Excerpt from Explorations and Field-Work of the Smithsonian Institution in 1927 The purpose of the Smithsonian Institution as stated by its founder, James Smithson, is "the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The first part of this dual mission is accomplished through research and exploration; the second part through 12 series of publications. Because the research of the Institution is wholly in the field of pure science, the large majority of these publications are technical in character, being therefore of interest primarily to the student and the specialist. Besides occasional works in its regular series which prove to have a popular appeal, two Smithsonian publications are issued, however, for the definite purpose of attracting the general reader to matters of scientific interest. These are the Smithsonian Reports with their general appendixes of authoritative articles reviewing in non-technical language the yearly advance along the scientific front, and the annual Smithsonian Exploration and Field-Work pamphlets started in 1912 to inform the public of Smithsonian activities in scientific exploration. It is the hope of the Institution that this present pamphlet, covering the year 1927, will lend the reader something of the fascination of scientific field-work, and also illustrate the wide scope of Smithsonian efforts to increase knowledge. In fairness to the Institution, it should be added that it has almost no unrestricted funds for field-work. Practically all of the expeditions sent out each year are made possible either through the help of generous friends and patrons of the Institution, or through cooperative arrangements with other scientific agencies whereby costs and collections are shared. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.