REPORT 



OF THE 



SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 



CHARLES D. WALCOTT, 



FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1908. 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution : 



Gentlemen : I have the honor to submit a report showing the oper- 

 ations of the Institution during the year ending June 30, 1908, 

 including the work placed under its direction by Congress in the 

 United States National Museum, the Bureau of American Ethnology, 

 the International Exchanges, the National Zoological Park, the Astro- 

 physical Observatory, the regional bureau of the International 

 Catalogue of Scientific Literature, and the excavations on the Casa 

 Grande Eeservation. 



In the body of this report there is given a general account of the 

 affairs of the Institution, while the appendix presents a more detailed 

 statement by those in direct charge of the different branches of the 

 work. Independently of this the operations of the National Museum 

 and the Bureau of American Ethnology are fully treated in separate 

 volumes. The scientific work of the Astrophysical Observatory, 

 covering its researches for five years, is described in Volume II of the 

 Annals of the Observatory, published during the year. 



THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT. 



By act of Congress approved August 10, 1846, the Smithsonian 

 Institution was created an establishment. Its statutory members are 

 " the President, the Vice-President, the Chief Justice, and the heads 

 of the executive departments." 



THE BOARD OF REGENTS. 



The Board of Regents consists of the Vice-President and the Chief 

 Justice of the United States as ex-officio members, three members of 

 the Senate, three Members of the House of Representatives, and six 



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