

 of its scientific staff to assist Prof. Michelson in his investigations 

 under the auspices of the International Bureau of Weights and Meas- 

 ures in the laboratory of the Bureau at Sevres, I 'ranee. 



T>oth these latter investigaticms refer to fundamental constants of 

 nature, and their results promise to be of wide and lasting imi)ortance. 



Allusion was nmde in my last report to aid extended to Dr. Wolcott 

 Gibbs in his investigations of the physiological action of chemical com- 



