14 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Genoa; also portraits of the Chancellors (Dallas, Fillmore, Taney, Chase, 

 Waite, and Fuller), the Secretaries, of Mr. Hodgkins, and of certain of 

 the earlier Regents who were especially influential in shaping the char- 

 acter of the Institution during its early days (John Quiucy Adams, 

 Robert Dale Owen, Richard Rush, Louis Agassiz, George Bancroft, 

 William T. Sherman, Asa Gray, and J. C. Welling), with views of the 

 Institution and illustrations of its seal and of the Hodgkins medal. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



In addition to the very voluminous routine and business correspond- 

 ence of the National Museum, or special correspondence of the Bureau 

 of Ethnology, of the Zoological Park, and of the Bureau of Exchanges, 

 a constantly increasing number of letters come directly to the Secre- 

 tary's office from all parts of the country, on every imaginable subject 

 that can by any possibility be supposed to have a relation to science. 

 Requests for statistics that may be of great value and importance to 

 the writer, inquiries from teachers and others, are constantly received, 

 and it is still my aim that this correspondence shall receive the same 

 careful attention that was bestowed upon it in the early days of the 

 Institution, when the number of letters formed but a small fraction 

 of those received at present ; but it will be understood that the fulfill- 

 ment of this aim grows increasingly difficult. An effort is made to 

 give a full reply to all such inquiries, often involving a large amount 

 of labor on the part of the curators, as well as of those immediately 

 occupied with the correspondence of the Institution, out of proportion 

 to the merits of the case. 



Of the more important correspondence of the Secretary's office, 3,788 

 entries were made in the registry book of letters received during the 

 year, while double that number of letters were received and referred to 

 the different bureaus of the Institution in the same time. 



The card index of letters received and written is now complete from 

 January 1, 1892, to the present day, constituting the current file. The 

 correspondence prior to the current file has been placed in the 

 archives, and the index to the files is now practically complete. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Naples tables. — The Institution has renewed for three years the lease 

 of the Smithsonian Table at the Naples Zoological Station, and the 

 facilities thus afforded have proved of value to the investigators who 

 have carried on biological studies there during the year. Dr. J. S. 

 Billings, U. S. A., Dr. E. B. Wilson, Dr. C. W. Stiles, and Dr. Harrison 

 Allen have continued valuable aid in examining the testimonials of 

 applicants for the occupancy of the Naples table, as well as in the con- 

 sideration of various questions in connection with the assignment of 

 the table, to which I have asked attention. 



Among the numerous additional applications for occupancy of the 



