REPORT 01 THE SECRETARY. 5 



persons may have access to these collections for the purpose 

 of research with due regard to the needs and requirements of 

 the work of the Government; and that it shall also be his 

 duty to direct, in a manner satisfactory to the heads of such 

 Departments and officers in charge, the researches of such 

 persons into lines which will promote the interests of the 

 Government and the development of the natural resources, 

 agriculture, manufactures, and commerce of the country, and 

 (generally) promote the progress of science and the useful 

 arts, and the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men. 



After some discussion by the Regents, on motion the reso- 

 lution was adopted. 



The Secretary also brought to the attention of the Board a 

 letter received from Genoa indicating the necessity of remov- 

 ing the remains of James Smithson, interred in the British 

 burial ground at Genoa, to a new cemetery which was to be 

 chosen later on, and requesting to be informed of the wishes 

 of the Regents. After some discussion, in which the desira- 

 bility of bringing the remains to this country was adversely 

 considered, the following resolution was adopted: 



Resolved, In view of the proposed abolition of the English 

 cemetery at Genoa, which contains the remains of James 

 Smithson, that the Secretary be requested to arrange either 

 with the English church or with the authorities of the National 

 Burying Ground at Genoa for the reinterment of Smithson's 

 remains, and the transfer of the original monument. 



The Secretary then made his customary statement to the 

 Board, remarking that, in view of the lateness of the hour, he 

 would pass over some of the matters about which he had 

 intended to speak, and among others about the continuation 

 of his experiments in aerodromics and the results of the 

 eclipse expedition of May, 1900, which had since been made 

 public. The observation of the eclipse had left one or two 

 interesting but unsettled questions, and he had determined to 

 send out a small expedition to Sumatra on the occasion of the 

 exceptionally important eclipse of the sun in May, 1901. 



He brought to the attention of the Board the proposed 

 expedition to Babylonia under Dr. Edgar James Banks, who 

 had gone to Constantinople in the hope of securing permission 

 to excavate the town of Mugheir, which, according to tra- 

 dition, is the site of the Ur of the Chaldees from which Abra- 

 ham came. The material results of such expedition, if any. 



