12 ANNUAL. REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1923 



PRESENTATION OF BUST OF JEANNE D'ARC 



On February 23, 1923, there was presented to the Smithsonian 

 Institution for the American people a bronze bust of Jeanne d'Arc 

 by Madame Berthe Girardet, of Neuilly, France. This bust, accepted 

 by your secretary on behalf of the Board of Kegents of the Institu- 

 tion, is a gift from the sculptress through Mrs. Grace Whitney Hoff, 

 " in memory of what the American soldiers did in France at a 

 crucial time of need — in gratitude to the mothers, to the wives, to 

 the sisters and sweethearts, and to all those who gave their dear 

 ones whose blood has mingled with the soil of France." The bust 

 is installed in the National Gallery of Art. 



HAMILTON FUND LECTURE 



The Rev. James Hamilton, in 1875, placed under the administra- 

 tion of the Smithsonian Institution a sum of money, designated as 

 the Hamilton fund, the interest from which is to be used for "lec- 

 tures on scientific or useful subjects." Under the auspices of this 

 fund there was delivered on April 18, 1923, an interesting lecture 

 by Dr. Sven Hedin, the noted Swedish explorer, on his discoveries 

 of ancient cities and manuscripts in eastern Turkestan and his latest 

 explorations in southern Tibet. The lecture was profusely illus- 

 trated with lantern slides, and Doctor Hedin described graphically 

 the dangers and hardships incident to a journey through the great 

 desert regions in which he worked. The lecture, to which the Wash- 

 ington public was invited, had a large attendance. 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NATURE STUDY EXHIBIT 



Four of the foyer rooms in the New National Museum have been 

 set aside for a local exhibit, which, it is hoped, will meet a long-felt 

 want of teachers and students and people generally interested in the 

 fauna and flora of the District of Columbia and its immediate 

 vicinity. 



Two of the rooms are devoted to the birds and it is intended to 

 install a complete representation of all species reported for the Dis- 

 trict. A third room is devoted to the mammals, reptiles, batrachians, 

 and fish of the District, while the fourth room has the commoner in- 

 sects — butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, etc. — and swinging frames 

 containing beautifully pressed specimens of local plants. It is in- 

 tended to change the contents of these frames as the season advances, 

 so that anyone wishing to know what is in flower at the particular 

 time in question will find the specimen represented in the frame in 

 its regular systematic position, as well as a photograph of the habitat 

 and some detail pictures. Here, too, is installed a stereomotorgrapli 



