16 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1909. 



drome" (1904). The introduction to this reprint, written by As- 

 sistant Secretary Adler, reads as follows : 



The international fame of Samuel Pierpont Langley rests primarily upon his 

 epoch-making researches in solar physics, but during the last ten years of his 

 life his name was best known to the world at large by his experiments in 

 mechanical flight. 



Mr. Langley was the first to produce a machine heavier than air which, sup- 

 ported and propelled by its own engine and possessing no extraneous lifting 

 or sustaining power, actually made an independent flight for a considerable 

 distance, this being accomplished for the first time on May 6, 1896. He after- 

 wards constructed other models driven by both steam and gasoline engines, 

 which made frequent successful flights, and was thus the first to demonstrate 

 by actual experiment the possibility of mechanical flight. 



In addition to building various models and machines, most of which are now 

 on exhibition in the United States National Museum, Mr. Langley recorded his 

 studies and experiments in two technical works — " Experiments in Aero- 

 dynamics," published originally by the Smithsonian Institution in 1891, and 

 " The Internal Work of the Wind," the original edition of which was issued 

 by the Institution in 1S93. The copious and painstaking notes made by Mr. 

 Langley in connection with his latest experiments in mechanical flight are 

 now in course of preparation for publication and will be issued by the Institu- 

 tion on completion, thus forming the third volume of this more technical series. 



Mr. Langley also wrote a few occasional popular papers relating to this 

 same class of experiments, which were published in the Smithsonian reports 

 and elsewhere, the editions of which are now quite exhausted. In order to 

 meet the ever-increasing demand for information on a subject which is now 

 claiming universal attention, and in which Mr. Langley was the pioneer, some 

 of these less technical articles are here brought together and reprinted under 

 a single cover. 



The publications of the National Museum during the year included 

 a large number of papers in the Proceedings, and several Bulletins, 

 the general contents of which are enumerated in the appendix. 



The Bureau of American Ethnology published its Twenty-sixth 

 Annual Report and a number of Bulletins. One of the Bulletins, 

 No. 42, by Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, gives the results of his study of tuber- 

 culosis among certain Indian tribes. 



The Annual Reports of the American Historical Association and 

 of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolu- 

 tion were received from those organizations and were communicated 

 to Congress in accordance with their national charters. 



The allotments to the Institution and its branches, under the head 

 of public printing and binding during the past fiscal year, aggrega- 

 ting $72,700, were, as far as practicable, expended prior to June 30. 

 The allotments for the year ending June 30, 1910, are as follows : 



For the Smithsonian Institution for printing and binding annual re- 

 ports of the Board of Regents, with general appendixes $10, 000 



For the annual reports of the National Museum, with general appen- 

 dixes, and for printing labels and blanks for the Bulletins and Pro- 

 ceedings of the National Museum, the editions of which shall not ex- 

 ceed 4,000 copies, and binding, in half turkey or material not more 

 expensive, scientific books and pamphlets presented to and acquired 

 by the National Museum library 34,000 



