114 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1918. 



The experimental laboratory of the Advisory Committee is now 

 in process of erection at Langley Field, near Hampton, Va. In the 

 meantime experimental work is being conducted under the direction 

 of the committee at several laboratories. 



The original Langley man-carrying flying machine has been 

 brought back from Hammondsport after its successful trials, and 

 soon will be placed on exhibition in the old National Museum build- 

 ing. It is the first heavier-than-air, man-carrying machine ever 

 built, although it did not have a successful flight until more than 10 

 years after its construction. It is also an important historical relic, 

 as it confirms the claim that Secretary Langley was the first to de- 

 sign and construct a heavier-than-air machine capable of carrying a 

 man in flight. There has never been any question that he was the 

 first to successfully fly a heavier-than-air machine propelled by its 

 own power. 



Borneo and Celebes expedition. — Owing to the generosity of Dr. 

 W. L. Abbott, a valued collaborator of the National Museum, an ex- 

 tensive expedition has been in operation in these islands for several 

 years, under the leadership of Mr. H. C. Raven. Collecting is now 

 being carried on in central Celebes, and the Museum has received a 

 new lot of objects which is especially rich in ethnological material. 

 Previous mention has been made of the results of this expedition 

 and of the gifts of Dr. Abbott, who has contributed the sum of 

 $21,000 for this purpose since 1912. 



Santo Domingo and Haiti expedition. — Dr. Abbott is now per- 

 sonally continuing his collections in Santo Domingo and Haiti, from 

 which he has secured for the National Museum many interesting 

 mammals and birds. 



Biological work in North China. — Mr. A. de C. Sowerby is con- 

 tinuing his exploration work in northeastern China, and a small col- 

 lection was received from him in May, 1917. His work has been 

 attended with considerable difficulty, however, owing to the unsettled 

 condition of the country. It will be remembered that this expedition 

 is being financed by a friend of the Institution, who declines to 

 allow his identity to become known. 



Collins-Garner Congo expedition. — In November, 1916, Mr. A. M. 

 Collins, of Philadelphia, asked the Museum to participate in an ex- 

 pedition to the French Congo which he was organizing in conjunc- 

 tion with Mr. R. L. Garner, Mr. Collins assuming the main financial 

 burden of the expedition. It was arranged that the Smithsonian 

 Institution should send a zoological collector, pay his salary and 

 transportation, and in addition turn over $1,200 to Mr. Collins, for 

 which sum he agreed to give our representative the privileges of the 

 expedition until the end of September, 1917. Mr. Garner and our 



