10 REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1925 



far more clear and lasting than routine lessons. These student 

 groups, naturally, are principally from the local schools but come 

 also from distant localities. To such visiting groups as well as to 

 the individual inquirer, the members of the staff are always willing 

 to explain any particular feature or exhibit concerning which ques- 

 tion arises or information is sought. Several members of the 

 staff who are professors or instructors in educational institutions 

 of the city make a regular practice of bringing classes to the 

 Museum either after the regular hours or on Sunday for the purpose 

 of utilizing Museum exhibits in connection with their lectures. 



Many hundreds of duplicate specimens have been presented to edu- 

 cational institutions, and numerous loans of material have been made 

 to meet special needs of various educational organizations or in- 

 stitutions throughout the country. Specific mention of most of the 

 matters above mentioned will be found in the departmental reports. 



Mention must be made also of hundreds of letters that come to the 

 Museum requesting information on almost every conceivable subject, 

 and of the reports furnished on the innumerable specimens forwarded 

 from all over the United States and its possessions, as well as from 

 foreign sources, for identification or explanation. Replies to these 

 requests, which may cover anything in the field of human knowledge, 

 are made as fully as practicable and require much time and energy 

 on the part of the staff. 



Another public contact arranged under the auspices of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution under the direction of Austin H. Clark, curator of 

 Echinoderms in the Museum, that reaches a very large group of 

 people, is the series of radio talks which was continued as in previous 

 years. Twenty-eight talks in all were broadcast from Station WRC 

 of the Radio Corporation of America, of which four were broadcast 

 simultaneously by Stations WJY and WJZ in ISTew^York City. All 

 of the stations named reported very favorable reception by their 

 audiences. The program for the year was as follows: 



1. Life in the Sea : Austin H. Clark, National Museum, October 2] 1924. 



2. Wonders of the Deep Sea: Capt. Frederick B. Bassett, Hydrographer of 



the Navy, October 16, 1924. 



3. Curious Plants: Dr. Frederick V. Coville, Honorary Curator. National 



Herbarium, October 22, 1924. 



4. What the Ocean Means to Us : Lieut. Commander George E. Brandt, Aid to 



the Hydrographer of the Navy, November 8, 1924. 



5. Indian ClifC Dwellings : Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, Chief, Bureau of American 



Ethnology, November 13, 1924. 



6. Living Lamps : Austin H. Clark, National Museum, November 20, 1924. 



7. The Ocean Bottom: Dr. George W. Littlehales, Hydrographic Engineer, 



Navy Department, December 11, 1924. 



8. What Standards Mean to Us: Dr. Fay C. Brown, Assistant Director, 



Bureau of Standards, December 25, 1924. 



