REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 11 



Smithsonian War Background Studies. — The series of publications 

 started early in the war to present authentic information on the 

 peoples, geography, history, and other features of war areas, entitled 

 "War Background Studies," was concluded during the year. Details 

 of the series are given later in this report, and I will say here only 

 that the demand for the books far exceeded the expectations of the 

 Institution, and it was found necessary to reprint all of them, some 

 a number of times, not only for distribution by the Institution, but 

 also for the official use of the Army and Navy. The total number of 

 copies printed for both the Institution and the armed services was 

 632.225. 



SUMMARY OF THE YEAR'S ACTIVITIES OF THE BRANCHES OF THE 



INSTITUTION 



National Museum. — All possible efforts of the staff were concen- 

 trated on projects related to the prosecution of the war, though these 

 naturally lessened toward the close of the year. Several members of 

 the staff worked in connection with the Department of State's pro- 

 gram for cultural cooperation with the other American republics, in- 

 volving travel and study in Mexico, Haiti, Chile, and Panama. 

 During the year, 232,822 specimens were added to the collections, 

 bringing the total number of catalog entries to 18,151,400. Worthy 

 of special mention among the new accessions were the following: In 

 anthropology, 5,677 specimens from Indian village sites in Scott and 

 Lane Counties, Kans., a large number of specimens from various 

 islands in the Pacific, and the valuable Arthur Michael collection of 

 early American silver; in biology, a collection of 600 birds from 

 Panama, 700 reptiles and amphibians from the Indo-Pacific region, 

 the Dayton Stoner collection of Scutelleroidea, 25,000 mollusks from 

 the Perlas Islands, Panama, and two lots of plants from Colombia 

 totaling 3,720 specimens; in geology, a number of rare and valuable 

 gems and minerals, including the finest specimen so far recovered of 

 the new mineral brazilianite, several meteorites, including the 1,164- 

 pound Drum Mountain, Utah, meteorite, and 10,000 fossil specimens 

 collected in the Paleozoic of the southern Appalachians by Dr. Charles 

 Butts; in engineering and industries, the first experimental jet-pro- 

 pelled plane built in this country, a well-preserved 1902 Oldsmobile, 

 and the entire equipment and furnishings of an Old World apothecary 

 shop of the period 1750 ; in history, a series of 50 bronze statuettes by 

 Max Kalish of distinguished Americans, known as The Living Hall of 

 Washington, 1944. The total number of visitors to the Museum 

 during the year was 1,730,716, an increase over last year of 197,951. 

 The year's publications included 1 Bulletin, 1 Contribution from the 

 National Herbarium, and 18 Proceedings papers. Among the im- 



