26 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



postponed from 1903 to 1904, and opportunity was thus offered for the 

 preparation of an adequate display that iiiioht illustrate the functions 

 of the Institution and its dependencies. 



The Smithsonian exhi})it proper is installed in the Government build- 

 ino- in a pavilion which overlooks the space assigned to its various 

 bureaus. It contains memorials and a portrait of the founder, James 

 Smithson. and a complete series of the several hundred publications of 

 the Institution, which represents one of the chief means adopted for 

 carrying out his })urpose "The increase and diffusion of knowledge." 

 Portraits of the chancellors and secretaries of the Institution are also 

 shown, as Avell as that of Mr. Thomas George Hodgkins, the donor of 

 the Hodgkins fund. Printed matter, setting forth the objects to which 

 this fund is devoted and the reports of important original researches 

 which it has aided b}' means of grants, are also exhibited, with repro- 

 ductions of the Hodgkins gold medal, which is awarded bienniall}- for 

 noteworthy investigations regarding the nature of atmospheric air in 

 connection with the welfare of man. One of the features of the 

 exhibit is a (piarter-size model of the large aerodrome with which 

 experiments were conducted during the summer and autumn of 1903, 

 a model, driven by a gasoline engine, which itself has flown a distance 

 of nearly a quarter of a mile. The steam-driven model with which 

 experiments were successfully made in 1896 is also exhibited. 



The work of the Astrophysical Observatory is illustrated in a 

 graphic manner l)v the installation of the great coelostat, arranged to 

 throw a beam of sunlight into a darkened room where there is shown 

 a solar image about a yard in diameter, thrown up ))V a G-inch tele- 

 scope, and the solar spectrum is formed upon the walls by a large 

 concave grating. Bolometric apparatus is in actual operation, while 

 a display of transparencies illustrates the apparatus and results of 

 researches by the Observatory. 



Charts and other objects are displayed explanatory of the useful 

 work carried on by the International Exchanges in distributing scien- 

 tific publications throughout the world. 



The various departments of the National Museum are full}' repre- 

 sented. Among some of the objects displayed I may mention a resto- 

 ration of the extinct reptile known as the Stegasaur, about 25 feet 

 long, which is not unlike a large horned toad, with a double row of 

 large, flat spines along the tail; a collection of meteorites and casts of 

 some of the largest meteorites known, one of them exceeding 20 feet 

 in length and weighing many tons; a collection of some of the most 

 })eautiful kinds of minerals from all parts of the world; the model of a 

 whale 80 feet long as showing the apjjearance of the greatest of all 

 living animals; groups of game birds, the wonderfid bii-ds of paradise, 

 the gorgeous pheasants, and birds of pre}'; and a remarkably perfect 



