REPORT 



OF THE 



SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 



Charles D. Walcott, 

 FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1921. 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. 



Gentlemen : I have the honor to submit herewith the annual re- 

 port on the activities and condition of the Smithsonian Institution 

 and its branches during the year ending June 30, 1921. The affairs 

 of the Institution proper are reviewed on the first 18 pages of this 

 report, while more detailed accounts of the year's work of the various 

 branches of the institution are given in the appendices hereto. 

 These include reports on the United States National Museum, the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology, the International Exchange Service, 

 the National Zoological Park, the Astrophysical Observatory, the 

 Smithsonian Library, the United States Regional Bureau of the 

 International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, the National Gal- 

 lery of Art, the Freer Gallery of Art, and the publications of the 

 Institution and its branches. 



THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



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 182G bequeathed his property to the United States of 

 America "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 

 knowledge among men." In receiving the property and accepting 

 the trust Congress determined that the Federal Government was 

 without authority 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 OF REGENTS. 



The affairs of the Institution are administered by a Board of 

 Regents whose membership consists of " the Vice President, the 



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