22 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



who are fully awake to the needs of our national collection and are 

 willing to devote some of their time to its enrichment. 



I have repeatedly called attention to the wasteful destruction of 

 Alaskan fauna, and am gratified to sa}" that the last Congress passed 

 an act for its protection, so that it may ])e reasonably expected that 

 the wholesale slaughter of these interesting animals ma}' l)e checked. 

 A clause of the act permits the Smithsonian Institution to procure 

 specimens for its use. 



The Zoological Park was declared by Congress to ])e for the advance- 

 ment of science and the instruction and recreation of the people. It 

 has hitherto more largelj" fultilled the second object, Init in pursuance 

 of the special scientific activities of the park I hope that there may be 

 established at an early date a pathological laboratory, where nuich may 

 be learned of the diseases of animals and their rehitions to those that 

 affect the human famil}^. Such a useful laboratory can be erected at 

 a very moderate cost. 



The growth of the city in the vicinity of the National Zoological 

 Park has finally caused a definitive establishment of streets. These do 

 not in all cases conform to the boundaries of the park, which therefore 

 abuts at several places upon the backyards of neighboring residences. 

 This will undoubtedly cause unsightly l)orders unless some means is 

 taken to prevent it. 1 have given a full discussion of this subject in 

 m}^ report for the years ending June 30, lSi».5, and June 30, l<S*,Hi. 

 The evil has increased rather than diminished, and I would recom- 

 mend that action ))e taken by Congress to remedy this condition by 

 purchasing sufficient land to extend the park to the nearest neighbor- 

 ing street throughout its entire boundary. 



THE ASTROPHYSK^IL OBSERVATORY. 



Bolographic studies of the spectrum of the sun and the i)rovision of 

 a large horizontal telescope to be used for studies of special portions 

 of the solar radiation have been the distinguishing features of the work 

 of the Astroplu'sical Observatory during the past yeai'. Results of 

 uncommon interest have l)een reached in the bolographic work of the 

 past twehe months, and especially in tlie studies of the a})sorption of 

 the solar rays by our atmosphere, as appears in the detailed report of 

 the aid acting in charge, which ma}" be found in the Appendix. 



Briefly this has shown that the earth's atmosphere, so far as it can 

 be observed here, has been more opaque than usual within the present 

 calendar year, so mudh so as to reduce the din^-t radiation of the sun 

 at the earth's surface by about l" per cent, on the average, through- 

 out the whole visible and infra-red spectrum, and l)y more than doulJe 

 this amount in the blue and ^'iolet portions of the spectrum. This 



