144 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



As an aid to students of marine life, the Institution for several 

 years has maintained a table at the Naples Zoological Station. The 

 use of the table for stated periods has been accorded to a large num- 

 ber of investigators on the recommendation of a committee appointed 

 to advise the Institution as to the qualifications of appilicants for the 

 privilege of using the facilities thus ajfforded for carrying on their 

 researches. 



Many zoological explorations have likewise been carried on or 

 aided by the Institution. Through the influence of the Institution 

 naturalists or collectors were attached to practically all the impor- 

 tant early surveys by the engineers of the United States Army, and 

 the vast collections thus brought together have, in the main, been 

 studied within the walls of the Smithsonian buildings and the 

 natural history results made known through Smithsonian publi- 

 cations. 



An important feature of the Institution's activities has been its 

 participation in the many international expositions held during the 

 last forty years in the United States and Europe and numerous 

 medals and diplomas of commendatory nature have been received for 

 the exhibits displayed on these occasions, illustrative of the work of 

 the Institution and of the resources and industries of the country and 

 the customs of its people. 



In the interest of general education, particularly in natural his- 

 tory and mineralogy, it has been the custom of the Institution to 

 distribute to schools and colleges throughout the country such dupli- 

 cate material as could be spared from the National collections. These 

 specimens are fully labeled and have aided instruction by supple- 

 menting textbook information. 



A large addition to the Smithsonian fund was made in 1891 when 

 Thomas G. Hodgkins, of Setauket, N. Y., presented $200,000 to 

 the Institution. The donor was deeply impressed with the im- 

 portance of a careful study of atmospheric air, and stipulated that 

 the income of $100,000 of his gift should be devoted to the increase 

 and diii'usion of more exact knowledge in regard to the nature and 

 properties of atmospheric air in connection with the welfare of man. 

 He indicated his desire that researches be not limited to sanitary 

 science, but that the atmosphere be considered in its widest relation- 

 ship to all branches of science, referring to the experiments of 

 Franklin in atmospheric electricity and the discovery of Paul Bert 

 in regard to the influence of oxygen on the phenomena of vitality 

 as germane to his foundation. To stimulate researches in these 

 directions the Institution offered a prize of $10,000 for a paper 

 embodying some new and important discovery in regard to the 

 nature and properties of atmospheric air, Avhich w^as awarded in 

 1895 to Lord Eayleigh and Prof. William Eamsay, of London, for 



