EEPOET OF THE SECRETARY. 39 



was occupied, for one of its daily sessions, by the American Institute of Mining 

 Engineers, then holding its annual meeting in Washington. 



PuMications. — The publications issued during the past year comprised the 

 Annual Report of the National Museum for 190.3 ; voliime 3 of Bulletin No. 50, 

 forming the third part of Mr. Robert Ridgway's monograph of the " Birds of 

 North and Middle America ;" part 4 of volume 8 of " Contributions from the 

 National Herbarium," entitled " Studies of Mexican and Central American 

 Plants, No. 4," by Dr. J. N. Rose; volume 9 of the same series, composed of a 

 single paper on " The Useful Plants of the Island of Guam," by Mr. William E. 

 Saff ord ; and the greater part of volume 28 of the Proceedings of the Museum. 

 The General Appendix to the Report for 1903 comprised two papers, one by the 

 Assistant Secretary, entitled " The United States National Museum : An 

 Account of the Buildings Occupied by the National Collections," the other by 

 Dr. A. B. Meyer, of Dresden, entitled " Studies of the Museums and Kindred 

 Institutions of New York Citj^ Albany, Buffalo, and Chicago, with Notes on some 

 European Institutions." 



Library. — The working library of the Museum now contains about 24,170 

 bound volumes and 38,643 unbound papers, the additions during the past year 

 having comprised 3,578 books, 3,048 pamphlets, and 563 parts of volumes. It 

 is chieflj^ dependent on exchanges for its increases, but a large share of the 

 books required for the classification of the collections are not to be obtained in 

 this way, and the $2,000 annually appropriated by Congress is entirely inade- 

 quate to supply even the most important demands in this respect. 



Expositions. — The exhibit made bj^ the Museum, in conjunction with the 

 other bureaus of the Institution, formed one of the especially noteworthy feat- 

 ures of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, at St. Louis, Mo., which closed on 

 December 2, 1904. Arrangements were then begun for the Lewis and Clark 

 Exposition, at Portland, Oreg., which opened on June 1, and is to continue until 

 October 15, 1905. Dr. Frederick W. True was designated as the representative 

 of the Institution and Museum, and Dr. Marcus W. Lyon, jr., as chief special 

 agent. The exhibit for Portland, which had necessarily to be planned upon a 

 much smaller scale than the one at St. Louis, was made up almost entirely of 

 selections from the latter, though a few novelties were added. 



Respectfully submitted. 



RiCHAED RaTHBUN, 



Assistant Secretary in charge of U. 8. National Museum. 

 October 1, 1905. 



