Abstract
THE report of the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for the year ended June 30, 1937, refers to the improvement of the National Zoological Park by the completion of three new exhibition buildings, a machine shop, a garage and new heating and electric installations. An expedition to Sumatra to obtain specimens of the interesting animals of that region for the National Zoo was still in the field, but reports indicated that it was highly successful. In the Division of Radiation and Organisms, notable advances have been made in the studies of photosynthesis, phototropism and the action of ultra-violet rays on plant growth. The Astrophysical Observatory has continued its measurements of the solar constant of radiation, and a new method has been devised in place of the 'short method' reduction of observations, used since 1923, in which a flaw was discovered. The Smithsonian radio programme, a weekly half-hour presentation of the Institution's researches and activities, continued with undiminished popularity, and accessions to the Library for the year number 11,469, mostly in exchange for the publications of the Institution. Appendixes include the report of the United States National Museum, the National Collection of Fine Arts, the Freer Gallery of Art and of the several divisions of the Institution.
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The Smithsonian Institution. Nature 142, 507 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/142507b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/142507b0