1(3 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 194 5 



this emergency work permitted the resumption of studies on photo- 

 synthesis nnd on the wave-length effects of light on growth. Work 

 was also taken up on the influence of light on the respiration of the 

 grass seedling, the course of development of the grass seedling as 

 influenced by various factors, particularly radiant energy, and the 

 reducing sugar content of etiolated barley seedlings as influenced by 

 light. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT 



The Smithsonian Institution was created by act of Congress in 

 1846, according to the terms of the will of James Smithson, of Eng- 

 land, who in 1826 bequeathed his property to the United States of 

 America "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowl- 

 edge among men." In receiving the property and accepting the trust, 

 Congress determined that the Federal Government was without au- 

 thority to administer the trust directly, and, therefore, constituted 

 an "establishment" whose statutory members are "the President, the 

 Vice President, the Chief Justice, and the heads of the executive 

 departments." 



THE BOARD OP REGENTS 



During the year the following changes occurred in the personnel of 

 the Board of Regents : 



January 20, 1945, Harry S. Truman assumed office as Vice Presi- 

 dent of the United States, vice Henry A. Wallace, and thus became, 

 ex officio, a member of the Board of Regents. On April 12, 1945, Mr. 

 Truman acceded to the Presidency, on the death of President Roose- 

 velt, the resulting vacancy in the office of Vice President creating a 

 vacancy on the Board of Regents. 



March 1, 1945, Senators Wallace H. White, Jr., of Maine, and 

 Walter F. George, of Georgia, were appointed regents to succeed the 

 late Senator Charles L. McNary and former Senator Bennett Champ 

 Clark, respectively. 



January 29, 1945, Representative B. Carroll Reece, of Tennessee, 

 was appointed a regent to succeed former Representative Foster 

 Stearns. 



The roll of regents at the close of the fiscal year, June 30, 1945, was 

 as follows: Harlan F. Stone, Chief Justice of the United States, 

 Chancellor; members from the Senate — Alben W. Barkley, Wallace 

 H. White, Jr., Walter F. George ; members from the House of Repre- 

 sentatives — Clarence Cannon, Edward E. Cox, B. Carroll Reece ; citi- 

 zen members— Frederic A. Delano, Washington, D. C; Roland S. 

 Morris, Pennsylvania; Harvey N. Davis, New Jersey; Arthur H. 



