EXPLORATIONS AND: FIELDWORK OF THE SMITH- 
SONIAN INSTITUTION. UN: tor 
In 1912, as in preceding years, The Smithsonian Institution 
carried on field-work in various parts of the world by means of small 
allotments from its funds, and by ccoperating with institutions and 
individuals engaged in similar activities. Several friends of the 
Institution contributed funds for special work, or provided oppor- 
tunities for participation in explorations which they had undertaken 
personally or through the aid of others. 
All these operations resulted in extending the boundaries of 
knowledge, and in several cases added important material to the 
collections of the National Museum. The Institution is obliged 
every year to forego opportunities for important work in many 
fields. With larger means it could engage in more extensive field 
operations which could confidently be expected to yield rich returns 
both in increase of knowledge and in additions to the national col- 
lections. 
Most of the information contained in this account has been fur- 
nished by those who participated in the various expeditions. 
About twenty different parties were in the field during 1912, and 
the regions visited comprised British East Africa, Abyssinia, Algeria, 
eastern Siberia and Mongolia, the Altai Mountain district, Borneo, 
St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, Newfound- 
land, Labrador, the Panama Canal Zone, the Bahama Islands, the 
West Indies, and many parts of the United States. 
Some of the work done in 1g12 was in continuation of operations 
initiated in previous years, and described in the article on explora- 
tions published by the Smithsonian some months ago.’ As regards 
the Government branches of the Institution, it should be said that the 
Bureau of American Ethnology engages largely in field-work as a 
* Expeditions Organized or Participated in by the Smithsonian Institution 
in 1910 and 1911, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., Vol. 59, No. 11, 1912. 
SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. 60, No. 30 
