EEPORT OF THE SECEETAKY. 19 



on " Mercator's projection," in 1559, or, as some say, in 1550, while Bowditch 

 gives the date as 1566. To this day snbstautially all of the deep-sea naviga- 

 tion of the vi^orld is carried on by the help of this projection, which has been 

 modified only to the extent of correcting the meridional parts for the ellipticity 

 of the meridian. 



The Annual Eeport of the Board of Regents to Congress, published 

 under an allotment granted by Congress, continues to be the principal 

 medium through which the Institution disseminates scientific infor- 

 mation to the world at large. For nearly sixty years this report 

 has included an appendix recording j^rogress in different branches 

 of knowledge, the articles being compiled largely from journals in 

 foreign languages and the transactions of scientific and learned 

 societies throughout the world, comprising material otherwise not 

 readily accessible. It is impossible to meet the popular demand for 

 this publication, even from the considerable edition authorized by 

 Congress, so that the distribution of the 7,000 copies at the disposal 

 of the Institution must therefore be largel}^ limited to libraries and 

 institutions where the public may refer to them. 



The 1907 annual report was in type, but presswork could not be 

 completed before the close of the fiscal year. This volume includes 

 29 articles on the customary wide range of topics. 



The publications of the National Museum during the year included 

 the annual report and a large number of papers of the bulletins and 

 proceedings, mentioned by the assistant secretary in the appendix of 

 the present report. 



The twenty-fifth annual report and three bulletins of the Bureau 

 of American Ethnology, as also a special publication on "Indian Mis- 

 sions " were issued during the year, and a number of works were in 

 press when the year closed, including a bulletin on " Unwritten 

 Literature of Hawaii," and Part I of " Handbook of American In- 

 dian Languages." Part II of the " Handbook of American Indians " 

 is still in press, the critical character of the contents of this work 

 rendering rapid progress undesirable. 



The first volume of the Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory 

 was published in 1902, and the second volume, recording the results 

 of investigations from 1900 to 1906, has now been published. The 

 research described in this volume is a continuation of observations on 

 the relations of the sun to climate and life upon the earth, a line of 

 investigation inaugurated by the late Secretary Langley. 



In compliance with the acts of incorporation of the American His- 

 torical Association and of the National Society of the Daughters of 

 the American Revolution, the annual reports of those bodies were 

 submitted to the secretary of the Smithsonian and transmitted to 

 Congress. 



The Department of State has transmitted a number of reports by 

 American consuls bearing on the Indians of Peru, Education in For- 



