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tinue the system, at least in its present dimensions; and we embrace this occasion again to express acknowledgments for the efficient aid thus rendered to the cause of science and to the promotion of kindly feeling between the United States and the other nations of the world. The following are the companies to which special thanks are due, namely, The Pacific Mail Steamship Company, North German Lloyd. Hamburg American Steamship Company, General Transatlantic Steamship Company, Pacific Steam Navigation Company, Inman Steamship Company, Cunard Steamship Company, California and Mexico Steamship Company, and Panama Railroad Company. To this list must be added several other lines which have granted similar facilities during the past year, namely, the Mexican Steamship Company, Union Pacific Railroad, United States and Brazil Steamship Company, North German Lloyd, (Baltimore line,) and the Atlantic Mail Steamship Company.

Acknowledgments are also due for favors rendered in connection with foreign exchanges to E. J. Davison, esq., Argentine consul; José I. Sanchez, esq., consul of Venezuela; Señor B. Blanco, consul-general of Guatemala; L. H. J. d'Aguiar, consul-general of Brazil; R. C. Burlage, consul-general of Netherlands; Hon. E. Gutierez, minister from Costa Rica; to the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions; Real Sociedad Economica, Havana; Board of Foreign Missions, New York; American Colonization Society, Washington; Society of Geography and Statistics, Mexico; University of Chili; Bataviaasche Genootschap, Java; Institute of History, Geography, and Ethnology, of Rio Janeiro.

The Institution frequently receives applications from foreign governments and societies for official publications of the States or general gov ernment relative to certain branches of political economy, statistics, education, &c. During the last year a request of this kind was received from the Belgian government, desiring us to procure all the publications of the States in regard to public schools. In answer to our circular asking for these documents, a large and valuable collection was received, for which the thanks of the Institution were returned to the following persons, namely: to A. Rogers, second auditor of Virginia; T. Jordan, secretary of state, Pennsylvania; S. C. Jackson, assistant secretary Board of Education, Massachusetts; J. A. Morris, school commissioner, Ohio; N. Bateman, superintendent education, Illinois; C. J. Hoadley, state librarian, Connecticut; F. Rodman, secretary of state, Missouri; R. A. Barker, secretary of state, Kansas; Ed. Wright, secretary of state, Iowa; C. W. Wright, secretary of state, Delaware; J. E. Tenney, secretary of state, Michigan; and the secretary of state, Wisconsin.

Another application of a similar character was received from the government of Norway for the publications of the United States relative to military affairs, which, on being referred to the heads of departments and bureaus, secured a large number of the desired publications. Acknowledgments for these favors are due to General E. D. Townsend, adjutant general; General A. A. Humphreys, chief engineer United

States army; Surgeon General Barnes; Paymaster General Brice; General Dyer, chief of ordnance; Commodore Jenkins, chief of bureau of ordnance and hydrography, Navy Department; General Myer, chief signal officer.

For official co-operation with the Institution in its various plans for the promotion of knowledge and important assistance rendered, besides the foregoing, we may mention Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State; Hon. Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury; Hon. Horace Capron, Commissioner of Agriculture; General Meigs, Quartermaster General; Mr. Spofford, librarian of Congress; Professor J. H. C. Coffin, superintendent Nautical Almanac; and Commodore Sands, of the National Observatory.

In 1867 a proposition was made to the Institution by the librarian of Congress relative to establishing and conducting a system of exchange of official documents between the government of the United States and those of other nations. In accordance with this, a circular was addressed to the different governments having relations with the United States for the purpose of ascertaining their views as to such an exchange. In every case the proposition was regarded with favor, and at the ensuing session of Congress an act was passed directing that 50 full sets of all documents published at the Government Printing Office should be set apart for the purpose in question, and appropriating a sufficient sum to defray the necessary expenses. Unfortunately, however, Congress neglected to direct the public printer to strike off the necessary copies for this purpose, in addition to the regular number previously required for the use of the government, and it was not until recently that the necessary legislation was procured to remedy this omission. As soon as the printing of the documents of the present session of Congress is completed, the exchange proposed will be initiated. In anticipation of the receipt of the annual supply of the documents of our government, several large packages containing documents of foreign countries have been already received.

At the commencement of the system of international exchanges, great delay and considerable expense were incurred in consequence of customhouse requirements and tariff duties, but as the importa:: ce of the system. became more evident, and the reputation of the Institution better established, one government after another consented to the entrance of packages without examination and free of all restrictions, until at the present time there is no exception to this practice.

The first effort towards the establishment of this desirable condition of free intercourse was made in 1852, through Sir Henry Bulwer, then minister from Great Britain to the United States. Through his recommendations the British authorities at first permitted the entry of such books from the Institution intended as presents to learned bodies as might be recommended for that privilege by the Royal Society of London. This, though an important concession, was still attended with consider

able delay, and on further solicitation the rule was so relaxed that at present the Smithsonian agent finds no difficulty in obtaining the passage of the packages at a mere nominal charge through the custom-house. With the precedent of the British authorities the Institution experienced no difficulty in making a satisfactory arrangement with the French officers of customs. Packages for Germany and central Europe, addressed to our agent, Dr. Flugel, are entered at Bremen or Hamburg, then transferred to the Leipsic custom-house, from which they are released on the formal application of the agent to the authorities of the Zolverein. Parcels for Belgium and Holland are entered at Amsterdam, which is a free port. Those for Italy are entered at Genoa, which is also a port of free entry. In all cases of transmission of packages an invoice of the contents is sent to the agent, which serves as the basis of his application for remission of duties and charges.

Library. The works which have been received from all parts of the world in return for the Smithsonian publications, after being recorded at the Institution, have been transferred to the national library in ac-' cordance with the rules given in former reports. They are there under the care of an accomplished librarian and a corps of able assistants, accessible to all persons who desire to consult them, during every weekday of the whole year, with the exception of a month in summer. The transfer of the library of the Institution still continues to be approved by all who have attentively considered the advantages it affords to the Institution, the government and the public. It has relieved the Smithson fund of a serious burden in the cost of binding and cataloguing the books, in the pay of a librarian and his assistants, and in the expense of the maintenance of a separate establishment. It has enriched the library of Congress with a class of valuable works which could scarcely be procured by purchase, and it has facilitated the use of the books by collecting them in one locality, under the same system, readily accessible to the public. Some special works required for immediate use are still occasionally purchased, and besides these a working library is retained at the Institution, principally, however, of duplicate volumes, while such series as are needed for special investigation are brought back for the purpose. The care of these and the cost of those purchased make up the small expenditure given in the report of the executive committee under the head of the library.

The Library of Congress, or, as we think it should now be denominated, the "National Library," contains about 180,000 volumes, exclusive of unbound pamphlets and periodicals, and is rapidly increasing, the accessions during the year ending December 1, 1868, according to the report of Mr. Spofford, the librarian, amounting to 8,498. This library is emphatically a library of progress, for while it continues to increase by purchase in its own series of standard works of all times, its additions, through the contributions to it of the Institution, include the trans

actions of the principal learned societies of the world, or the works which mark more definitely than any other publications the actual advance of the age in higher civilization.

An idea has, in some cases, been entertained abroad that the Institution, since the transfer of the library, no longer desires to receive books, but measures have been taken to counteract this impression and to assure Societies and other correspondents that no change in this respect has taken place in the policy of the Institution, and that books on all subjects. are still desired both for its own collections and for presentation to other establishments in this country.

The following is a statement of the books, maps, and charts received by exchange in 1868:

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The following are some of the larger donations received in 1868: From the Royal Northern University, Christiania, 24 volumes and 27 pamphlets.

The Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen, 9 volumes and 8 pamphlets.

The Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 25 volumes and 27 pamphlets.

From His Majesty the King of Prussia, "Kunstdenkmäler des christfichen Mittelalter in den Rheinlanden," 1st part, vol. iii. "Preussen's Schlösser und Residenzen, von A. Duncker," vol. ix, and "Scriptores Rerum Prussicarum," vol, iii; all in continuation of works previously

sent.

The Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Pesth, 51 volumes and 178 pamphlets.

The Ducal Library, Oldenburg, 34 volumes, consisting of a series of state calendars and other statistical works.

From J. G. Cotta, Augsburg, 11 volumes:

From H. De Saussure, Geneva, 10 volumes and 13 pamphlets:

From the Chamber of Commerce, Bordeaux, 7 volumes:

The Société Imp. des Sciences, de l'Agriculture et des Arts, Lille, 12 volumes of "Memoires:"

The Société d'encouragement pour l'Industrie Nationale, Paris, 14 volumes "Bulletin:"

The Société Imperiale et Centrale d'Agriculture, Paris, 26 volumes "Memoires," 12 volumes "Bulletin."

From the Museum de Douai, 11 volumes and 15 pamphlets: consisting principally of transactions and proceedings of societies.

National Library, Madrid, 12 volumes and 15 pamphlets.

The Meteorological Office, London, 6 volumes, 37 pamphlets, and 16 charts.

The Hydrographic Office, London, 6 volumes, 10 pamphlets, and 43 charts, giving the results of the latest maritime surveys.

From the National Library of Greece, Athens, 112 volumes and 39 pamphlets, principally on the philosophy and literature of ancient Greece. Thomason College of Civil Engineering, Rourkee, 13 volumes and 44 pamphlets.

Royal Asiatic Society (North China branch) Shanghai, 4 volumes "Journal."

Library of Parliament, Melbourne, 10 volumes and 14 pamphlets. Real Sociedad Economica de la Habana, 630 volumes, 13 pamphlets, and 1 chart.

University and Government of Chili, Santiago, 58 volumes, 13 pamphlets, and 30 charts.

Massachusetts State Library, 11 volumes.

Ohio State Library, 10 volumes.

Vermont State Library, 11 volumes.

But, perhaps one of the most interesting contributions is a work relative to history and philology published in folio parts of fac-similes of the national manuscripts of England, presented by Right Honorable the Secretary of State for War. These fac-similes are executed with minute precision as to accuracy, by the photozincographic process, under the direc tion of Colonel H. James of the ordnance department. The series includes documents belonging to each reign, from William the Conqueror to Queen Anne, arranged chronologically so as to illustrate the changes in the handwriting, and the language of different periods of English history. A translation is given of each document into modern English, together with a short account of its history. The first volume extends from William the Conqueror to Henry VII, and includes autographs of each sovereign, beginning with that of Richard II, and of many princes, prelates and nobles, whose names have become famous in history. Among the number are a series during the reign of Richard III, and several from the king himself.

The second part is made up of fac-similes selected from the public records of the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. Among them are holograph letters, and autographs of Henry VIII, Queen Catharine of Aragon, Cardinal Wolsey, the Emperor Charles V, Anne Boleyn, Archbishop Cranmer, Queen Catharine Parr, Ann of Cleves, &c. The

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