EEPORT OF THE SECRETABY 11 



EXPLORATIONS AND FIELD WORK 



Twenty-nine expeditions went out during the year in the interests 

 of the Institution's investigations in geology, biology, anthropology, 

 and astrophysics. Besides numerous localities in the United States, 

 these expeditions visited many other parts of the world, including 

 Africa, Alaska, Canada, China, Haiti, Santo Domingo, the South 

 Sea Islands, Spain, and the West Indies. 



Many unique specimens were brought back to the Institution for 

 study, and much-needed information was obtained in the field. 

 The Smithsonian is indebted to its friends and to other scientific 

 institutions for a considerable part of the expense of these expedi- 

 tions, as its own meager funds for this purpose were exhausted early 

 in the year. 



Among the year's expeditions I may mention particularly Dr. 

 Paul Bartsch's third year of explorations for mollusks in the West 

 Indies, this year's work covering the southern Bahamas, the islands 

 off the south coast of Cuba, and the Caymans ; further anthropologi- 

 cal researches in Alaska by Dr. Ales Hrdlicka and Henry B. 

 Collins, jr.. Doctor Hrdlicka working along the Kuskokwim Eiver 

 and Mr. Collins on St. Lawrence Island; biological collecting on 

 " Tin Can Island " in the Tonga Archipelago by Lieut. Henry C. 

 Kellers, United States Navy, through the cooperation of the Navy 

 Department and the United States Naval Observatory; the Parish- 

 Smithsonian expedition to Haiti, organized by the late Lee H. 

 Parish with the financial assistance and cooperation of his father, 

 S. W. Parish, for the purpose of making general biological collec- 

 tions on the little-worked islands off the Haitian coast; and the 

 continuation of the collecting explorations of the Rev. David C. 

 Graham near Suifu, China, which resulted in over 62,000 specimens 

 for the National Museum. 



Brief accounts of certain of the j^ear's expeditions will be found 

 in the reports of the National Museum and the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology appended hereto. All are described and illustrated in 

 the Institution's yearly pamphlet. Explorations and Field Work of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, 1930, publication No. 3111. 



PUBLIC ATIUKS 



On March 1, 1931, the editorial work of the Institution and its 

 branches was consolidated in a central oiRce under the direction of 

 the editor of the Institution. The steadily increasing output of the 

 Smithsonian made it desirable to centralize authority to a certain 

 extent in the interests of a more uniform policy and style and to 

 prevent duplication of effort in the keeping of financial and other 

 records. The volume of work passing through the editorial office 



