REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 13 



that would undertake its development. An independent organiza- 

 tion was accordingly formed in 1912 under the laws of the State of 

 New York, the Secretary of the Institution becoming one of the 

 directors of the Research Corporation and a member of the executive 

 committee. The board of directors includes a number of prominent 

 men of wide business experience, such as James J. Storrow, of Lee, 

 Higginson & Co., Boston; Charles A. Stone, of Stone & Webster, 

 Boston; Arthur D. Little, of the Little Chemical Co., Boston; T. 

 Coleman du Pont, of Wilmington, Del.; Elon H. Hooker, president 

 of the Hooker Electrochemical Co., Niagara Falls, N. Y. ; Benjamin 

 B. Lawrence, mining engineer. New York ; George F. Kunz, of Tif- 

 fany & Co.; Frederick A. Goetze, dean of the engineering depart- 

 ment of Columbia University, New York; William Barclay Par- 

 sons, engineer, of New York; and Hennen Jennings, mining engi- 

 neer, of Washington. 



The principal object of the corporation is to acquire inventions 

 and patents and to make them more available in the arts and indus- 

 tries, while using them as a source of income, and, second, to apply 

 all profiits derived from such use to the advancement of technical 

 and scientific investigation and experimentation through the agency 

 of the Smithsonian Institution and such other scientific and educa- 

 tional institutions and societies as may be selected by the directors. 



The chief assets of the corporation at present are the Cottrell pat- 

 ents relating to the precipitation of dust, smoke, and chemical fumes 

 by the use of electrical currents. Dr. F. G. Cottrell, the inventor 

 and donor of these patents, has described their operation* and advan- 

 tages and the progress thus far made in their installation in an 

 article printed in the Smithsonian Report for 1913. 



There is now under consideration the acceptance and develop- 

 ment of other patents besides those presented by Dr. Cottrell. It 

 is planned that when the funds of the corporation received from 

 royalties and other sources shall have reached $100,000, to apply the 

 income " to the advancement of technical and scientific investigation 

 and experimentation " as provided by the act of incorporation. . 



Owing to the wide experience of the members of the board and 

 their standing in the business community, it has been possible to do 

 work in connection Avith the Research Corporation that would have 

 required the expenditure of large sums if undertaken by an ordinary 

 business organization or private individual. 



HARRIMAN TRUST FUND. 



Aided by the income of a special fund established by Mrs. E. H. 

 Harriman, Dr. C. Hart Merriam, research associate of the Institu- 

 tion, has continued and practically completed his studies of the big 

 bears of America, so that it is now possible to determine the relations 



