84 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



list of the material so received, arrauge.l alpliabetically by name of 

 sender, is given in Appendix v. 



MEETINGS OF ASSOCIATIONS IN WASHINGTON DURING THE YEAR. 



Washington has during recent years been selected as the place for 

 holding meetings of a large number of uatioual and international socie- 

 ties of all kinds. Each vear has seen an iucrease in this respect, and 

 the matter has now become of such importance (not so much, how- 

 ever on account of the number as of the character of the societies) 

 that \t seems proper to make mentiou of it in a report which is mtendeu 

 to contain in a general way a reference to all efforts to develop and 

 encourage research, both from a scientific, economic, and a literary 

 point of view. There is probably no place in the country better suited 

 for such meetings. The seat of government and center ot political 

 activity has become accustomed to receiving and entertaining organi- 

 zation s. . 1 ,, ^1 • 

 , Of late years numerous learned bodies have met in various halls in this 

 city The many attractions of the capital, the opportunity ot easy 

 access to public record offices and the Congressional Library, the gen- 

 eral interest of the Government buildings, combine to make \^ ashing- 

 ton a favored city for such purpose. During the last year these con- 

 ventions were fewer than usual owing to the concentration of so many 

 interests in Chicago during the World's Fair. 



The meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union continued in 

 session for three days (from November 15 to 17), and during that time 

 a large number of interesting papers were presented.* 



As in previous years, the annual meeting of the National Academy 

 of Sciences was held in the lecture hall of the Museum, the session last- 

 ing four days, from April 18 to I'l.t 



The course of Saturday Lectures, which was discontinued two or 

 three years ago, was resumed in March, 1893, under the auspices of the 

 Anthropological Society of Washington. The course consisted ot a 

 series of lecUires, somewhat popular in their character, on various sub- 

 jects relating to ethnology. The lecturers were all men well known m 

 their chosen fields of investigation.J 



^ In Appendix viii the titles of these papers are given. 



t A list of the papers read before the Academy appears in Appendix viii. 



t Ali-t of tl.e U'ctnres comprising this conrse will be found in Appendix viii. 



