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nies and the British Provinces not so fully, while the country south of Washington is, in this respect, almost entirely unexplored. The author as well as the Institution is indebted to Mr. Samuel Powel, of Newport, Rhode Island, an amateur and patron of science, for the devotion of much time and practical skill to the preparation of magnified photographs of the wings, from which the illustrations presented on the steel plates were reduced. This volume contains 345 pages, illustrated with four plates and seven woodcuts.

Among the memoirs accepted for publication, and formerly described, is one by Dr. John Dean, giving the results of a series of microscopical investigations of the medulla oblongata. This paper was stereotyped and about to be published as a part of the 13th volume of the Contributions, when the expensive steel plates for its illustration were destroyed by the fire of 1865. Owing to the absence of Dr. Dean in Europe, a considerable delay has occurred in procuring a new set of these illustrations. The stereotype plates of the letter-press were, fortunately, preserved, and we are now ready to publish an edition of the memoir for distribution as a part of the 16th volume of the Contributions.

Since the last report an elaborate work founded principally on original research has been presented to the Institution, by Lewis H. Morgan, esq., of Rochester, New York. It is on the systems of relationship adopted by different races and tribes of men. About 20 years ago the author found in use among the Iroquois Indians, of the State of New York, a system for the designation and classification of family relationship of a singular character and wholly unlike any with which he was previously familiar. Under this system, for example, all the children of the several brothers and sisters of an individual are considered as his own children; all the brothers of his father are habitually regarded and addressed as his own father; all the sisters of his mother as his mother, &c. Mr. Morgan afterwards found the same system in use among other Indian nations, in which, while every term of relationship was radically different from the corresponding terms in the Iroquois, the classification was the same. Extending the research to other fields of inquiry, he found before the close of 1859 that the same system prevailed among the principal Indian nations east of the Rocky mountains, and that traces of it existed both in the Sandwich Islands and in south India. He therefore resolved to prosecute the investigation upon a still more comprehensive scale, and to attempt, if possible, to investigate the systems adopted by the different families of mankind. This, however, required a more extensive foreign correspondence than a private individual could hope successfully to maintain. He therefore made application to the different boards of foreign missions, and also to the Smithsonian Institution, for such co-ope ration in the furtherance of his object as it might be in their power to afford. The Institution accordingly issued circulars and schedules, which were distributed to its correspondents in all parts of the world. Through his own immediate labors and the assistance just mentioned,

the author has been able to construct tables of relationship of as many as 70 Indian nations, speaking as many independent dialects, and also tables of the systems of the principal nations of Europe and Asia, a portion of those of Africa, of Central and South America, and of the islands of the Pacific. The tabulated schedules will represent the systems of relationship of upwards of four-fifths of the entire human family. The memoir presents in a brief form the following systems or methods of indicating the relations of consanguinity: 1st. That of the Aryan family, as typified by the Roman form. 2d. That of the Malayan family, as indicated by the Hawaiian mode. 3d. That of the American Indian family, as represented by the Seneca-Iroquois. According to the author's generalizations all these systems of consanguinity resolve themselves into two radically distinct forms, one of which he calls the descriptive and the other the classificatory form. The first assumes as its fundamental basis the antecedent existence of marriage between single pairs. Before it could have come into existence mankind must have made some advances in civilization; it follows the regular course of descent, describing each individual with reference to his parental derivation. In the second form the relation of consanguinity is only given in classes, the same term of consanguinity being applied to a number of persons not standing in precisely the same proximity of actual relationship. This system, according to the author, seems to indicate that it was adopted in a state of society in which marriage between single pairs was unknown or exceptional. This memoir was first referred to a commission, consisting of Professor J. H. McIlvaine and Professor William Henry Green, of Princeton, New Jersey, who recommended its publication, but advised certain changes in the method of presenting the subject. After these modifications had been made it was submitted to the American Oriental Society and was by it referred to a special committee, consisting of Messrs. Hadley, Trumbull, and Whitney, who, having critically examined the memoir, reported that it contained a series of highly interesting facts which they believed the students of philology and ethnology, though they might not accept all the conclusions of the author, would welcome as valuable contributions to science. Besides the foregoing the following papers have been accepted for publication and are now in the hands of the printer:

The Indians of Cape Flattery: by J. G. Swan; Investigation of the Path of a Meteoric Fire-ball: by Professor J. H. Coffin, of Lafayette College; Description of a part of a Mummy Case: by Dr. Charles Pickering; Land and Fresh-water Shells of North America: by W. G. Binney and Thos. Bland.

In addition to the foregoing the discussion and reduction of all the observations relative to the rainfall of the north American continent have been completed and will be published during 1869. The whole amount expended during the past year for publications was about $6,800.

A larger sum, however, will be required for this purpose during the present year.

The Smithsonian Institution is now in possession of a large amount of manuscript material relative to the natural history, geology, and ethnology of the whole of the northern part of the American continent, extending from Labrador to Behring's straits, and northward to the Arctic sea, including Greenland and the vicinity of Von Wrangell's land. These materials have been derived principally from special explorations, directed by the Smithsonian Institution, and with the co-operation to a greater or less extent of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. They have been gathered by the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, at their stations in various parts of the northern portion of the continent, by the scientific corps of the Russian telegraph expedition, and by special explorers acting under the immediate auspices of the Institution. That part which relates to natural history is now nearly ready for the press, and will probably be published during the coming year, while that relative to physical geography is in an advanced stage of preparation. This includes all the scientific reports made to the Russian telegraph company by its employés, and liberally furnished, by the company or its officers, to the Institution. The material also contains a large number of vocabularies as well as other information relative to the languages of the country, which we hope soon to have in a proper state for publication. All these contributions, together with the observations of Kane, McClintock, and Hayes, which have been discussed and published by the Institution, form no small addition to the knowledge of the North American continent, and will forever remain a monument of the munificence and a memorial of the name of Smithson.

The annual report for the year 1867 was printed as usual by order of Congress, and the extra number of 10,000 copies ordered as heretofore. In addition to the report of the secretary, giving an account of the operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution for the year, and the proceedings of the Board of Regents to May 2, 1868, it contains the following articles: biographical notices of Professor C. C. Jewett, formerly librarian of the Institution; of William Henry Harvey, of Dublin, author of an extensive work on Algae, published by the Institution; memoirs of Legendre, Peltier, and Faraday; a sketch of the history of the Royal Institution of Great Britain; a memoir on the family Jussieu, and the natural method of classification in botany; the natural history of organized bodies; the electrical currents of the earth; considerations and facts relative to electricity; queries about expression for anthropological inquiry; the various modes of flight in relation to æronautics; man as the cotemporary of the mammoth and reindeer in middle Europe; photo-chemistry; an account of the astronomical observations at Dorpat and Poulkova; traces of the early mental condition of man, account of Indian remains, ancient mounds, &c.; explorations in Central America and Lake Winnepeg; sketch of the flora of

Alaska; various letters on meteorology; prize questions of societies in Europe; and a list of abbreviations used in England at the present time. This publication is constantly growing in popularity, and, next to the report of the Agricultural Department, no document is in greater demand. We may mention, as a proof of this, that a considerable portion of the copies allowed the Institution for distribution among its own correspondents has been absorbed, during the last year, in meeting the applications of members of Congress for the supply of their constituents. In complying with these applications we have never failed to represent that a larger edition of the report is highly desirable for distribution, both by the Institution and Congress, and that an addition of 5,000 copies to the number which has been printed would cost comparatively but a trifle after the stereotype plates have been placed upon the cylinder of the printing press.

Explorations and collections in natural history.-From the first establishment of the Smithsonian Institution until the present time a considerable portion of its annual resources has been devoted to explorations for the development of the natural productions of North and Central America, particularly in relation to zoology, botany, and mineralogy. Of late years a number of other institutions have entered the same field, either independently or in co-operation with this Institution. Foremost among those which have made separate explorations is the great museum of comparative zoology at Cambridge, under the direction of Professor Agassiz. The late expedition of this renowned naturalist to South America has been crowned with a larger collection of specimens in zoology than has ever been obtained through the exertions of private enterprise. Among societies which have co-operated during the past year with the Smithsonian, and scarcely in a rank below any other in regard to zeal and efficiency, are the Chicago Academy of Science, the Boston Society of Natural History, and the Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology of Cambridge, Mass., as also the Kentucky University of Lexington. In giving an account of what has been done during the year under review in the line of natural history we shall adopt, as in previous reports, the geographical order.

In reference to Arctic America the contributions from Mr. Macfarlane and Mr. McDougal of the Mackenzie river district have added largely to the materials previously received from that region, and are of special interest in regard to Oölogy. The last invoice from Mr. Macfarlane is fully equal to those with which he has favored the Institution in previous years, and entitles him to the credit of being the largest contributor to the Smithsonian collections, and of having done more than any other person in making known the productions and character of the regions he has explored. The record of specimens bearing his name already amounts to over ten thousand entries, including some of the choicest contributions to natural history and ethnology. A collection of birds

and eggs, including some new species of the latter from west of Lake Winnipeg, has been received from Mr. Donald Gunn, and of insects and birds from the vicinity of Hudson's bay from Mr. James Lockhart and Mr. B. R. Ross, to both of whom acknowledgments for valuable services have been frequently rendered in previous reports.

Mr. W. H. Dall, who was mentioned in the last report as having succeeded Mr. Kennicott as chief of the natural history corps of the Russian telegraph expedition, remained after the abandonment of that enterprise to continue his explorations among the Indians and Esquimaux along the Yukon, and within the Arctic Circle, including the most northern part of our new possessions. He has just returned and brought with him a valuable collection of the natural productions, as well as illustrations of the ethnology of the regions he has visited. Mr. Dall visited Sitka with the telegraph expedition, in 1865, then went to the Aleutian islands, and afterwards to Plover bay, in Eastern Siberia. He spent the winter of 1866 in the vicinity of St. Michael's, Norton's sound; went the next spring, with a single companion, to Fort Yukon, near the headwaters of the river of the same name, and continued his explorations on either side of the Arctic Circle until September, when he returned to Norton's sound to report the result of his labors to the engineer-in-chief of the telegraphic expedition. But learning that the enterprise had been abandoned, he concluded to remain in the country and continue the exploration on his own account. In the prosecution of this purpose he left St. Michael's in October, and spent the following winter among the Indians and Esquimaux, in the region between the Yukon and Norton's sound. In the spring he descended the Yukon, and in July commenced his homeward journey. His collections are rich in birds, eggs, plants, smaller animals, fish, fossils, and especially in ethnological illustrations. He also made copious notes on the physical geography, geology, and meteorology of the country. The first winter-1866-67-was very cold, the thermometer descending, near Nulato, as low as 68° below zero. The second was much warmer; rain fell almost every day, and, with the exception of one occasion, the thermometer ranged from 100 below to So or 100 above the freezing point. As if, however, to compensate for this, the spring was longer and colder than had been known for 16 previous years. The short summers are quite warm, no snow remaining on the ground. Rapidly growing vegetables are cultivated by the Russian traders, such as turnips, radishes, and lettuce. An attempt to grow potatoes failed at St. Michael's, although a similar experiment is said to have been successful at Fort Yukon. This part of the country is of no value in an agricultural point of view, but affords an abundance of rich furs. It is thickly wooded in the interior, principally with spruce, poplar, and willow. Mr. Dall was kindly entertained by the inhabitants, who, on all the coasts north of the Aleutian islands and on that of the Arctic sea, consist of Esquimaux, while the inhabitants of the interior are Indians.

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