16 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



tions in the rnited States, will tend to c)l)viate the not infrequent 

 application by .several students at the siinie time for the Smithsonian 

 seat, a matter of reg^ret, as in such a cas(^ some applicants must be dis- 

 :ipi)ointed, since an excess of workers at the same table is a source of 

 inconvenience to Doctor Dolirn, the courteous director of the Station. 

 It is, however, desired in the interest of science that the Smithsonian 

 table should ])e continuously occupied durino- the months availa])le for 

 study at Naples, and all ai)plications for the seat receive immediate 

 consideration. A brief account of the administration of the Smithso- 

 nian tal)le in the Naples Station, embodying the data which is likely to 

 be of use to applicants, has recently l)een published in the Quarterly 

 Issue of the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 



It is a pleasure to state that the advisory connuittee remains 

 unchanged, and to express thanks for the helpful attention given to 

 all questions referred to the committee for consideration. 



EXPLORATIONS. 



The Institution has this year made explorations through its private 

 funds, such as the Alaskan mammoth expedition, and that to the 

 Canadian glaciers, mentioned below, in addition to the customary 

 biological, geological, and ethnological ones through the National 

 Museum and the Bureau of American Ethnology. 



Alaskan manimoth expedition.— About the middle of May the Insti- 

 tution dispatched an expedition to Alaska under the direction of ^Ir. 

 A. G. Maddren. The most important work sought to be accomplished 

 is the collecting of remains of the mammoth and other large mammals, 

 which have been reported as abundant in various regions, one place 

 being known as the " Bone Yard," another as Elephant Point, along 

 the south shore of Kotzebue Sound. 



Exploration of Canadian glaciers.— An exploration of some of the 

 glaciers of British Columbia has been undertaken by Dr. W. H. 

 Sherzer, of Michigan, under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, for the purpose of gathering detinite information regarding 

 glacial phenomena, such as the nature and cause of the ice flow, the 

 temperature of the ice at various depths, iind its relation to air tem- 

 peratures, the amount of surface melting, and the possible transfer- 

 ence of material from the surface to lower portions. The special 

 field of study will be the five most accessible glaciers along the line of 

 the Canadian Pacific Railway, including the Victoria glacier at Lake 

 Louise, the Wapta glacier in the Joho Valley, and the Asulkan, and 

 lUecillewalt glaciers near Glacier House. 



rUBLICATIONS. 



The Institution distributed during the year a total of 45,705 vol- 

 umes or parts of volumes of the series of Sndthsonian Contributions, 



