16 ANNUAL REPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1925 



The accessions to the libraries, exclusive of those to the library of 

 the Bureau of American Ethnology, which is reported on by the 

 chief of the bureau, totaled 12,537. The most outstanding gift of the 

 year was the entomological library of the late Col. Thomas L. 

 Casey, numbering about 4,500 volumes and pamphlets, chiefly on 

 coleoptera, which will be deposited in the section of insects of the 

 National Museum. 



The loans totaled 10,657. Special effort was made to supply re- 

 quests for missing volumes or parts of volumes, and 2,009 were ob- 

 tained. There were sent to the Library of Congress 7,287 publica- 

 tions to be added to the Smithsonian deposit and 7,408 documents of 

 foreign governments for the document division. Seven thousand 

 one hundred and thirty-two volumes and pamphlets were catalogued 

 and much general work was done on the collections, including a de- 

 tailed investigation by the librarian of the needs of the library. 



NATIONAL MUSEUM 



By the action of the Congress in providing for the appointment of 

 an additional assistant secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to 

 have general supervision of the National Museum and certain other 

 Government bureaus under administrative charge of the Institution, 

 Dr. Alexander Wetmore was appointed to that office on April 1, 

 1925. The application of the reclassification act resulted in the 

 adoption of a more just salary scale for the scientific staff, and for 

 the first time in many years every position in the Museum personnel 

 was fiUed, the salaries previously available for certain positions 

 having been too small to attract men properly equipped to hold 

 them. The increase of $52,396 in the Museum appropriations over 

 last year was sufficient to cover the larger salaries, but does not 

 allow for proper advancement for efficient service, as provided in 

 the reclassification act. Additional funds are urgently needed for 

 this purpose and also for the normal expansion of the Museum, in- 

 cluding the purchase of specimens, and for use in minor explorations. 



The Museum contributed during the past winter seven sj3eakers to 

 the series of Smithsonian radio talks, organized last year under the 

 direction of Mr. Austin H. Clark. This new field for the dissemina- 

 tion of knowledge offers great possibilities. 



The Loeb collection of chemical types has made splendid progress 

 under the direction of Mr. O. E. Roberts, jr., curator, 616 new speci- 

 mens having been added to the collection during the year. 



The Museum received during the year 363,490 specimens, a slight 

 increase over last year's accessions, and 1,232 additional lots of ma- 

 terial were received for examination and report. A total of 23,244 

 duplicate specimens were distributed as gifts to educational institu- 



