REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 15 



Regular consignments were sent during the year to all countries in the 

 Western Hemisphere, and in the Eastern Hemisphere to Great Britain 

 and Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Portugal, Union of Soviet 

 Socialist Republics, Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand. Ship- 

 ments to other countries will be resumed as soon as conditions permit. 



National Zoological Park. — The exhibition collection of animals 

 has been maintained in good condition during the year, but to accom- 

 plish this with the serious shortage of personnel that prevailed, some 

 phases of the care of the Park had to be neglected, and no improve- 

 ments could be made. Increased personnel is the most urgent need of 

 the Park. Visitors to the Zoo numbered 2,355,514 for the year, a con- 

 siderable increase over last year. Among the interesting specimens 

 presented to the Park were a pair of Solomon Islands cockatoos, a 

 red-sided lory, three wallabies, a pigmy galago and two green fruit 

 pigeons from the Gold Coast of Africa, a collection of brilliant cage 

 birds from Costa Rica, and a pair of the rare antelope, Oryx beatrix, 

 from Saudi Arabia. A list of the donors of specimens will be found 

 in the full report on the Zoo, appendix 7. Notable among the births 

 at the Park were a hybrid gibbon, a giraffe, and four chinchillas. Al- 

 together, 58 mammals were born, and 21 birds were hatched. At the 

 close of the year, the collection contained 2,623 individuals represent- 

 ing 686 species. 



Astrophysical Observatory. — Dr. C. G. Abbot, for many years Di- 

 rector of the Observatory, retired from administrative duties on 

 June 30, 1944, but will continue his investigations as research associ- 

 ate. L. B. Aldrich was named Acting Director, and on April 16, 

 1945, succeeded to the directorship. In the Division of Astrophysical 

 Research two sets of experiments were carried out at the request of 

 the Office of the Quartermaster General to determine the surface 

 temperatures attained by various samples of military clothing under 

 conditions similar to those of actual field use. Toward the close of 

 the year another study was undertaken for the Quartermaster Gen- 

 eral of the radiation from sun and sky at Camp Lee, Va., in connec- 

 tion with tests being made at the camp. Much time was devoted to a 

 compilation of all solar-constant values for the period October 1939 to 

 January 1945, an extension of the table published in volume 6 of the 

 Observatory's Annals. A study of these values, which cover a com- 

 plete double sunspot period, showed a diametrically opposite relation- 

 ship between solar-constant values and sunspot numbers in the two 

 halves of the period. Studies were continued of the effects of solar- 

 radiation changes upon atmospheric circulation and related problems. 

 Observations of the solar radiation were continued at the three field 

 stations. In the Division of Radiation and Organisms, war re- 

 searches on deterioration of cloth, cardboard, and wire insulation by 

 molds and by ultraviolet light were concluded. The termination of 



