SECRETARY’S REPORT 31 
E.S. Harrar at Duke University School of Forestry, Durham, N.C., 
and studied microscopically many wood sections. 
Numerous trips were made by the acting curator of electricity, 
W. J. King, in an attempt to acquire original examples and models 
of early electrical equipment for the Museum of History and Tech- 
nology. In July he visited Great Barrington, Mass., to collect data 
on George Stanley and his 1886 installation of an AC power system. 
At Pittsfield he conferred with a descendant of S. F. B. Morse, the 
inventor of the telegraph. At Philadelphia he examined the 
Franklin Institute’s stored collection of early electrical apparatus. 
In the fall and winter Mr. King spent some time in Philadelphia, 
New York City, and Schenectady, as well as at Princeton and Brown 
Universities. In May 1958 he spent several days in New York and 
New Jersey, especially at the R.C.A. plants and offices conferring 
with General Sarnoff and other members of his staff. Much time 
and study were devoted to identification of original electrical ap- 
paratus and going over notebooks of famous inventors such as 
Langmuir, Elihu Thomson, Morse, and Stanley. 
On October 2, 1957, George B. Griffenhagen, curator of medical 
sciences, accepted for the Smithsonian Institution a collection of 
rare antique drug jars donated by the Bristol-Myers Co. in New York 
City. On January 10, while returning from New York, Mr. Griffen- 
hagen examined an early pharmaceutical tablet press which will be 
donated to the division by Wyeth Laboratories. From March 24 to 
27, 1958, he examined pharmaceutical and medical exhibits in Chicago 
and participated in the dedication of an 1890 drugstore restoration 
at the Wisconsin State Historical Society in Madison, Wis. In 
April he attended meetings of the American Institute of the History 
of Pharmacy and American Pharmaceutical Association Section on 
Historical Pharmacy in Los Angeles, Calif. 
During the past year, E. A. Battison, associate curator of mechan- 
ical and civil engineering, made several trips throughout the New 
England States, as well as New York and Pennsylvania, examining, 
collecting, and studying numerous private collections of clocks and 
watches ranging from the early handmade wooden clocks to the most 
recent electric watch. In addition to this special field, Mr. Battison 
examined and collected early machine tools, iron planer lathes, and 
locks. 
On May 12 and 13 Kenneth M. Perry, associate curator of trans- 
portation, acquired a valuable collection of early marine engines, 
propellers, models, harpoon heads, tools, and boat drawings assembled 
by Otis A. Palmer, East Moriches, Long Island, N.Y. 
From February 23 to March 1, E. C. Kendall, associate curator 
of agriculture and wood products, visited Hadley, Mass., Coopers- 
