REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 21 



From the beginning the broadcasts were supplemented by brief 

 ilhistrated articles on the subjects covered, at first issued in mimeo- 

 graphed form, and from January on, printed as a small monthly 

 magazine. Copies were mailed by the Office of Education to those 

 who wrote in to request them, and the demand for the magazine 

 showed a steady increase, as follows: 



1937: 



1937: 



January 35, 000 



February 50,000 



March 75,000 



April 100, 000 



May 125,000 



June 150,000 



The success of the series is indicated by the enthusiastic approval 

 of the listeners as voiced in the more than 160,000 letters received. 

 This almost unanimous mail approval is believed to be unique among 

 sustaining programs and is very gratifying to both the Institution 

 and the Office of Education in justifying their efforts toward better 

 educational radio. 



I wish again to express here the appreciation of the Institution to 

 the Office of Education and to the National Broadcasting Co. for 

 making available this unsurpassed means of carrying out the Smith- 

 sonian's function, "the diffusion of knowledge among men." 



WALTER RATHBONE BACON TRAVELING SCHOLARSHIP 



The Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Scholarship of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution was awarded in June 1935 to Dr. Richard E. 

 Black welder for studies of the Staphylinidae of the West Indies. 

 In 1935-36 Dr. Blackwelder collected specimens on the islands of 

 Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Guadeloupe, Trinidad, 

 Tobago, Grenada, Carriacou, St. Vincent, Barbados, St. Lucia, and 

 Dominica, as previously reported. 



During the second year, to June 1937, collections were made on the 

 islands of Montserrat, Antigua, St. Kitts, and St. Croix, and return 

 visits were made to Puerto Rico and Jamaica. It was found to be 

 impracticable to revisit Hispaniola in spite of the importance of that 

 island in the series. 



The collections obtained from the 21 months' field work include 

 more than 45,000 staphylinids and 10,000 other Coleoptera. A con- 

 siderable part of this number were taken by the use of equipment for 

 mass collection which was used on St. Croix and Jamaica. (On the 

 latter island Dr. Blackwelder worked in conjunction with Dr. E. A. 

 Chapin for 5 weeks. The collections were made jointly.) 



After finishing the collecting Dr. Blackwelder returned to Wash- 

 ington, where he prepared the staphylinid collections and sorted the 

 specimens to genera and species. A set containing each species found 

 was then prepared to be taken to England, where it will be compared 



