2 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1919. 
House of Representatives, together with six other persons other than 
Members of Congress, two of whom shall be resident in the city of 
Washington and the other four shall be inhabitants of some State, 
but no two of them of the same State." The regents elect one of 
their number as chancellor, usually the Chief Justice, who is the pre- 
siding officer of the board, and elect a suitable person as secretary of 
the Institution, who is also secretary of the board and the executive 
officer and director of the Institution's activities. 
The changes in personnel of the board during the year were the 
appointment of George Gray, citizen of Delaware, to succeed him- 
self; the appointment of Robert S. Brookings, citizen of Missouri, 
to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Charles W. Fairbanks. The 
roll of regents on June 30, 1919, was as follows : Edward D. White, 
Chief Justice of the United States, chancellor ; Thomas R. Marshall, 
Vice President of the United States ; Henry Cabot Lodge, Member of 
the Senate ; Charles S. Thomas, Member of the Senate ; Scott Ferris, 
Member of the House of Representatives ; Lemuel P. Padgett, Mem- 
ber of the House of Representatives ; Frank L. Greene, Member of the 
House of Representatives ; Alexander Graham Bell, citizen of Wash- 
ington, D. C. ; George Gray, citizen of Delaware ; Charles F. Choate, 
jr., citizen of Massachusetts; John B. Henderson, citizen of Washing- 
ton, D. C. ; Henry White, citizen of Maryland ; and Robert S. Brook- 
ings, citizen of Missouri. 
The board held its annual meeting on December 12, 1918. The 
proceedings of that meeting, as also the annual financial report of 
the executive committee, have been printed, as usual, for the use of 
the regents, while such important matters acted upon as are of public 
interest are reviewed under appropriate heads in the report of the 
secretary. A detailed statement of disbursements from the Govern- 
ment appropriations under the direction of the Institution for the 
maintenance of the National Museum, the National Zoological Park, 
and other branches will be submitted to Congress by the secretary in 
the usual manner in compliance with the law. 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
In addition to the usual activities and routine duties, the scientific 
staff of the Institution continued, until the day of the signing of 
the armistice, to assist the Government in every way possible toward 
the successful prosecution of the war. The Museum staff were in 
constant touch with Army and Navy officials, furnishing much tech- 
nical information, and the staff of the Astrophysical Observatory con- 
ducted numerous valuable researches. Mr. L. B. Aldrich, of the ob- 
servatory, carried out successful experiments on the pressure exerted 
by the wind upon projectiles, at the request of the Coast Artillery 
Station at Fortress Monroe. Assistant Secretary Abbot and Mr. 
