These records document the administration of the Smithsonian during most of the tenure of Samuel P. Langley, its third Secretary. Records of the SAO and NZP are covered in great detail here. Bureaus which were created or substantially changed during these years include the Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE), the SAO, the NZP, and the Freer Gallery of Art. Langley's own papers were destroyed by fire soon after his death; but a significant amount of his research in astrophysics and aerodynamics ("aerodromics," as he called it) is preserved in the records of the Secretary's office. These records also document the Institution's only two significant financial embarrassments: the embezzlement of Smithsonian trust funds by William W. Karr, and a smaller speculation in BAE funds.