16 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1910. 



RESEARCHES UNDER HODGKINS FUND. 



Flying organs of insects and birds. — Under the direction of Pro- 

 fessor von Lendenfeld, of Prague University, aided by a grant from 

 the Hodgkins Fund, there has been carried on for the past ten years 

 investigations on the flying organs of various insects and birds. Some 

 of the results of these studies have been published in the Smithsonian 

 Miscellaneous Collections in papers by Dr. E. Mascha on " The struc- 

 ture of wing feathers," Dr. Leo Walter on " The clasping organs at- 

 taching the hind to the fore wings in hymenoptera," and Dr. Bruno 

 Miiller on " The air sacs of the pigeons." 



There was received during the past year and prepared for press a 

 fourth paper on " The flying apparatus of the blow-fly." 



These investigations were fostered by the late Secretary Langley 

 with the hope that they would yield information useful to engineers 

 and others interested in the problem of flight. It was the opinion of 

 the investigator that of all the forms of insects, and indeed of all 

 flying animals, the Diptera, such as the blow-fly, furnish the most 

 promising pattern for a flying machine and that a working model 

 should be built according to this pattern and experimented with. 



Mount Whitney Observatory. — The construction on Mount Whit- 

 ney, California, of a small steel and stone house to serve as a shelter 

 for observers and investigators during the prosecution of researches 

 on atmospheric air and other cognate subjects was authorized Octo- 

 ber 30, 1908, by an allotment from the Hodgkins Fund. 



This spot had been selected as an observation point by the late 

 Secretary Langley as far back as 1881, and had been visited later 

 by other scientific investigators, including Professor Campbell, of 

 the Lick Observatory, and Director Abbot, of the Smithsonian Astro- 

 physical Observatory, each of whom realized the unusual advantages 

 offered by this mountain as a site for a meteorological and at- 

 mospheric observatory. 



Before erecting the shelter it was necessary to build a trail to the 

 top of the peak, 14,502 feet above sea level, in order to transport the 

 building material, supplies, and instruments. Many dangers and 

 hardships were undergone by the men who accomplished this work, 

 but finally the trail was completed and the equipment packed up the 

 mountain. 



The actual work of construction of the shelter was begun July 28, 

 1909, when the first pack train reached the summit, and was quite 

 completed by August 27, 1909, when summer observations were 

 begun by Director Abbot, of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observ- 



°A more detailed account of the work, "A shelter for observers on Mount 

 Whitney," by C. G. Abbot, was published January 12, 1910, in the Smithsonian 

 Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 52, pp. 499-506. 



