REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 9 



rays. This apparatus has been installed at all three field stations. 

 Also prepared in the instrument shop were three copies of a sky 

 polarization device invented by the late Prof. E. C. Pickering. It 

 is believed that the use of this device at the observing stations will 

 obviate the unsatisfactory results brought about by certain types of 

 sky conditions. Solar observations on all favorable days have been 

 continued at the three j^resent field stations at Table Mountain, 

 Calif., Burro Mountain, N. Mex., and Montezuma, Chile. 



Division of Radiation and Organisrns. — On July 1, 1941, the Divi- 

 sion became a branch of the Astrophysical Observatory and received 

 Congressional appropriation for the support of its researches. Mem- 

 bers of its staff were given Civil Service status. The present 

 research work of the Division comes under three headings: Photo- 

 synthesis, plant growth and radiation, and development of 

 apparatus and methods. Experiments were continued on the factors 

 that influence the change in rates of respiration in plants, which led 

 to speculation on the possibility ot the existence of a carbon dioxide 

 reservoir connected with the cell mechanism. There is evidence also 

 that the humidity of the air plays an important role in this gaseous 

 exchange. The study of the relationship between light intensity and 

 inhibition of growth of the oats mesocotyl was extended to higher 

 intensities. Work is in progress on the isolation and separation of 

 two pigments indicated to occur in dark-grown oat seedlings. Pre- 

 vious work in the Division had shown that illumination increases the 

 rate of carbon dioxide production by etiolated barley seedlings. Ap- 

 paratus was assembled and preliminary experiments were begun to 

 study the influence of radiation on the respiration of other types of 

 plants. (Since October 1942 the Division has done war work only.) 



THE ESTABLISHMENT 



The Smithsonian Institution was created by act of Congress in 

 1846, according to the terms of the will of James Smithson, of 

 England, who in 1826 bequeathed his property to the United States 

 of America "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 

 knowledge among men." In receiving the property and accepting 

 the trust. Congress determined that the Federal Government was 

 without authority to administer the trust directly, and, therefore, 

 constituted an "establishment" whose statutory members are "the 

 President, the Vice President, the Chief Justice, and the heads of 

 the executive departments." 



THE BOARD OF REGENTS 



Changes in the Board of Regents during the fiscal year included 

 the election at the Board meeting on January 16, 1942, of Chief 



