REPORT OF THE ACTING SECRETARY. 25 



to refuse all requests for an opinion in these matters, since such 

 action is prohibited by a decision of the Board of Regents. The In- 

 stitution furthermore does not endeavor to supply information of 

 a commercial nature, such as is customarily furnished for a fee by 

 engineers or other professional advisers. 



In spite of these restrictions, however, the correspondence is, as 

 has been stated, an important agency in the diffusion of knowledge. 



EXPOSITIONS, CONGRESSES, AND CELEBRATIONS. 



Expositions. — The Institution and its bureaus were represented at 

 the Lewis and Clark Exposition, held in Portland, Oregon, from June 

 1 to October 15, 1905, mainly by a selection from the objects which 

 had been exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, as nar- 

 rated, on a subsequent page, in the report of the representative Dr. 

 Frederick W. True. 



Models of the Langley aerodrome, some photographs and books, 

 and a number of plane surfaces and other apparatus were lent for an 

 exhibition by the Aero Club of America, held in New York from 

 January 13 to 20, 1906. This club subsequently adopted a series of 

 resolutions expressing its appreciation of the important achieve- 

 ments of Secretary Langley in investigating the laws of dynamic 

 flight and in the construction of a series of working models which 

 on trial had successfully demonstrated the principles of mechanical 

 flight. 



Congresses. — The Institution was invited to participate in a num- 

 ber of international congresses including the Congress of Anthro- 

 pology^ and Prehistoric Archeology, held in Monaco in April, 1906, 

 but the duties of the staff were so exacting during the year that it 

 was found impossible to detail any of its members to be present at 

 these important scientific gatherings. 



FranMin celehration. — The two hundredth anniversary of the 

 birth of Benjamin Franklin was celebrated at Philadelphia by the 

 American Philosophical Society, from April 17 to 20, 1906, the 

 Institution being represented by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, a 

 Regent. A formal address, suitably engrossed, was presented to the 

 society, and the Institution received a copy of the commemorative 

 medal struck in honor of the occasion. 



Aberdeen University. — In response to an invitation to participate 

 in the ceremonies attending the four hundredth anniversary of the 

 founding of the University of Aberdeen, to take place in September, 

 1906, Prof. Frank Wigglesworth Clarke, honorary curator of the 

 division of minerals in the National Museum, has been appointed 

 to represent the Institution on that occasion. 



