Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/313

* SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 267 SMITH SOUND. Powell (q.v.), were sent out. Especially to be mentioned is the famous exploration of the Grand Caiion of the Colorado. Subsequently, the United States Geographical and Geological Survey of the Eocky Mountain region was organized under Major Powell, and the collections made were deposited in the National Museum. On the consolidation of the various geological surveys in 1879, the Bureau of American Ethnology was established by act of Congress, and placed under the direc- tion of the Smithsonian Institution, and it has since been continued with annual appropriations from Congress. It has for its principal objects the carrying on of studies in the ethnology, archaeology, pictography, and linguistics of North America. It publishes AnuKal Reports, quarto, which were begun in 1879, and a series of octavo bulletins begim in 1877 ; it also completed the Contributions to Noi-fh American Ethnology, a series of nine quarto volumes that were begun in 1877. The first Director of the Bureau was Powell, who continued in that office until his death in 1902, when he was succeeded by William H. Holmes. National Zoological Park. A desire to pre- serve the wild animals of this continent that were rapidly becoming extinct led tu the establisbiiicnt of temporary quarters for captixe specimens in the immediate vicinity' of the National Miiseum. This collection grew until in 1890 Congress appropri- ated .$200,000 for the purchase of a tract of land of about 170 acres in Rock Creek Valley in the vi- cinity of Washington, and by act of April 30th of that year established a National Zoological Park, which was placed under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1902 a collection of nearly one thousand animals w.is being cared for in the park. .STHOPHYSiCAL OBSERVATORY. The early de- sire on the part of those prominent in the estab- lishment of the Smithsonian Institution that a portion df the bequest should be devoted to re- searches in physics foimd a culmination soon after the appointment of Langley to the sec- retaryship of the Smithsonian Institution in the annual appropriation by Congress, beginning in 1891, of $10,000, which sum has since increased to $12,000, for the maintenance of an astropbysi- cal observatory. A modest building was erected in the rear of the Smithsonian Institution, and « apparatus of .a value of more than $.30,000 has been accumulated. Considerable investigation under the immediate direction of Langley has been carried on, especially on the infra-red por- tion of the spectrum, and the observatory has issued a single volume of Annals of the Astro- physical Observatory. Research. In 1891 Thomas G. Hodgkins made a donation of $200,000 to the Smithsonian Insti- tution, of which the interest of $100,000 is per- manently devoted to the increase and diifusion of more exact knowledge in regard to the nature and properties of atmospheric air. In accordance with this bequest a prize of $10,000 was awarded to Lord Rayleigh and Sir William Ramsay in 1895 for the discovery of the element argon in the atmosphere. A medal bearing the name of Hodg- kins, and awarded for important contributions to knowledge concerning the nature and property of atmospheric air, or for practical applications of our existing knowledge to the welfare of mankind, was established, and was awarded to Vol. XVIH— 18. James Dewar in 1899 for his researches on the liquefaction and solidification of atmospherie air, and in 1901 to J. J. Thomson, for his in- vestigation on the conductivity of gases, especial- ly of the gases that compose atmospheric air. Numerous grants from the Hodgkins fund have been made to students, both in this country and abroad, engaged in the study of atmospheric air. For many years a table for original investigation in biological science has been supported by the Institution at the Naples Zoological Station, and a number of American students have availed themselves of its use for research. International Catalogue. Subsequent to a conference held in London in 1898, an inter- national catalogue of scientific literature was un- dertaken in England and the cataloguing was begun with the beginning of the present century. The collecting of titles of American scientific publications was accepted by the Smithsonian Institution, and has since 1900 been conducted under its supervision. American History. In 1889 the American Historical Association (qv.) was incorporated by act of Congress, and authorized' to report an- nually to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution concerning its proceedings and the con- dition of historical study in America. In accord- ance with this provision, annual reports have since been published. The collections, manu- scripts, books, pamphlets, and other material for the history of this association are chiefly de- posited in the Smithsonian Institution and in the National Museum. Similarly, in 1896, the Na- tional Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution was incorporated, and they also sub- mit annual reports to Congress through the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Their collection is likewise deposited in the National iluseum. Funds. To the original bequest of Smithson other gifts and bequests, including over $200,000 from Thomas G. Hodgkins, have been added, mak- ing a total of $9.37,000 as the permanent fund of the institution, which is deposited with the Treas- urer of the United States, and yields an income of 6 per cent. Consult: Goode (ed.). The Smithsonian Insti- tution, IS.'iG-lSOe (Washington, 1897) ; Rhees ( ed. ), The Smithsonian Institution, 1835-1899 (ib., 1901). SMITHSONITE (named in honor of James Smithson). A mineral zinc carbonate crystallized in the hexagonal system. It has a vitreous lustre, and is white to gray and light green and brown in coloi-. It occurs with galena and other zinc minerals, also with copper and iron ores in veins and in beds, and is sometimes produced by the action of zinc sulphide on carbonated waters. It is found in Siberia, Hungary. Belgium, Greece, England, and in the United States at the zinc mines in New .Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Arkansas. The zinc is often par- tially replaced by copper, iron, or manganese. Smithsonite occurs crystallized or in botryoidal and stalactitic forms, granular or earthy. The rich colored varieties are occasionally cut for cabinet gems. SMITH SOUND. The channel separating Ellesniere Land from the Prudhoe Peninsula of Northwestern Greenland, and connecfinsr Baffin