120 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1919. 
ments of cloud reflection by aid of the pyranometer. A military 
balloon was sent up through the layer of cloud to about 2,800 feet, 
and over 100 determinations were made. The results were compared 
with direct measurements of the intensity of total sun and sky 
radiation shining down from above and showed that 78 per cent 
of the radiation falling upon a sheet of cloud is reflected back 
toward space. 
Chilean expedition. — In June the Hodgkins fund solar expedition, 
under A. F. Moore, director, with L. H. Abbot as assistant, reached 
station at Calama, Chile, 7,500 feet high, on the eastern edge of the 
nitrate desert, believed to be the most cloudless region in the world. 
The expedition is equipped in the best possible manner to observe 
the variations of the sun, and its purpose is to observe the solar 
changes daily (if possible) for several years, thus acquiring a secure 
basis for studying the possibility of weather forecasting by aid of 
solar work. 
War activities. — Dr. Abbot was authorized by the secretary soon 
after war was declared by the United States to consider himself 
free to aid in the fullest degree in war work without further con- 
sultation. During this time he has been almost solely engaged in 
war investigations, several of which have led to valuable results, and 
some of which are still in progress. 
EXPEDITIONS. 
Celehes expedition. — During the past year Mr. H. C. Eaven has 
continued his work in Celebes under the auspices of Dr. W. L. Abbott, 
whose generosity in providing for this and the Borneo expeditions 
has been frequently acknowledged. Although this work was in- 
terrupted by Mr. Eaven's return to America to join the Army, it 
resulted in the bringing together of nearly 2,000 birds and mammals, 
together with an important collection of ethnological material. The 
area explored lies in the central, less-known part of the island. 
Among the noteworthy mammals obtained are the Anos, or dwarf 
buffalo, peculiar to the island and not hitherto represented in the 
National Museum by a wild-killed specimen, and a very remark- 
able fruit bat previously known from a single specimen taken in 
the Philippines. 
G ollins-Gamer Kongo expedition. — War conditions have immo- 
bilized this expedition in the Fernan Vas region. Our representa- 
tive, Mr. C. R. W. Aschemeier, however, has been active and success- 
ful. He has made numerous shipments of specimens, some of which 
have not yet arrived. Among his important captures may be men- 
tioned an elephant, a gorilla, several chimpanzees, and numerous 
buffaloes and antelopes, all representing West African forms prac- 
tically or entirely new to the Museum. 
