REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. at 
direction of the Institution at the initiative of the Committee on 
Appropriations, without any suggestion from the Institution itself. 
The plans for the work were submitted to the authorities of the 
Interior Department and approved by it, and a synoptic report of 
the year’s operations was transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
The correspondence of the Institution shows that there is even in 
the more remote parts of this country and abroad, a widespread 
knowledge that one of the primary purposes of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution is the diffusion of knowledge, although the public at large 
does not always possess a very definite idea of the exact scope of 
the Institution’s functions. Hence there are received annually hun- 
dreds of letters asking for information covering practically every 
field of science, from a simple inquiry concerning the identity of 
some natural-history specimen to a request for an explanation of 
some problem in astronomy or physics, which may require quite 
exhaustive study on the part of a member of the staff. All legiti- 
mate requests for scientific information are cheerfully responded to 
as far as practicable, and by this means much useful knowledge is 
disseminated, although the preparation of these communications con- 
sumes a considerable part of the time of both the scientific and cleri- 
cal staff. It may be well to state in this connection, however, that 
the Institution does not undertake to maintain a “ question bureau,” 
such as is frequently conducted by newspapers and magazines, nor 
does it furnish information of a commercial nature, which could as 
readily be obtained from a professional advisor upon the payment 
of a fee. 
In addition to this general correspondence, there is carried on by 
the several branches of the Institution—the National Museum, the 
Bureau of American Ethnology, the National Zoological Park, the 
International Exchanges, and the Astrophysical Observatory—a con- 
siderable correspondence relating to the respective activities of each. 
All matters affecting questions of policy, and all appointments, how- 
ever, receive the personal consideration of the Secretary. 
The practice of press-copying outgoing letters in books has been 
abandoned during the year, and the use of carbon copies substituted 
in its stead. Other changes have also been instituted in the method of 
filing, by which the papers on any given subject are made more 
readily accessible for reference. 
EXPOSITIONS, CONGRESSES, AND CELEBRATIONS. 
Jamestown EHxposition—Out of an appropriation of $200,000 for 
the Government display at the Jamestown Exposition, $16,000 was 
allowed for the preparation of exhibits by the Smithsonian Institu- 
\ 
