PROCEEDINGS OF REGENTS. 119 
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. 
Field work. — One of the most important results of field work by 
the Bureau of American Ethnology during the past year was the 
investigation of little-known prehistoric towers, castles, and great 
houses in southwestern Colorado. In conjunction with the Depart- 
ment of the Interior, the Smithsonian Institution has been engaged 
for a decade in the excavation and repair of large ruins situated on 
the Mesa Verde National Park. The educational value of this work 
can hardly be overestimated, and the records show that in the last 
few years about 2,500 persons visited the locality annually to see 
these remains of prehistoric ruins in our Southwestern States. 
In his field work last summer Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, Chief of the 
Bureau of American Ethnology, investigated equally instructive 
groups of ruins in the vallej^s in the neighborhood of the Mesa Verde 
Park and found there many well-preserved buildings of which little 
has hitherto been known. 
NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 
Attendance record. — The attendance at the park for the year end- 
ing June 30, 1918, exceeded all previous records, reaching a total of 
1,593,227 — a daily average of 4,365. This total is 436,117 over that 
of 1916, the record year w^ to this time. 
Recent accessions. — The first specimens of the Florida bear {Ursus 
floridanus) ever shown in the park were received August 21. Other 
accessions of importance are a fine capybara, the largest of existing 
rodents, from the delta of the Orinoco River, Venezuela ; a pair of 
American prong-horned antelopes received in exchange; and a pair 
of Philippine water buffaloes. 
The secretary added that as an evidence of the good feeling for 
tlie United States felt by the Canadians, some fine specimens of 
Canadian mountain sheep had been sent to the park. He spoke 
also of efforts being made to secure specimens of the young Sumatran 
elephant. 
ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY. 
/Solar eclipse expedition. — Messrs. L. B. Aldrich and Andrew 
Kramer, assisted by a volunteer, the Rev. Clarence Woodman, C. 
S. P., of Berkeley, Calif., observed the total solar eclipse of June 
8, 1918, at Lakin, Kans. The entire program, including observations 
of times of contact, photography of the solar corona, and measure- 
ments of the brightness of the sky throughout the afternoon and eve- 
ning, was successfully carried out. 
Mount Wilson expedition. — Mr. Aldrich continued the usual ob- 
servations on Mount Wilson, Calif. In addition, in cooperation with 
the Army balloon school at Arcadia, Calif., he made novel measure- 
