REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 13 



which alternately shows series of pictures of plants and birds, the 

 plants as they come into flower and the birds about their nest, feed- 

 ing stations, or bird baths. 



Judging from the attendance which these exhibits have already 

 called forth and the numbers of inquiries which have been made by 

 teachers and persons interested, there is no question about the ad- 

 visability of having furnished the school system and nature lovers 

 of Washington these aids to visual education. 



TWENTIETH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OP AMERICANISTS 



The twentieth meeting of the International Congress of Ameri- 

 canists, held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August, 1922, was attend- 

 ed by Dr. Walter Hough and Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, of the National 

 Museum, who represented the Smithsonian Institution and were also 

 designated by the State Department to represent the United States. 

 Means were provided to repay the expenses of the delegates by the 

 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. A great many papers 

 of scientific value were presented in several languages at the Con- 

 gress, and the delegates feel that a great stimulus was given to the 

 promotion of anthropological science, especially in Brazil. 



PUBLICATIONS 



The Institution and its branches issued during the year a total of 

 100 volumes and pamphlets, of which there were distributed 139,666 

 copies, including 130 volumes and separates of the Smithsonian Con- 

 tributions to Knowledge, 18,801 volumes and separates of the Smith- 

 sonian Miscellaneous Collections, 25,229 volumes and separates of 

 the Smithsonian Annual Reports, 3,016 Smithsonian special publica- 

 tions, 72,529 volumes and separates of the publications of the Na- 

 tional Museum, 17,694 publications of the Bureau of American Eth- 

 nology, 816 publications of the National Gallery of Art, 1,309 vol- 

 umes of the Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory, 31 reports 

 on the Harriman Alaska Expedition, and 74 reports of the American 

 Historical Association. 



Through its publications the Institution carries out one of its 

 primary functions, the " diffusion of knowledge among men." Many 

 of its publications are the results of scientific researches conducted 

 by members of the staff, others are prepared by outside scientists 

 who have carried on special investigations on the collections of the 

 National Museum and still others are intended for the general reader 

 who takes an interest in the progress of science but is not benefited 

 by the more technical papers mentioned above. In this last class 

 comes the General Appendix to the Smithsonian Annual Report, 

 which consists of a series of articles by authorities in the matters 

 treated, outlining the more noteworthy and interesting advances in 



