PROGRKSS OF THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 



SOCIETY 



The Reports for flic Year ipu of the Director and Editor, the Secretary, and 



the Treasurer 



RKl'ORT OF THE DIRECTOR AND EDITOR 



THE results of the year 1912 were 

 most gratifying in all departments 

 of the Society's work. In the 

 variety and extent of researches and ex- 

 plorations by the Society ; in the number 

 of new members added to the rolls ; in 

 the popularity, influence, and educative 

 value of its magazine, and in the amount 

 added to the investment fund, the year 

 1912 surpassed all its predecessors. 



The expedition which the Society, in 

 cooperation with Yale University, sent 

 to Peru, under the direction of Hiram 

 Bingham, made a careful study of the 

 wonderful Inca city of Macchu Pichu, 

 discovered by Mr. Bingham in 191 1. The 

 expedition stayed in this city for nearly 

 five months, mapping it in such detail 

 that a model can now be made of Macchu 

 Pichu. which is one of the most extra- 

 ordinary archeological finds in America 

 during the past 50 years. The city covers 

 the top of a high mountain, being one- 

 half mile long and almost as wide. The 

 buildings are built of blocks of pure 

 white granite, jnit together without ce- 

 ment. The publications by the Society 

 of the results of Dr. Bingham's expedi- 

 tion, which also made many other new 

 discoveries, illustrated profusely by the 

 remarkable array of photograi:)hs that he 

 brought back, will bring much honor and 

 credit to the Society for its share in the 

 work. (The April number of the Mag- 

 azine will contain Dr. Bingham's report.) 



The expedition to Mount Katmai, 

 Alaska, to study volcanic conditions of 

 the mountain and neighborhood, was also 

 very successful. Prof. George C. Martin 

 has completed his report, which is illus- 

 trated by a marvelous collection of pho- 

 tographs showing the devastation caused 

 by the volcano. (Published elsewhere in 

 this number.) 



The expedition to the east coast of 



Hudson Bay, under the direction of 

 W. E. Clyde Todd, did good work, and 

 its biological and other studies should 

 prove valuable acquisitions to science. 



The scientific volume of the Alaska 

 Glacier studies of 1909, 1910, and 191 1 

 was completed by the late Prof. Ralph S. 

 Tarr. of Cornell University, and Prof. 

 Lawrence Martin, of the University of 

 A\'isconsin. and delivered to the Society 

 late in the year. It will be published in 



1913- 



The present activity of the Society in 

 conducting explorations is most gratify- 

 ing when we realize that until very re- 

 cently the Society had no funds of its 

 own available to maintain researches. 



THE NEW BUILDING OF THE SOCIETY 



As the Society ha.'' no endowment, it 

 has been the policy of the Board of Man- 

 agers each year to add to the reserve 

 fund as large an amount as possible from 

 the annual receipts, in order that the 

 Society might accumulate a comfortable 

 surplus and thus be protected in times of 

 financial stress. The wisdom of this 

 policy is now apparent, when, owing to 

 the immense increase in the corres])on(}- 

 ence and business of the Society, more 

 accommodations are needed for its oftice 

 force than Hubbard ^Memorial Hall can 

 |)rovide, and the erection of a new ofiice 

 building for the Society has become im- 

 perative. In December, 191 2, the B>oard 

 of Managers authorized the construction 

 of a new building on the large proj^erty. 

 which the Scxnety had purchased at a 

 cost of about $44,000. adjacent to Hub- 

 bard Memorial Hall. 



The Finance Committee, which the 

 Board charged with the duties of pre- 

 paring ])lans. is now actively at work on 

 the designs for the new building, which 

 will be convenient, well-lighted, and a 

 handsome annex to the beautiful home 

 given to the Society by the family of its 



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