4 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1914. 
during the administration of Langley that the Astrophysical Observ- 
atory was established to carry forward researches begun by him 
many years before. And the National Zoological Park, largely the 
outgrowth of investigations on living animals under the direction 
of Assistant Secretary Goode, was likewise founded during Langley’s 
administration. To Langley himself the world owes a debt for his 
discoveries of the principles of aerial navigation and for his demon- 
stration to the world on May 6, 1896, by the successful flight of an 
experimental machine, that an aeroplane heavier than air could be 
propelled through the air by its own power. 
It would be interesting, were this the proper place, to review some 
of the results of the many important researches and explorations by 
the Institution in the last 60 years. The influence of the Institu- 
tion is world-wide; through its international exchange service alone 
it has been in correspondence with more than 60,000 individuals and 
learned societies in the United States and practically in every land 
on the globe. During its entire existence there has been an unbroken 
record of friendly intercourse with every agency devoted to the 
encouragement of learning. 
The extent of the activities of the Institution is limited only by 
the amount of the funds available. During recent years its private 
income has been supplemented on several occasions by friends of 
the Institution who have generously provided the means for carry- 
ing on certain explorations and lines of research, but opportunities 
for further important work constantly arise which must be declined 
or temporarily held in abeyance. Some of the projects proposed are 
such as could not properly be carried on through Government appro- 
priation, but which the Smithsonian Institution could readily under- 
take were the means available. 
The Institution was founded by the bequest of James Smithson, 
and from time to time it has been the recipient of other bequests and 
of gifts of various sums, the largest of which was the gift of Mr. 
Thomas G. Hodgkins, establishing the Hodgkins Fund. The Smith- 
sonian permanent fund now aggregates a little more than a million 
dollars. A number of bequests, now awaiting settlement, will even- 
tually result in considerably increasing the present fund. Among 
these I may mention— 
Poore bequest—By the terms of the will of the late George W. 
Poore, of Lowell, Mass., who died December 17, 1910, the Smithso- 
nian Institution becomes his residuary legatee. As mentioned in my 
1910 report, the estate, estimated at about $40,000, is bequeathed 
under the condition that, the income of this sum should be added to 
the principal until a total of $250,000 should have been reached, 
and that then the income only should be used for the purposes for 
which the Institution was created. 
