REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 29 



presented a brief tribute to that great man of science which was 

 afterwards published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collect ion.-. 



Aberdeen anniversary, etc. — Prof. F. W. Clarke represented the 

 Institution on the occasion of the four hundredth anniversary of the 

 Aberdeen University, October -20, 1906. At the request of the Depart- 

 ment of State, the Institution recommended as delegates of the Gov- 

 ernment to the International Zoological Congress, to be held in Bos- 

 ton in August, 1907, Mr. Richard Rathbun. Dr. Theodore Gill, Dr. 

 W. H. Dall, Dr. F. W. True, Mr. Leonhard Stejneger. and Dr. Har- 

 rison G. Dyar. The Secretary attended the inauguration of the Car- 

 negie Institute at Pittsburg, April 11-13, 1907. Mr. Arnold Hague 

 was appointed to represent the Institution at the centenary of the 

 Geological Society of London, to take place September 19, 1907, and 

 Prof. Simon Newcomb has accepted the designation to represent the 

 Institution at the Fourth International Congress of Mathematicians, 

 to be held at Rome April 6-11, 1908. 



Prize essay on fisheries. — In response to an invitation from the 

 International Fishery Congress, the fourth session of which is to be 

 held in Washington in September, 1908, an allotment of $200 has 

 been made from the Smithsonian fund as a prize for the best article 

 on the international regulation of the fisheries of the high seas, their 

 history, objects and results. It is announced that any person, asso- 

 ciation, or company may compete for the various prizes to be awarded 

 in connection with this congress by complying with the published 

 conditions which govern the competition, as issued from the office of 

 the general secretary of the congress. Dr. H. M. Smith, of the United 

 States Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, D. C. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Improvement and maintenance of Smithsonian grounds. — The sun- 

 dry civil act approved March 4, 1907, contained an appropriation of 

 $3,000 for the improvement, care, and maintenance of the Smith- 

 sonian grounds, and also an appropriation of $5,000 for resurfacing 

 the asphalt roadways in the grounds. 



California Academy of Sciences. — As stated in the previous report, 

 the good offices of the Institution were tendered and accepted by the 

 California Academy of Sciences for the purpose of aiding it in re- 

 placing its library and collection destroyed by the earthquake and 

 fire of April, 1906. In the report of the Bureau of International Ex- 

 changes it is noted that upward of 7,000 valuable publications were 

 secured abroad and forwarded to the academy, and not all of the cor- 

 respondents of the academy have yet responded to the circular. The 

 Institution also forwarded without cost to the academy very consid- 

 erable collections of books from individuals and institutions in the 



16997—07 3 



