REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 7 



tional ixiom for these exchanges will soon be called for, while the stor- 

 age facilities of the Institution are now otherwise severely taxed. 



RESEARCH. 



As I have elsewhere remarked, it appears to be an essential portion 

 of the original scheme of the government of the Institution that its 

 Secretary should be expected to advance knowledge, whether in letters 

 or in science, by personal research; and resolutions of the Regents 

 formally request the Secretary to continue his investigations in physi- 

 cal science, and to present their results for publication in the Smith- 

 sonian " Contributions." 



The advancement of science through original research at the hands 

 of those eminent men, Henry and Baird, the former Secretaries of this 

 Institution, is known to all, but though the Secretary may be still 

 exi)ected to personally contribute to the advancement of science, or art, 

 or letters, by his individual efibrts, it is certain that the increasing 

 demands of time for labors of administration had graatly limited the 

 possibility of this, even in the time of Henry, and that at the present 

 day administrative duties, and especially those connected with the care 

 of Government interests, constitute a barrier to such investigations, 

 which is all but impassable. 



I have, however, given such limited time as could be spared from 

 administrative duties largely to the continuation of the researches 

 upon the solar spectrum mentioned in my last rei)ort. This work, car- 

 ried on in the Astro-physical Observatory, is believed to be of more than 

 common importance, and is referred to at more length in connection with 

 the observatory report of this year. 



The investigations, referred to in previous reports, upon aerody- 

 namics have been continued intermittently. They are not complete, 

 but they appear to point to conclusions of general and unusual interest. 



Mention may also be made here of a grant of $50 in December, 1893, 

 to the director of the Lick Observatory, Prof. E. S. Holdeu, for experi- 

 ments in solar photography, and of a grant of a like amount in May, 

 1891, to Dr. A. Ct. Webster, of Clark University, for certain researches 

 in the velocity of electrodynamic disturbances in wires. 



Mr. W. A. Eddy was likewise aided to the amount of $50 in certain 

 exi)eriments in the study of the electrical and other conditions of the 

 upper atmosphere by means of kites. 



Investigations aided by the Hodgkins fund, and special researches 

 carried on in the Astro-physical Observatory are mentioned on another 

 page. 



The researches referred to above are connected altogether with the 

 physical sciences, since aid to original research in the biological sciences 

 has been largely, though indirectly, provided through the Institution's 

 connection with the National Museum and otherwise. 



The subscription has been continued for twenty copies of the Astro- 



