46 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1 1)24 



1923, for the balance of that day, and again from 1 p. m. on August 

 7 until after the funeral at Marion, Ohio, on August 10. Visitors 

 were also denied entrance to the Aircraft Building from January 11, 



1924, to February 4, to permit of the installation of the Fokker air- 

 plane T-2. 



The Museum published 8 volumes and 44 separate papers during 

 the year. A publication in the bulletin series of several years ago, 

 " The Mineral Industries of the United States— Manufactured Gas in 

 the Home," was reprinted for a second time through the financial 

 assistance of the author, Samuel S. Wyer. Museum publications to 

 the number of 78,734 copies were distributed by the Museum to 

 libraries and individuals on the regular mailing lists and in response 

 to special requests. The distribution exceeds the number of copies 

 printed during the year by nearly 1,000. Some 250,000 labels, repre- 

 senting nearly 1,100 forms, were also printed, and 163 books were 

 bound for the library. 



The Museum is more and more dependent upon donations and 

 exchanges in building up its library, since the number of books it can 

 purchase with its small book appropriation is constantly dwindling. 



Books are very necessary tools in the classification as required by 

 law of objects intrusted to its custody. The additions to the Museum 

 library this year comprised 1,521 volumes and 2,667 pamphlets, 

 making a total of 164,748 titles in the library. The number of loans 

 made was 10,577, of which 6,139 went to the sectional libraries of the 

 Museum. 



Three members of the staff left the Museum through the opera- 

 tion of the retirement act : W. I. Adams, disbursing agent for nearly 

 20 years, with service in another bureau of the institution aggre- 

 gating 28 years in all ; Joseph Horan, sergeant of watch, with a serv- 

 ice of 42 years; and A. F. Adams, classifier in the library, whose 

 retirement, granted in October, 1923, was effective from June 2, 1921, 

 with a service of 39 years. 



The necrology for the year included Miss E. D. Tabler, clerk for 



nearly 41 years; J. J. Dolan, who served in various capacities for 



32 years ; George W. Spier, honorary custodian of watches ; John L. 



Baer, Museum representative on the Marsh Darien expedition; and 



Charles M. Hoy, a field naturalist collecting in China for the 



Museum through the generosity of Dr. W. L. Abbott. The Museum 



also lost by death a number of its long-time benefactors, including 



Rev. Alfred Duane Pell and Ralph Cross Johnson. 



Respectfully submitted. 



W. DE C. Ravenel, 



Administrative Assistant to the Secretary^ 



In charge United States Natioruil Museum. 



Dr. Charles D. Walcott, 



Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 



