EEPOET OP THE SECRETARY. 45 



The National Gallery of Art also receiA^ed during the year from 

 the Department of State a most interesting collection of 82 draw- 

 ings in pencil, pen, charcoal, chalk, crayon, and water color, executed 

 b}^ eminent contemporary French artists and presenfed to the people 

 of the United States by the citizens of the French Eepiiblic as a token 

 of their appreciation of the sj^mpathetic efforts of American citizens 

 toward relieving the distress occasioned by the European war. There 

 should likewise be mentioned an oil portrait of Abraham Lincoln, by 

 George H. Story, presented by Mrs. E. H. Harriman. 



MEETINGS AND CONGRESSES. 



The auditorium and committee rooms in the new building were 

 utilized to a much greater extent than in any previous year for 

 scientific and art meetings, lectures, and other functions. Three of 

 the local societies made the Museum their regular meeting place, 

 among these being the Washington Society of the Fine Arts, which 

 presented its customary three courses of lectures. Annual or special 

 meetings were held b}^ the National Academy of Sciences, the Mining 

 and Metallurgical Society of America, the Society of American 

 Foresters, the American Oriental Societj^, and the American Surgical 

 Association. Lectures, singly or in short series, were given under 

 the auspices of 10 of the science and art societies, and 6 receptions 

 were held in connection with large gatherings of national and inter- 

 national bodies. 



Among the special meetings there were several which merit dis- 

 tinctive mention. The most important of these was the Nineteenth 

 International Congress of Americanists which met from December 

 27 to 31, in affiliation with Section I of the Second Pan American 

 Scientific Congress, then also in session in "Washington, the American 

 Anthropological Association, the American Folk-Lore Societ}^, the 

 American Historical Association, and the Archaeological Institute 

 of America. On the afternoon of February 9 a bronze tablet in 

 memory of Prof. S. F. Baird as the instigator of the Federal fishery 

 service, a contribution to the Bureau of Fisheries by 47 subscribers, 

 was dedicated in the auditorium with appropriate ceremonies in the 

 presence of a large assemblage. 



During the week of the safety-first exhibition, February 21-28, the 

 auditorium was occupied on five daj^s for lectures and discourses on 

 the subjects comprehended by this notable display, nearly all of 

 them being profusely illustrated, both motion pictures and lantern 

 slides being used. The speakers, besides the Secretary of Labor and 

 several assistant secretaries of departments, were all experts in the 

 several bureaus represented. The exercises attending the centenary 

 celebration of the organization of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, 



