NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, an American scientific society founded in Washington in 1888, "for the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge." Its membership in 1929 was 1,200,000, of whom 77,00o resided in 88 other countries. In the field of research it has sent expeditions to many parts of the world, some wholly financed by it, others in collaboration with other institutions and organizations. The expeditions it has sent out to study the processes of volcanism and seismology, including studies at Mont Pelee, Messina, Mt. Katmai and the Pavlof area brought new light on these earth processes and resulted in the discovery of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in Alaska, the greatest pre-geyser land known, which has been established as a national monument by proclamation of the U.S. president. In tracing the ancient civilizations of the New World the society, in conjunction with Yale university, unearthed the ancient Inca retreat, Machu Picchu, in Peru, and in a series of eight expeditions unearthed the even more ancient community of Pueblo Bonito, N.M., and laid the foundations for the co-ordination of the tree
ring calendar with our own and the establishment therefrom of an American chronology antedating the discovery of America by many centuries. In supporting active polar research the society aided Admiral Peary in all his Arctic work, sent the MacMillan Byrd expedition to the Arctic (1925) and helped to finance the Byrd Antarctic expedition of 1928-29. In aiding solar research the society made the grants that provided the observatory and mainte nance of the Brukkaros station of the Smithsonian Institution. In the field of spreading geographic knowledge the society pub lishes the National Geographic Magazine, which every member receives, issues a bulletin service for the daily press of the world, furnishes the schools of the United States with material for cur rent-event geography and pictorial geography text in loose-leaf form. It also issues scientific monographs and publishes a widely distributed series of maps. (G. GR.)