EEPOKT OF THE SECRETARY. H 



neons Collections, and the translation of an article by Doctor von 

 Lendenfeld on the " Relation of AVing Surface to Weight of Body," 

 ]5ublislied originally in the Naturwissenschaftliche Wochenschrift, 

 appeared in the Smithsonian Report for lOO-t. 



In :\Eay, 1905, a grant was approved on behalf of Prof. AV. P. Brad- 

 ley, of Wesleyan University, for an experimental investigation of the 

 expansion of air through a nozzle. As all practical forms of appa- 

 ratus for the production of liquid air depend, so far, upon this type of 

 expansion, the research is deemed an important one, the more so from 

 the fact that the theory of the nozzle expansion of gases is in dispute 

 and nnist apparently remain so until more complete data are secured. 



The results of previous experiments in the liquefaction of air, car- 

 ried on by Professor Bradley at AA^esleyan University, show conclu- 

 sively that he is in an exceptionally favorable position for the direc- 

 tion of an extended inquiry into the factors which make for efficiency 

 in such a research, and as it is expected that further investigation 

 will materially aid a decision as to certain questions concerning which 

 experimentalists are not fully agreed, the report to be submitted by 

 Professor Bradle3^is aAvaited with interest. 



P^arl}^ in the year 1904 a third grant Avas approved on behalf of 

 Dr. Carl Barns to aid in preparing the completed report of his 

 recent research for publication. This memoir, "A Continuous Record 

 of Atmospheric Nucleation,'' is in press, as one of the Smithsonian 

 Contributions to Knowledge, and will be the third and last volume of 

 the series giving a detailed account of the investigation of Doctor 

 Barus. A request that a summary of the work should be prepared by 

 the author for presentation before the first international congress on 

 ionization and radioactivity at Liege in September, 1905, was ap- 

 proved, thus enabling an investigation on a subject of much immedi- 

 ate interest, prosecuted under the auspices of the Institution, to be 

 brought to the attention of this notable gathering. 



The subscription to the Journal of Terrestrial Magnetism and 

 Atmospheric Electricity has been renewed for the present year, with 

 the understanding that the publication will be maintained in the 

 future without such aid, a stipulated number of copies being for- 

 warded this year, as heretofore, to addresses designated by the Insti- 

 tution. 



Among the miscellaneous investigations aided by the Institution 

 during the 3'ear I may mention that Dr. Edward L. Greene, asso- 

 ciate in botany. United States National Museum, has undertaken to 

 prepare for publication by the Smithsonian Institution a monograph 

 to be entitled " Landmarks of Botanical History." Doctor Greene 

 expects to complete this work in two years. Dr. Albert M. Reese, 

 of Syracuse University, received a small grant to assist him in his 



