REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 17 



little or no occasion during the year to add to or alter the rules gov- 

 erning the conduct of correspondence, and the wisdom of the plan of 

 filing has been demonstrated by the ability to find almost invariably 

 at a moment's notice any papers relating to a subject called up for 

 attention. The card index, devised by nij regretted friend William 

 C. Winlock and begun on Januarj^ 1, 1893, of all letters received and 

 letters written within the parent Institution, as well as those pertaining 

 to the several bureaus which require under the rules to pass through 

 the Secretary's ofiice, has been kept current and has fully demon- 

 strated its efficiency. This index has, since it was first instituted, been 

 extended back to cover letters as earl}^ as January 1, 1892. 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES. 



International Congress of Zoology. — Prof. O. C. Marsh was, on July 

 11, 1898, nominated by the Institution and later was appointed by the 

 Secretary of State as United States delegate to an International Con- 

 gress of Zoology, held at Cambridge, England, August 23, 1898. 



International Congress of Orientalists. — On December 9, 1898, the 

 Secretary designated Dr. Paul Haupt and Prof. Charles R. Lanman as 

 delegates of the Institution, and the Department of State accredited 

 them as delegates of the United States, to attend the Twelfth Inter- 

 national Congress of Orientalists at Rome, on October 2, 1899, and on 

 Februar}' 3, 1899, Professor Jastrow was recognized as Government 

 delegate to the same congress. 



International Catalogue of Scientific Literature. — The Secretary and 

 the Librarian were appointed delegates to a Conference on an Inter- 

 national Catalogue of Scientific Literature to be held in London on 

 July 12, 1898, and postponed to October 11. By reason of this post- 

 ponement the Secretary was unable to attend the meeting, the United 

 States Government being represented by Dr. Adler, who presented 

 the following report to the Secretary" of State: 



Washington, November 15., 1898. 



Sir: Having been appointed, together with Mr. S. P. Langley, Sec- 

 retary of the Smithsonian Institution, a delegate on the part of the 

 United States to the Conference on an International Catalogue of Sci- 

 entific Literature, to be held at London on July 12, 1898, we proceeded 

 al^road on July 2. 



The British Government found it expedient to postpone the confer- 

 ence until October 11. At the request of the Department, and with the 

 consent of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, I continued 

 abroad and attended the conference. Mr. Langley's oflicial duties 

 necessitated his return to the United States in September. 



The deliberations were in continuation of those had at a previous 

 conference in 1896, at which this Government was also represented. 

 Satisfactory conclusions were reached, leaving only such questions as 

 can be definitely determined by an international committee, on which 

 the United States is represented by Mr. Langley. 

 SM 99 2 



