REPORT 



OF 



S. p. LANGLEY, 



SECRETARY OF THE SMITH SO XI AX IXSTITUTIOX, 



FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30. 1900. 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 



Gentlemen: I have the honor to present herewith m}' report show- 

 ing the operations of the Institution during the year ending June 30, 

 1900, including the work placed under its direction b}'' Congress, in 

 the United States National Museum, the Bureau of American Eth- 

 nology, the International Exchanges, the National Zoological Park, 

 and the Astrophysical Observatory. 



Following the precedent of several years, I have given, in the bodj^ 

 of this report, a general account of the affairs of the Institution and 

 its bureaus, while the appendix presents more detailed statements by 

 the persons in direct charge of the different ])ranches of the work. 

 Independently of this the operations of the National Museum are fully 

 treated in a separate volume of the Smithsonian Report, and the 

 Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology constitutes a volume 

 prepared under the supervision of the Director of that Bureau. 



THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT. 



By act of Congress approved August 10, 1846, the Smithsonian 

 Institution was created an "Establishment." Its statutory members 

 are the President, the Vice-President, the Chief Justice of the United 

 States, and the heads of the Executive Departments. The prerogative 

 of the Establishment is the '"supervision of the affairs of the Institu- 

 tion and the advice and instruction of the Board of Regents." 



A vacancy in the membership of the Establishment, caused b}^ the 

 death of Vice-President Hobart on November 21, 1899, will remain till 

 March 4, 1901. 



The Hon. Russell A. Alger resigned as Secretary of War, and was 

 succeeded by the Hon. Elihu Root. 



SM 1900 1 1 



