46 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1925 



At the request of the Washington Chapter of the American In- 

 stitute of Banking all of the exhibition halls on the ground, first, 

 and second Hoors of the Natural History Building were opened on 

 the evening of July 19 for a reception to the members of the In- 

 stitute meeting in Washington at that time. 



A joint meeting of the Anthropological Society of Washington, 

 the Washington Academy of Science, and the Art and Archieolog;y' 

 I^eague, in conjunction with the Archa3ological Institute of xVmerica, 

 was held in the auditorium on the evening of December 16, during 

 which Count Byron Kuhn de Prorok gave a lecture on the " Carthage 

 excavations, 1924," and "The dead cities of the Sahara." After 

 the lecture a reception was held in the Art Gallery. 



As one of the features of the meeting of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, on the evening of December 29, 

 members and their guests were received in the Art Gallery by the 

 Secretary of the Institution and Mrs. Walcott, at whicli time the 

 entire first floor of the building was open. On the evening of 

 June 10, the halls on the first and second floors Avere opened for 

 a reception to the delegates of the National Association of Credit 

 Men attending the convention held in Washington from June 8 to 13. 



MISCELLANEOUS 



For the first time in the history of the Museum the total immber 

 of visitors to the several buildings reached more than 1,000,000. 

 These w'ere recorded at the several buildings as follows: Arts and 

 Industries, 304,858; Natural History, 557,016; Aircraft, 52,787; 

 Smithsonian, 107,342; a total of 1,022,003. 



The Museum published 5 volumes and 70 separate papers during 

 the year while its distribution of publications amounted to 104,596 

 copies of books and pamphlets. 



Additions to the library numbered 1,457 books and 1,894 pam- 

 phlets, mostly obtained by exchange or donation. With the funds 

 available, only a few books could be purchased. Important con- 

 tributions which have not yet been catalogued are the bequest by the 

 late Col. Thomas L. Casey of approximately 4,500 books and pam- 

 phlets, mostly relating to Coleoptera, which were not entirely as- 

 sorted until after the close of the year, and the transfer from the 

 Treasury Department of 800 books and pamplilets relating to the 

 science of numismatics. 



Through the operation of the reclassification act, which became 

 effective July 1, 1924, the salary standards in the Museum, partic- 

 ularly of the scientific staff, were materially improved and for the 

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

 filled. The staff in the department of anthropology was completed 



