448 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 847 



the three magnetic elements (declination, 

 dip and intensity) may be detex-mined with 

 a precision little short of that attainable in 

 a fixed observatory. Thus she was able to 

 discover on her first cruise errors of unex- 

 pected magnitude in the best sailing charts 

 of the north Atlantic, and she is certain to 

 attain at least an equal degree of precision 

 in all future ocean work. By crossings of 

 her own tracks and by connections at all 

 available ports having magnetic observa- 

 tories it will be practicable to exclude the 

 po.ssibilities of any important errors in this 

 work. 



Similarly satisfactory progress has been 

 made also in the land work of the depart- 

 ment during the year. The expedition in 

 Africa, from the Cape to Cairo, under- 

 taken by Dr. Beattie and Professor Morri- 

 son as temporary associates, was completed 

 early in the year, a total of 348 stations 

 having been occupied. Mr. Pearson, field 

 observer of the department, continued 

 work in Turkey in the early part of the 

 year until relieved by Mr. Sligh, who ex- 

 tended the work to Palestine, Syria, 

 Arabia, Mesopotamia and the islands of 

 Ehodes and Cyprus. Up to the end of 

 July of this year these two observers had 

 occupied a total of 47 stations. Another 

 observer, Mr. Stewart, left Washington 

 early in June to begin extensive work in 

 South America, proceeding in the launch 

 El Imdn, provided especially for work 

 along the Amazon and its tributaries. Ad- 

 ditional observations are reported also 

 from Canada and from various European 

 countries in which initial determinations or 

 instrumental comparisons have been made. 



The ofBce work of the department has 

 gone forward with corresponding produc- 

 tivity, the large volume of computations 

 required being kept closely up-to-date. 

 The preparation for collective publication 

 of data obtained by the department on 



land and on sea is now well advanced, al- 

 though many of these data have been al- 

 ready furnished for use by hydrographie 

 offices and other national and international 

 bureaus. Much critical attention must be 

 devoted by the office staff to the inspection 

 and perfection of instruments and auxil- 

 iary appliances. By the aid of a skilled 

 mechanician and a shop now attached to 

 the department it has been practicable to 

 attain a degree of instrumental perfection 

 and a degree of economy in cost not 

 hitherto equalled in this kind of work. 



About fifty research associates have car- 

 ried on investigations under the auspices 

 of the institution during the past year, 

 either by aid of grants made directly to 

 the individuals concerned, or by aid of 

 grants made to organizations like the 

 American Schools at Athens and Rome, or 

 by cooperation with our departments of 

 research. In general, each of these asso- 

 ciates has been in collaboration with one or 

 more colleagues or assistants, so that the 

 total of those contributing to this work has 

 been upwards of one hundred investigators. 

 The range of their investigations embraces 

 sixteen distinct fields of research, namely: 

 archeology, astronomy, botany, chemistry, 

 geology, geophysics, literature, mathe- 

 matics, metallurgy, meteorology, paleontol- 

 ogy, philology, physiology, political sci- 

 ence, terrestrial magnetism and zoology. 

 Reference must be made, therefore, to the 

 reports of individual investigators and to 

 the general bibliography, to be found in 

 the current "Year Book," for a fuller ac- 

 count of the fruitful activities in this 

 branch of the institution 's work. It should 

 be observed, however, that existing and 

 prospective economic conditions, elsewhere 

 referred to in this report, will probably 

 require curtailment in this branch of work 

 in the near future. 



