198 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 215. 



of Ethnology and the American Histor- 

 ical Association, issued under the direc- 

 tion of the Institution, nearly all branches o 

 human knowledge are represented in the 

 works published during the last fifty years, 

 which form a library of nearly 250 volumes, 

 besides several hundred pamphlet reprints 

 of the memoirs and articles contained in 

 the serial volumes. 



Contributions to Knoivledge. — One new mem- 

 oir of this series was unpublished during the 

 year, the result of the investigations by 

 Drs. Lummer and Pringsheim, of Charlot- 

 tenburg, Germany, on the ratio of the 

 specific heats at constant pressure and at 

 constant volume of air, oxygen, carbon 

 dioxide and hydrogen. This research was 

 aided by a gi-ant from the Hodgkins fund 

 of the Smithsonian Institution. After a 

 period of notable advance the kinetic 

 theory of gases seems to have fallen into 

 temporary abeyance, possibly from a funda- 

 mentally imperfect understanding of their 

 beliavior. Progress in the knowledge of 

 this fundamental nature of gases may rea- 

 sonably be looked for from interpretative 

 researches on their thermal capacity, and 

 this paper may be considered as a step in 

 this direction. Aside from its exceptional 

 portance in thermodynamics, the heat ratio 

 is of interest as affording a clue to the char- 

 acter of the molecule, and Drs. Lummer and 

 Pringsheim, using a new method, appear to 

 have for the first time reached coincident 

 results on the incoercible gases examined. 



The original edition of the Secretary's 

 memoir on ' The Internal "Work of the 

 Wind,' published in 1893, having become 

 exhausted, some additional copies have 

 been printed from the stereotype plates, in 

 which a few minor changes have been made. 



The Secretary now has in preparation for 

 this series a review of his investigations in 

 aerodynamics, and in particular of experi- 

 ments in developing the principles and 

 methods of mechanical flight. 



Miscellaneous; Collections. — In this series 

 five works have been published since my 

 last report. These are a Catalogue of 

 Scientific and Technical Periodicals, by Dr. 

 PI. C. Bolton ; Catalogue of Pacific Coast 

 Earthquakes, by Professor E. S. Holdeu ; 

 Eeview and Bibliography of Metallic Car- 

 bides, by Professor J. A. Mathews ; Bibli- 

 ography of Metals of the Platinum Group, 

 by Professor J. L. Howe, and a report by 

 Dr. D. H. Bergey on the results of experi- 

 ments to determine whether impure atmos- 

 phere produces a detrimental influence upon 

 the animal organism as shown in greater 

 susceptibility to certain diseases. 



There have been also reprinted from the 

 stereotype plates new editions of the Smith- 

 sonian Meteorological, Geographical and 

 Physical Tables. A Supplement to the 

 Bibliography of Chemistry, by Dr. H. C. 

 Bolton, containing about 4,000 additional 

 titles, is in hand, and about half of the 

 volume had been printed at the close of the 

 year. 



Smithsonian Reports. — The annual reports 

 of the Institution for the year 1896 and 

 1897 had not been issued at the close of the 

 fiscal year, although the volume for 1896 

 was in the Government bindery and press- 

 work was in progress on the report for 

 1897, their completion having been delayed 

 by the imperative need of supplying docu- 

 ments required by Congress for the military 

 departments by reason of the Spanish- 

 American war. 



National Museum Publications. — In addi- 

 tion to the Museum volume of the Smith- 

 sonian report, two series of publications are 

 issued directly by the Museum, the Pro- 

 ceedings and the Bulletin. Of the first 

 series Volume XIX. was completed in 

 bound form, the separate papers having 

 previously been isssued as pamphlets, and 

 seventeen papers comprising Volume XX. 

 were distributed in pamphlet form during 

 the year. A pamphlet containing instruc- 



