28 ANNUAL. REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1940 



for annual attendance. This year the high months were July and 

 August 1939, when 360,599 and 400,719 visitors, respectively, were 

 recorded. The attendance in the four ISIuseum buildings was as 

 follows: Smithsonian Building (closed to visitors from January 2 

 to June 30, 1940), 200,113; Arts and Industries Building, 1,261,808; 

 Natural History Building, 809,661 ; Aircraft Building, 233,589. 



Publications and planting. — The sum of $27,100 was available 

 during 1940 for the publication of the Museum Annual Report, 

 Bulletins, and Proceedings. Thirty publications were issued — the 

 Annual Report, 1 Bulletin, 1 Contributions from the United States 

 National Herbarium, and 27 separate Proceedings papers. Particu- 

 larly outstanding were the following: Variations and Relationships 

 in the Snakes of the Genus Piticophis, by Olive Griffith Stull (Bull. 

 175) ; The Hederelloidea, a Suborder of Paleozoic Cyclostomatous 

 Bryozoa, by Ray S. Bassler; Observations on the Birds of Northern 

 Venezuela and Notes on the Birds of Kentucky, by Alexander Wet- 

 more; Catalog of Human Crania in the United States National 

 Museum Collections: Indians of the Gulf States, by Ales Hrdlicka; 

 Trematodes from Fishes Mainly from the Woods Hole Region, 

 Massachusetts, by Edwin Linton; and A Prehistoric Roulette from 

 Wyandotte County, Kansas, by Waldo R. Wedel and Harry M. 

 Trowbridge. 



Volumes and separates distributed during the year to libraries, 

 institutions, and individuals throughout the world aggregated 65,962 

 copies. 



W. P. A. assistan^je. — As in previous years workers were assigned 

 from the Works Progress Administration of the District of Columbia 

 to assist the Museum stajff in miscellaneous activities. On July 1, 

 1939, 144 assistants were so engaged, and on April 15, 1940, when 

 the project was terminated owing to shortage of funds, these workers 

 numbered 126. The service performed totaled 169,848 man-hours for 

 the year. Conclusion of the project was felt in all departments of 

 the Museum. Aside from the care given by the W. P. A. help in 

 arranging and preserving the study collections, the cataloging and 

 numbering of specimens were of direct aid to research, for the mate- 

 rial thus handled became readily available for study by our own staff 

 and by other technical workers. 



Special exhibits. — Twelve special exhibits were held during the 

 year under the auspices of various educational, scientific, and gov- 

 ernmental agencies. In addition the department of engineering and 

 industries arranged 23 special displays — 2 in engineering, 9 in graphic 

 arts, and 12 in photography. 



Participation in scientific congress. — Members of the Museum staff 

 actively participated in the Eighth American Scientific Congress, 



