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period as the Naval Observatory and Hydrographic Office, but it was not until June 21, 1866, that the Hydrographic Office, as now understood, was established.

3. A few apprentices are under instruction in this office in engraving, plate printing, and chart construction. They are engaged on the current work.

6. Admission for the use of facilities should be limited to students of engraving and drafting. Under present conditions no students could be accommodated. Facilities could be offered only by providing more room space and additional force in the Division of Chart Construction. This would require an appropriation for renting additional rooms and for paying the salaries of additional employees. The work of the office is that of chart construction, and the space and force available are hardly sufficient for the current demands.

NAVY DEPARTMENT: UNITED STATES NAVAL OBSERVATORY.

(Officer reporting: W. J. Barnette, captain, United States Navy, Superintendent Naval Observatory.)

1. 1893. Founded in 1842; began work in 1845; removed to present site in 1893. Detailed information may be found in annual reports of the superintendent and the publications of the Naval Observatory.

2. Library offers facilities for advanced students. The 12-inch equatorial telescope is used one night per week for the instruction of schools interested in astronomy and also for the general public.

4. The approximate number of persons visiting the 12-inch telescope during the fiscal year 1908 up to May 25, 1908, was 1,420. Not possible to give the number of visitors to the library.

6. Only advanced students in the sciences represented in the library, viz, theoretical and practical astronomy and theoretical and applied mathematics, would be benefited by the use of the library.

The instruction rendered to schools and others by the use of the 12-inch telescope is of a general nature.

Admission to the telescope is by card.

NAVY DEPARTMENT: UNITED STATES NAVAL MEDICAL SCHOOL.

(Officer reporting: John C. Wise, medical director, United States Navy.)

1. The United States Naval Medical School was organized under the department's order of May 27, 1902. The first session of the school was in the fall of that year. Since 1902 the sessions have continued each year. During the years 1894, 1895, and 1896 there was a school with similar object at the United States Naval Laboratory, Brooklyn, N. Y. As a result of an insufficient number of medical officers, and later on by reason of the Spanish-American War, this school was discontinued.

2. The course is mainly to qualify officers of the Medical Corps of the Navy for work in the Tropics. Consequently special attention is directed to bacteriological work in connection with tropical diseases and to medical zoology. Naval hygiene, military surgery, and instruction in naval tactics and duties of naval medical officers, including naval law, are other necessary subjects.

3. (a) The library contains about 13,000 volumes. The books are chiefly of periods covering latter half of the nineteenth century. There is a small library of recent medical works along laboratory lines.

(b) There is desk room in the bacteriological laboratory for 28 students, and for a similar number in the chemical laboratory.

(c) The instructors are members of the Medical Corps of the Navy, who, by reason of familiarity with service requirements, are able to judge of the most advantageous lines upon which to conduct the courses.

(d) These are recruited from the Hospital Corps of the Navy, and their work is along the lines of routine laboratory work.

(e) There is no provision for appointment of student assistants.

4. There were 35 junior members of the Medical Corps in the class for those just entering the naval service, which course continued from October 1, 1907, to March 31, 1908. The course for those of advanced rank commenced April 15, 1908, and will continue until June 15, 1908.

5. The course as pursued during 1908 will be continued.

6. As at present constituted only medical officers of the navy are given instruction at this school.

I

NAVY DEPARTMENT: LIBRARY AND NAVAL WAR RECORDS.

(Officer reporting: Charles W. Stewart, superintendent library and naval war records.)

1. (Act of June 7, 1884.) This office contains a voluminous amount of manuscript matter, as set forth in Guide to Government Archives, published by the Carnegie Institution, Washington, D. C.

This is a dual office; with two functions: (1) That of collecting and publishing the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion; (2) the library of the Navy Department. The office is also a general information bureau for naval data, and has charge of all the correspondence regarding volunteer naval officers in the Civil War. A considerable amount of manuscript data regarding the personnel of the Continental navy, transferred to the Navy Department in accordance with law, has been deposited in this office, and further transfers of this class of matter relating to the Navy prior to the Civil War will be deposited.

2. The official records of the office of the Secretary of the Navy may be examined under the supervision of this office (see question 1), by authorization of the Secretary of the Navy.

3. Same as heretofore, except that occasional additions of naval manuscript data are made from time to time.

(a) Library facilities are extended to persons authorized by the Secretary of the Navy.

(b) None.

No supervision, but aid is extended in making searches.

(d) Excellent opportunity afforded to employees to study naval history.

(e) No provision for student assistants.

Catalogues of the most important naval records are at hand, and facilities are extended for their examination.

4. The number of historical students has been two-Dr. Charles Oscar Paullin, Ph. D., of the Chicago University, author of a history of the Continental Navy; Mr. Robert W. Necser, Fellow of Yale College, author of Statistical and Chronological History of the United States Navy, 1775-1907.

This department and its officers make constant use of the records of this office. The volume "John Paul Jones Commemoration" was compiled in this office and published during the year under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing. 5. No change is contemplated in existing arrangements of this office.

6. The use of the office and the records of the department is limited to the department's officers, and persons authorized by the head of the department to make naval researches. This office develops along narrowing naval lines, and its function is to supply naval information.

The number that can be accommodated is limited and there are no assistantships. 7. This office is a part of the office of the Secretary of the Navy, and under his control. It is not a part of any bureau, and its head is a civilian, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, familiar with naval records and history.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR: GENERAL LAND OFFICE.

The commissioner reports that there are no facilities for the supervision and direction of students, and no special opportunities for training, "except such as are afforded by the lower grades of work performed under the direction and supervision of section and division chiefs and reviewers."

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR: PATENT OFFICE.

(Unsigned.)

1. July, 1836. The office was established in 1790, and the first patent granted bore date of July 31 of that year. The reorganization of to-day was effected in 1836, as above indicated.

2. The chief facilities offered are:

(1) The Scientific Library, containing about 84,000 volumes.

The classified United States patents in the preliminary search room, open to the use of the public.

(3) The Card Index to Chemical Literature, in the classification division.

3. (a) The Scientific Library is particularly complete in its collection of scientific periodicals and its technical works. It is open to the public, and contains a card catalogue of current technical literature.

Closely allied to this is the Card Index to Chemical Literature in course of preparation in the classification division, now comprising over 400,000 cards.

There have already been granted about 900,000 United States patents, which are arranged in classes and subclasses for convenience of search, and placed in the preliminary search room for the use of the public. The office uses a printed "Classification of Subjects of Invention," from which students engaged in any particular line of physical or chemical research or study can readily ascertain which of the various classes and subclasses of patents it might be worth their while to consult. These patents will frequently give clues to the latest results and attainments in chemistry and physics, pure and applied, which do not otherwise find their way into print until a much later period.

(b) The Patent Office has no laboratory facilities to offer students.

(c) There are no students in the sense this clause seems to imply, and the assistant examiners are supervised by the principal examiners in charge of the different groups of arts and sciences arranged in classes and subclasses in the several divisions of the office, of which there are at present 41.

(d) Special opportunities are offered to the corps of Patent Office examiners for study and training in general in patent law, and in particular along the lines of the particular science or art covered by the classes assigned to them for search purposes. No provision is made for the appointment of student assistants.

(f) The field of research is about covered by the above.

4. The library is regularly used by certain members of the special corps of abstractors of the American Chemical Society engaged in preparing the publication entitled "Chemical Abstracts," particularly those engaged in abstracting foreign chemical patents.

Mr. Otis D. Swett, registrar of the George Washington University, is one of these abstractors working regularly in the library on foreign chemical patents.

Some use has heretofore been made by students of the Card Index to Chemical Literature, but not to nearly as great an extent as could be. Any students engaged in chemical or physical research work and desiring to investigate the literature of the subject or compile a bibliography, would be greatly helped by a free use of the same. 5. See answer to question 3.

6. There has been no limitation placed upon the use of the library, the card index, or the classified patents.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR: BUREAU OF EDUCATION.

1. June 30, 1869.

(Officer reporting: Lovick Pierce, chief clerk.)

Statistics of education were first collected by the Federal Government for the census of 1840, and each of the census reports since that date has included summarized statistics on that subjects. These data, however, were published only at intervals of 10 years and in condensed form; consequently there was felt, especially by educators, the need of some central agency by which information respecting education throughout the world could be collected annually and be preserved, consolidated, and properly arranged for dissemination. Pursuant to a memorial of the National Educational Association, Congress established by an act approved March 2, 1867, a department of education "for the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of school systems and methods of teaching as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems and otherwise promote the cause of education.

By the act of July 28, 1868, which took effect June 30, 1869, the Department of Education was abolished and an office or Bureau of Education in the Department of the Interior was established, with the same objects and duties as were specified in the act of March, 1867.

2. Immediately after the establishment of the bureau it began the collection of statistics, reports, catalogues, and other documents from the educational systems and institutions in the several States in this country and in foreign countries, and has thus brought together during the 41 years of its existence a large body of domestic and foreign educational reports, reference books, periodicals, journals, and other documents relating to the various phases of education. The library is indispensable to the working force of the bureau and is rich in material for the student of the history and science of education. It has been the policy of the bureau from its establishment to the present time to place its library at the service of students engaged in research

and to furnish them all the assistance that could be given in the inadequate building which it occupies.

In addition to the library collections, an effort was made in the earlier years of the bureau's history to gather material for a museum that should be an object lesson of educational development and advancement. This collection comprised designs for schoolhouses, desks, and school furniture; mechanical devices for instruction in industrial arts; models of objects in wood, clay, and metal, showing the advancement of pupils from rude beginnings to something of artistic finish; photographs of school and college buildings and grounds and of groups of pupils of all grades; portraits and busts of educators and benefactors of education; together with a series of models illustrating the development of farming implements from the earliest time in our own and other nations. As increased office space was required for the office staff and for the rapidly growing library it became necessary to crowd the museum collections into gradually diminishing space until, in 1906-7, all that was valuable was packed in boxes to await the time when room for its useful and proper display should be provided.

3. In the early years of the bureau's history it was the recipient of many contributions of valuable works of general literature, the most notable of these being the gift of the collection of 5,000 volumes selected for a popular library by the American Library Association and exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. These acquisitions and the natural growth of the library gradually overcrowded the space available and rendered a change of policy imperative. During the fiscal year 1908 all books not pertaining directly to the work of the bureau and not absolutely necessary for reference use by the office force and by other students of education were placed in other bureaus and libraries of the Government, where they more appropriately belonged. This work has been practically accomplished. The collections reserved in the library of the bureau number 146,490 volumes and pamphlets and consist of works on education and closely related subjects. These are in process of being arranged for the more convenient use of students of education. In its special field it is probably the largest single collection in America, and its assemblage of American educational periodicals, State and city school reports, and college and school catalogues is perhaps the largest in existence. A list of educational periodicals currently received in the library is published in the annual report of the commissioner. The periodicals themselves are indexed.

A union catalogue of educational literature available in the library of the bureau, the Library of Congress, and important pedagogical collections in other cities, is in course of preparation.

4. No record has been kept of the number of persons who have availed themselves of the facilities offered by the bureau in past years. Many students of education have visited the library and made use of the material filed therein for reference. In former years Prof. Herbert B. Adams, late of Johns Hopkins University; Dr. J. L. M. Curry, agent of the Peabody and Slater funds; Dr. A. D. Mayo, in his "Ministry of Education in the South;" and other well-known educators and students were frequent visitors and made free use of the collections.

5. These are outlined in answers to Nos. 3 and 4.

6. The conditions of admission to the use of the facilities afforded are not stringent or exclusive. Earnest students are always welcome; the library staff will cheerfully render them all needed assistance and place at their disposal reference books, desks, and stationery. Even in the limited quarters now occupied by the bureau, desk room can be given to as many as six or eight students at a time. By special agreement, books may be borrowed for a limited time and used outside of the office.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR: UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.

(Officer reporting: George Otis Smith, director.)

1. March 3, 1879. A sketch of the United States Geological Survey, giving an account of its origin and development, organization, and operations is contained in the Survey Bulletin 227.

2. The survey has probably the largest geological library in America which is available for general use. The geological and other specimens collected by members of the survey are deposited in the National Museum, where they are open for examination.

3. There were in the library in 1904 about 50,000 bound volumes, 80,000 pamphlets, and 30,000 maps, besides many books that form parts of sets of periodicals and of proceedings of societies, museums, and congresses, that have not been entered in the accession book. A rather large percentage of books received are unbound, and dur

ing the last few years the binding has not kept pace with the increase. An effort has been made to remedy this.

Under the law the library at 1330 F Street, second floor, is open to the public from 9 until 2 o'clock. During these hours it is in constant use by outside students, as well as by members of the survey. The latter are permitted, in addition, to draw from the library any books, except encyclopedias and dictionaries, that are needed by them in their investigations.

4. No record is made of the number of persons availing themselves of the library. No students have availed themselves of the facilities for advanced study and research in the office of the Geological Survey in the last 16 years. The chief reason for this has doubtless been the crowded condition of the office of the survey, and the consequent inability of the survey to furnish the necessary facilities for such students. It is impossible to estimate the number of students who would take advantage of the library, laboratories, and collections of the survey if facilities were available, but it is probable that a considerable number of advanced students would come to Washington for study if it were generally known that the necessary facilities could be offered to them.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR: RECLAMATION SERVICE.

(Officer reporting: F. H. Newell.)

1. The Reclamation Service was established in July, 1902. Prior to that time the work in which it was engaged was conducted by the Geological Survey, of which the Reclamation Service may be said to have been an offshoot.

2. No facilities are offered for advanced study or research. The work of the Reclamation Service is largely survey, examination, and construction of large works for the irrigation of arid lands, and up to the present time there has not been any opportunity for investigations, excepting such matters as those connected with cement or building materials. All of these details are, however, handled by the technological branch of the Geological Survey.

3. No special facilities are offered during the year 1908. There are no libraries nor laboratory facilities, and the only opportunities for study and training are those in connection with the development of the younger assistants in the field.

4. No persons availed themselves of the facilities during the fiscal year 1908 other than the younger assistants indicated above.

5. No special facilities are offered for the fiscal year 1909.

6. No regulations have been considered concerning the conditions of admission to the use of any facilities enjoyed by the Reclamation Service.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR: GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE.

(Reporting officer: William A. White, superintendent.)

1. The pathological laboratory was instituted in 1884. The psychological laboratory was instituted in 1907.

2, 3. As indicated above, the Government Hospital for the Insane maintains two laboratories, one consisting of a pathological department, in which are included pathology, clinical pathology, histopathology, and bacteriology and chemistry, and the other being a psychological laboratory. These laboratories exist solely for the study of problems associated with insanity. Specimens from the pathological laboratory of the hospital have been utilized before the medical students of the Georgetown University Medical School between the years 1885 and 1905 in instruction outside the hospital, and since the latter date mentioned these students, with those of the George Washington University Medical School, have been admitted to the laboratory at regular periods for the purpose of witnessing demonstrations and receiving instruction. In the psychological laboratory facilities have been placed at the disposal of advanced students in George Washington University. It should be understood that those who are desirous of studying the abnormal mental life may be afforded opportunity to enter these laboratories after their applications have been passed upon by the superintendent of the hospital. Each laboratory is under the charge of an officer of the hospital, both of whom are engaged constantly in research work in their special fields. In the case of the pathological laboratory the annual reports of the hospital, with some supplementary ones issued specially for the purpose, will indicate some of the work done in that department. See also the report of the hospital for 1907, page 24, outlining the creation of the psychological laboratory. The facilities of these laboratories are extended to those pursuing original investigations, to students doing graduate work, and to others whose applications may be approved by the superintendent of the hospital.

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