REPORT OF THE SECIiETARY 39 



June 16 to 23 in connection with the Fifth National Farm Girls 

 and Boys 4-H Club Camp. The Department of Agriculture Grad- 

 uate School also utilized the auditorium for an address by Dr. E. A. 

 Fischer, of the Rothamsted Experiment Station, on statistics. The 

 scientific societies that met regularly in the auditorium or small 

 lecture room included the Vivarium Society, the Entomological 

 Society of Washington, the Society for Philosophical Inquiry, the 

 Anthropological Society of Washington, and the Helminthological 

 Society of Washington. Meetings were also held by the Wild Flower 

 Preservation Society (Inc.), the Audubon Society of the District 

 of Columbia, the Biological Societ}'^ of Washington, and the Potomac 

 Garden Club. 



The National Association of Retired Federal Employees held 

 regular meetings during the year, and there was one meeting of the 

 Smithsonian Relief Association. The National League of Com- 

 mission Merchants met on December 17 under the auspices of the 

 Bureau of Agricultural Economics for the purpose of explanation 

 of the provisions of the recently enacted perishable agricultural 

 commodities act. The Maryland-Virginia Farmers' Marketing Asso- 

 ciation met on February 12 to discuss plans for a farmers' market. 

 Dr. Arthur A. Allen, of Cornell University, lectured on Februar^^ 

 23 before the Audubon Society of the District of Columbia on 

 native birds and their advantages on golf courses. Dr. Raymond 

 L. Ditmars lectured before the Biological Society of Washington on 

 February 28 on reptiles. 



The American College of Physicians during its fifteenth annual 

 clinical session met in the auditorium on March 28 for an address 

 by Dr. Ales Hrdlicka on the diseases of the human race. 



On April 13 there was held the eighth national and sixth inter- 

 national oratorical contest for the Evening Star area for contestants 

 from private and parochial schools of Washington. This was fol- 

 lowed on ?»Iay 8 by the second zone finals for the same contest. 



On April 28 the Bureau of Dairy Industry, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, held a meeting of the International Association 

 of Milk Dealers. On May 18 the Carnegie Institution of Washington 

 arranged an address by Sir James H. Jeans, of the Royal Society of 

 London, on Out in the Depths of Space. On May 19 there was an 

 address by Dr. M. A. Grossman, of the Republic Research Corpora- 

 tion on Nitriding before the metallurgical advisory connnittee of the 

 Bureau of Standards and the Washington-Baltimore Chapter of the 

 American Society for Steel Treatiu^r. 



The seventh annual national spelling bee was held in the audi- 

 torium on May 26, when the first prize of $1,000 was won by Ward 

 Randall, of White Hall, 111. 



