12 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1953 



International Exchange Service. — As the official United States 

 agency for the interchange of governmental, scientific, and literary 

 publications between this country and other nations of the world, the 

 International Exchange Service during the year handled 1,021,938 

 packages of such publications, weighing 855,102 pounds. This was 

 20,324 packages and 29,475 pounds more than the previous year. Con- 

 signments were made to all countries except China, North Korea, and 

 Rumania. Toward the end of the year, a grant of $6,000 was received 

 from the National Science Foundation to supplement funds for the 

 transportation of exchange publications that otherwise would have 

 been delayed. 



National Zoological Park. — ^The Zoo received 810 accessions during 

 the year, comprising 1,797 individual animals, and 1,731 were re- 

 moved by death, exchange, et cetera. The net count of animals at the 

 end of the year was 2,741. Noteworthy among the accessions were 2 

 Barbary apes, a Formosan civet never before exhibited in the Zoo, 3 

 East Indian monitor lizards, a young flat-tailed otter from Brazil, also 

 the first of its kind to be exhibited here, and 2 of the rare Allen's 

 monkeys. In all, 247 creatures were born or hatched at the Zoo daring 

 the year — 95 mammals, 119 birds, and 33 reptiles. Visitors totaled 

 approximately 3,231,000. 



Astrophysical Observatory. — The manuscript of volume 7 of the 

 Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory was completed and sent to 

 the printer late in the year. Mr. Hoover completed a thorough study 

 of the silver-disk pyrheliometer. Two of these instruments were built 

 in the APO shops for other institutions. Solar-radiation studies were 

 continued at the Observatory's two field stations — at Montezuma, 

 Chile, and Table Mountain, Calif. Research carried on by the Divi- 

 sion of Radiation and Organisms concerned mainly physiological and 

 biochemical processes by which light regulates plant growth and 

 the mechanisms of the action of the auxin-type growth hormones, and 

 several scientific papers were published. 



National Air Museum. — Providing adequate storage facilities for 

 the space-consuming material awaiting a National Air Museum build- 

 ing continues to be a serious problem. Twenty loads of material were 

 brought from Park Ridge, 111., to the new storage facility provided at 

 Suitland, Md. The Museum stafi' has helped in the celebration of the 

 Fiftieth Anniversary of Powered Flight, participated in many special 

 aeronautical events and exhibits, and inspected material for possible 

 accession, besides taking care of the collections. The Museum re- 

 ceived 32 accessions (totaling 112 specimens) from 28 sources. Full- 

 sized aircraft received included a Douglas DC-3 transport plane that 

 had traveled 8^/^ million air miles, the Excalihur III in which a series 

 of historic flights were made, the original Hiller-copter^ and a German 

 Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket interceptor. At the end of the year 



