EXPLORATIONS AND FIELD-WORK OF THE SMITH- 

 SONIAN INSTITUTION IX 1912 



In [912, as in preceding years, The Smithsonian Institution 

 carried on field-work in various parts of the world by means of small 

 allotments from its funds, and by cooperating with institutions and 

 individuals engaged in similar activities. Several friends of the 

 Institution contributed funds for special work, or provided oppor- 

 tunities for participation in explorations which thev had undertaken 

 personally or through the aid of others. 



All these operations resulted in extending the boundaries of 

 knowledge, and in several cases added important material to the 

 collections of the National Museum. The Institution is obliged 

 every year to forego opportunities for important work in many 

 fields. With larger means it could engage in more extensive field 

 operations which could confidently he expected to yield rich returns 

 both in increase of knowledge and in additions to the national col- 

 lections. 



Most of the information contained in this account has been fur- 

 nished by tho>e who participated in the various expeditions. 



About twenty different parties were in the field during 1912, and 

 the regions visited comprised British East Africa. Abyssinia, Algeria, 

 eastern Siberia and Mongolia, the Altai Mountain district, Borneo, 

 St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. British Columbia, Alberta, Newfound- 

 land, Labrador, the Panama (.'anal Zone, the Bahama Islands, the 

 West Indies, and many parts of the United States. 



Some of the work done in 1912 was in continuation of operations 

 initiated in previous years, and described in the article on explora- 

 tions published by the Smithsonian some months ago.' As regards 

 the < Government branches of the Institution, it should be said that the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology engages largely in field-work as a 



1 Expeditions Organized or Participated in by the Smithsonian Institution 

 in 1910 and 1911, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., Vol. 59, No. 11. [912. 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 60, No. 30 



1 



