SECRETARY’S REPORT 7 
the attendance records for the five buildings. These figures, when 
added to the 913,482 visitors recorded at the National Gallery of Art 
and the 4,028,620 estimated at the National Zoological Park, make a 
total number of visitors at the Institution of 10,365,876. 
LECTURES 
The annual James Arthur Lecture on the Sun, customarily held 
in the spring, was postponed this year until fall. The 25th Arthur 
Lecture, therefore, will be recorded in next year’s report. 
Dr. Rodney S. Young, curator of the Mediterranean Section of 
the University Museum at Philadelphia and professor of classical 
archeology at the University of Pennsylvania, delivered a lecture 
on “Recent Discoveries at Gordion” in the auditorium of the Natural 
History Building on the evening of February 27, 1958. ‘This lecture 
was sponsored jointly by the Smithsonian Institution and the Archeo- 
logical Institute of America. 
Several lectures were also sponsored by the Freer Gallery of Art 
and the National Gallery of Art. These are listed later in the reports 
of these bureaus. 
BIO-SCIENCES INFORMATION EXCHANGE 
The current interest in and growing support of research in the 
bio-sciences have resulted in a considerable growth in the activities 
of the Bio-Sciences Information Exchange. This agency, which 
operates within the Smithsonian Institution under funds made avail- 
able to the Institution by other agencies, remains the most compre- 
hensive clearinghouse for current research in the life sciences. 
Through its extensive and detailed system of indexing it acts as a 
rapid means of communication among research workers. 
The active research projects registered with the Exchange now 
number more than 17,000. For each project the investigator has 
prepared a brief summary of his current problem. These summaries 
are made available upon request and without charge to staff members 
of research institutions. The Exchange also functions to prevent 
unknowing duplication of research support by the national govern- 
mental and nongovernmental granting agencies. In carrying out 
this responsibility a vast amount of data on the support of research 
in the life sciences has been accumulated. Information of this type 
is continually used by granting agencies in planning their current 
and future activities. 
SUMMARY OF THE YEAR’S ACTIVITIES 
National Museum.—Accessions to the national collections during 
the year brought the total catalog entries in all departments to nearly 
492520—59-—_2 
