EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. l7 



has maintaind during the last seventeen j^ears. The Asulkan, in an adjoining 

 valley, which had been advancing for about two years, has remained practi- 

 cally stationary during the last year. The Victoria presents an oblique tront 

 of nearly half a mile, and its lower 800 feet, completely veneered with rock 

 as above stated, has pushed out into the forest at a comparatively recent 

 date. This part has remained quiet apparently for a number of years, but accu- 

 rate measurements to stones embedded in the face show that a very gradual 

 wastage occurred during the summer, with a small stream of clear, ice-cold 

 water as confirmatory evidence. 



Farther up, for a distance of about 1,600 feet, there is a steep ice front which 

 is so nearly parallel with the main axis of the glacier that there is a question as 

 to whether it is not its side. Here the front of the ice is receding, the amount 

 for the last year being about the same as the average maintained for the last 

 five or six years, and this in spite of an actual forward flowing movement of the 

 ice of 2 to 3 inches daily in summer and perhaps half this amount in winter. 

 The Wenckchemna glacier, in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, proved of exceptional 

 interest because of its almost unique character, only one other of the type — the 

 Malaspina in Alaska— having been described. The Wenckchemna consists of a 

 sluggish ice mass, relatively short, but broad,, fo.rmed by the lateral coalescence 

 of about a dozen short ice streams, each of which retains its identity more or 

 less perfectly entirely across the glacier, and maintains its own nose and 

 motion independently of its neighbors. Accurate measurements to stones embedded 

 in the frontal slope showed that some of these ice streams are stationary, some 

 receding, and others advancing, the most rapid advance being near the center, 

 where freshly cut trees were observed. To those who do not fully appi'eciate 

 all the factors of the problem it is frequently a matter of surprise that a 

 glacier in one valley may be in retreat while that in an adjacent valley may be 

 advancing, as has just been the case in the Asulkan and Illecillewaet valleys; 

 but in the case of the Wenckchenma there is still more varied behavior in 

 streams that are actually side by side almost throughout their length. 



PUBLICATIONS. 



It is largely through its publications that the Institution carries 

 out that vital principle of its foundation, " the diffusion of knowl- 

 edge among men," Each year adds something of importance to the 

 long series of published works comprised in the Smithsonian Contri- 

 butions to Knowledge, the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 

 and its Annual Reports. All these are published b}' the parent Insti- 

 tution, but the series is augmented by the Proceedings and Bulletins 

 of the National Museum, the Reports and Bulletins of the Bureau 

 of American Ethnology, and the Annals of the Astrophysical Ob- 

 servatory, which bring before the public sj^ecialized matter no less 

 important. 



The details of the work of the past year are given in the Editor's 

 report, the subjects treated in that time including practically every 

 branch of human knowledge. 



To the series of Contributions there has been added a third memoir 

 by Dr. Carl Barus, entitled "A Continuous Record of Atmospheric 

 Nucleation," in which the author further discusses his researches on 



