16 ANNUAL REPOET SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



contributions were made from every quarter of the globe, and the 

 publications of the congress contain the most authoritative exposi- 

 tion of the present state of knowledge on these vital questions. 

 Among the papers presented to the congress was one expressing my 

 view on " the abrupt appearance of the Cambrian fauna." 



Zoological Congress. — The Seventh International Zoological Con- 

 gress was held at Graz, Austria, in August, 1910. The delegates on 

 the part of the United States and the Smithsonian Institution and 

 National Museum were Dr. H. H. Field, Dr. W. R. Kellicott, Dr. Ch. 

 Wardell Stiles, and Mr. Austin H. Clark. About 600 members were 

 present at this congress, of whom about 60 were from the United 

 States, the majority of these representing scientific societies or educa- 

 tional institutions. To facilitate its labors, the congress was divided 

 into sections, each section representing a definite subject or group of 

 subjects. Papers of general interest were read in the Stephanien- 

 salle, a large hall in the center of the city, while papers of more 

 restricted scope were presented in the various lecture rooms of the 

 university. Taken as a whole, the papers read were of a distinctly 

 progressive nature, the authors, especially the younger ones, showing 

 a marked disposition to depart from the time-honored and accepted 

 lines of work and thought, and to approach their subjects from 

 entirely new view points. 



Congress of Bibliography and Documentation. — Mr. Paul Brockett, 

 assistant librarian of the Institution, who was appointed a delegate 

 to the International Congress of Bibliography and Documentation 

 at Brussels, August 25 to 27, 1910, attended the congress and sub- 

 mitted a report on its proceedings, which is printed m the appendix. 



Congress of Archivists and Librarians. — An International Con- 

 gress of Archivists and Librarians was held at Brussels August 29 

 to 31, 1910, when the Institution was represented by Mr. Paul 

 Brockett, whose report appears in the accompanying appendix. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Hambach collection of fossils. — The Institution has secured from 

 Dr. Gustav Hambach, of St. Louis, a collection of about 20.000 

 specimens of fossil echinoderms and other animals, with more than 

 100 types. Almost all the fossils were collected in the Mississippi 

 Valley and are the choicest obtainable. The series of Blastoids, a 

 group of fossil echinoderms, is unique. The collection contains 

 representatives of the various classes of animals, among which may 

 be mentioned many insects from the Cenozoic formation in Colorado; 

 many specimens of Paleozoic fishes, including an especially inter- 

 esting series of teeth and spines; a complete series of fossil sea- 

 urchins; the jaws of a Carboniferous batrachian over a foot long, 

 and of a mastodon. 



