260 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 165. 



numerous experiments on the chemical rays 

 of the sun by the exposure of oxalic acid to 

 their action. Professor Duclaux found that 

 the chemical action of the rays when the 

 sky was overcast was much less than on a 

 fine day and that with light cumulus clouds 

 the combustion might be more active than 

 with a clear blue sky or slight cirrus, so 

 that it appeared evident that the chemical 

 activity and hygienic power of the sun's 

 rays are not related to the apparent fine- 

 ness of the day. 



Miscellaneous Collections. — Wvhq papers of 

 the ' Miscellaneous ' series were issued and 

 others are iu progress. The completed 

 works were Smithsonian Physical Tables, 

 by Professor Thomas Gray ; Equipment 

 and Work of an Aerophysical Observatory, 

 by Alexander McAdie ; Air in Relation to 

 Human Life and Health, by Professor F. 

 A. R. Russell ; Air of Towns, by Dr. J. B. 

 Cohen ; Air and Life, by Dr. Henri de 

 Varigny ; Mountain Observatories, by Pro- 

 fessor E. S. Holden ; Methods of Determin- 

 ing Organic Matter in the Air, by Dr. 

 D. H. Bergey ; Recalculation of Atomic 

 Weights, by Professor F. W. Clarke, and 

 Virginia Cartography, by P. Lee Phillips. 

 The Catalogue of Scientific and Techni- 

 cal Periodicals, by Dr. H. Carrington Bol- 

 ton, mentioned in my last report, is in type 

 and will soon be published. It comprises 

 the titles of more than 8,500 scientific and 

 technical periodicals in all languages, adding 

 3,500 titles to the first edition, published in 

 1885. 



There is also completed, ready for the 

 printer, a voluminous supplement to Dr. 

 Bolton's Select Bibliography of Chemistry. 

 As a special work, there has been printed 

 the International Exchange List of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, being a list of the 

 foreign correspondents, aggregating 9,414 

 learned societies, museums, universities, 

 etc., with which American publications are 

 exchanged. 



Annual Reports. — The Smithsonian An- 

 nual Report is in two volumes, one of which 

 is devoted to the work of the National 

 Museum. In the general appendix of Part 

 I. are included memoirs on all branches of 

 knowledge, selected chiefly from publica- 

 tions of learoed societies of the world that 

 are not readily accessible to the public, the 

 basis of selection being that the papers are 

 written by a competent person, give an ac- 

 count of some important or at least inter- 

 esting scientific discovery, are untechnical 

 in language and suitable to nonprofessional 

 readers. 



The History of the First Half Century of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, outlined with 

 some detail in my last report, is now 

 printed and will soon be issued. The In- 

 stitution was founded August 10, 1846, by 

 Act of Congress approved by President 

 Polk, and it seemed an appropriate me- 

 morial of the completion of its first fifty 

 years to publish a volume which should 

 give an account of its origin and history, 

 its achievements and its present condition. 

 The editorial supervision of the volume 

 was undertaken by the late Dr. G-. Brown 

 Goode, and to his thorough acquaintance 

 with the history of the Institution, and his 

 skill and critical knowledge, the compre- 

 hensive plan of the work is entirely due. 

 At the time of his death, in September, 

 1896, the manuscript was sufiBciently ad- 

 vanced to permit of its completion on his 

 general plan. 



The volume is royal octavo of 866 pages, 

 with a preface by William McKinley, Pres- 

 ident of the United States, ex-officio the 

 head of the establishment. It is illustrated 

 by full-page portraits of James Smithson, 

 the Chancellors, several of the Regents, the 

 three Secretaries, and of Assistant Secre- 

 tary Goode, besides illustrations of the 

 Smithsonian Building and of the infra-red 

 spectrum investigations by the present Sec- 

 retary. The main divisions of the work 



