EEPORT OF THE SECEETARY. 3 



The routine work of the Institution proper and of the several 

 branches of the government service under its direction was examined 

 in detail during the year, including the methods of correspondence, 

 the handling of freight, the purchase and issuance of property and 

 supplies, the distribution of publications, the receipt and disburse- 

 ment of moneys, and rules and regulations aifecting leaves of absence 

 and other matters relating to the personnel. In order that the most 

 modern advances in office methods might be applied to the Institution 

 w'here necessary, a subcommittee of the committee on business methods 

 was directed to visit the executive departments and local commercial 

 establishments, and the report of this subcommittee was of material 

 assistance in suggesting needed modifications in the transaction of 

 routine business under the Institution. Among the most important 

 improvements in this direction were certain changes in the accession- 

 ing of material received by the National Museum for examination 

 and report. The general effect ©f the recommendations of the com- 

 mittee has been to reduce the amount of work and to facilitate the 

 dispatch of business. 



The advisory committee on printing and publication, appointed 

 in pursuance of executive order of January 20, 190G, w^hich com- 

 mittee is composed of representatives from the Institution and its 

 branches, has rendered valuable assistance in scrutinizing manu- 

 scripts proposed for publication and blank forms used in the work 

 of the Institution and its branches. 



Appointments to the staffs of the National Museum, the Inter- 

 national Exchanges, the Bureau of American Ethnolog}^, the National 

 Zoological Park, the Astrophysical Observatory, and the regional 

 bureau of the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature have 

 been made from time to time as vacancies occurred, in accordance 

 with the civil-service rules and requirements; these establishments, 

 with the exception of the last named, having been placed under the 

 operation of the civil-service law on June 30, 1896, the International 

 Catalogue having later been subjected to the jurisdiction of the com- 

 mission. No important changes have been made in the routine 

 affecting appointments, except that by executive orders the rules were 

 modified to permit transfers of persons serving for a period of six 

 months ending within one year from the date of proposed transfer, 

 and the requirements of examination were allowed to be waived in 

 the discretion of the Civil Service Commission. The privilege of 

 making emergency appointments, pending the permanent appoint- 

 ment of eligibles through certification, was discontinued, likewise by 

 executive order, and all temporary appointments are required now 

 to be approved in advance by the commission. Such appointments 

 are no longer limited arbitrarily to six months, but may, under cer- 

 tain circumstances, be extended beyond that term. Recommendations 



