KEPORT OF THE SECRETARY 21 



of central Utah. The type of Delphinus cdLvertensis originally be- 

 longing to the National Institute, but lent to Louis Agassiz prior 

 to 1852, was returned to the National collections by the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology. 



Engineering and industries. — In the section of aeronautics addi- 

 tions were made to the collection of aircraft propellers, including 

 one of the first controllable-pitch propellers issued for practical 

 service, A model of the Yankee Clipper from the Pan American Air- 

 ways System and the first ticket issued to a fare-paying passenger 

 on the initial public trans- Atlantic flight also were received, as well 

 as a number of aircraft models. To the section of electrical engi- 

 neering and communications came the following: A Gaulard and 

 Gibbs transformer and an early Tesla motor, both important contri- 

 butions to the practical use of alternating current; a collection of 

 early incandescent lamps; and a Parsons turbine-electric generator, 

 thought to be the oldest of the original form of the Parsons turbine 

 now in existence except for the first one at the Science Museum in 

 London. Many miscellaneous objects pertaining to transportation, 

 communication, metrology, mining, and metallurgy, tools and crafts, 

 medicine and public health, and chemistry continue to come in as 

 gifts and loans, always welcome additions to these sections. To the 

 division of graphic arts there was transferred from the Government 

 Printing Office an iron printing press invented by Peter Smith in 

 1822. Other interesting material received in this division pertained 

 to motion-picture photography and projection, color photography, 

 fine printing and boolrmaking, and photoengraving. 



History. — Over 2,600 objects of historic and antiquarian interest 

 were accessioned, including mementos, medals, and portraits of such 

 outstanding figures as General Lafayette, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Gen. 

 Philip H. Sheridan, Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas, Col. Charles A. 

 Lindbergh, Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink, and others. The 

 handsome dress in the White House series worn by Dolly Madison 

 was presented to the Museum by Mrs. Charles D. Walcott and the 

 Smithsonian Institution. A unique addition to ihoi historical col- 

 lection was the five flags flown by the Yankee Clipper on the first 

 official flight of that plane from Port Washington, N. Y., to South- 

 ampton, England, and return in May 1939, presented through the 

 Hon. K. Walton Moore. The numismatic collection was increased 

 by 408 coins and medals and the philatelic collection by 2,038 foreign 

 postage stamps, cards, and envelopes transferred from the Post 

 Office Department. Also there came the famous A. Eugene Michel 

 collection of postal stationery, which comprises 144 volmnes of ma- 

 terial containing about 40,000 specimens. 



