The system has now attained a great development, and increases measurably every year. The expenses hitherto have been principally borne by the Institution, but their amount has now become so great as seriously to interfere with other operations, and I therefore think it advisable that a charge be made, to the parties receiving a certain amount of packages annually, sufficient to reimburse some of the outlay of the Smithsonian funds. What would not be felt by each one individually would, in the aggregate, materially lessen the burden of expense connected with this part of the operations, which amounted, in 1857, to about $3,000.

The expenses of the Smithsonian exchanges would be considerably greater than they are but for the liberality of various transportation companies in carrying packages free of cost. No charge on freight is made by the United States Mail Steamship Company, the Panama Railroad, or the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, forming the mail line from New York to San Francisco, while the agents of the line in these two cities, Messrs. I. W. Raymond and A. B. Forbes, serve the Institution in various ways. The California Express Agency of Wells, Fargo & Co., has also acted with the greatest liberality, and the same should be stated of the old line of Bremen and New York steamers. None of the domestic agents of distribution-namely, Hickling, Swan & Brewer, of Boston; D. Appleton & Co., New York; J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia; John Russell, Charleston; B. M. Norman, New Orleans; Dr. Wislizenus, St. Louis; H. W. Derby, Cincinnati; and Henry P. B. Jewett, of Cleveland-make any charge for services; and the same may also be said of Messrs. Oelrichs & Lürman, of Baltimore.

The amount of labor involved in the exchanges is, of course, very great, as will be readily inferred from an examination of the tables of receipts and transmissions during the past year, given by Professor Baird. The entries in the several record books fill over 700 pages; the circulars, invoices, and acknowledgments, exceed 4,300, in addition to over 600 receipts for packages. For a detailed account of all the operations of the exchanges I would refer to the accompanying report of Professor Baird.

Explorations, researches, &c.-It was stated in the last report that the magnetic instruments belonging to the Institution were given in charge of Baron Müller, for investigations in Mexico and Central America. Two series of records of observations have been received, but for nearly a year past nothing further has been heard from the expedition. We should regret the loss of the instruments, although

the cost of them has been more than repaid by the services they have rendered to science in the Arctic expedition under Dr. Kane, and in the results which have already been obtained from them in Mexico.

The self-registering apparatus in the observatory on the Smithsonian grounds, established at the joint expense of the Coast Survey and the Institution, has continued to record the variations in the horizontal direction of the magnetic force during a considerable portion of the past year. The interruptions which have taken place have been principally caused by the impurities of the city gas, the exhalalations from which have interfered with the photographic process. The records obtained, however, will furnish valuable data for studying, in connexion with similar observations in other parts of the globe, the character of the magnetic force, and to assist in determining how far the changes are merely local, or to what extent they affect the whole earth.

Laboratory.-During the past year the laboratory has been under the charge of Dr. E. W. Hilgard, recently appointed State geologist of Mississippi. Among others, a series of experiments was made by him, under direction of the Secretary, at the expense of the Navy Department, relative to the vapor from a modification of bi-sulphuret of carbon as a substitute for steam applied to mechanical purposes. The result of these investigations was unfavorable to the substitution of this material in the way proposed. Although a greater amount of pressure is produced at the same temperature than in the case of steam, yet the amount of work relative to the absolute quantity of heat employed is by no means in accordance with this, the density of the vapor and its greater specific heat require a corresponding amount of fuel, and when we consider the fact that the bi-sulphuret of carbon is not a natural but a factitious substance, of which the vapor, when combined with air, is highly explosive and extremely offensive on account of its odor and the greater complexity of the engine required for its use, its application in the place of steam would be far from advantageous.

Another series of investigations was conducted in the laboratory relating to the prevention of counterfeiting bank notes, particularly by photography; but as this was intended especially for private use, the expenses were paid by the parties interested.

The Institution does not consider it a part of its duty to volunteer an opinion as to the practicability of the new projects with which the public mind is frequently agitated; but when directly called upon by the government or other parties of influence to pronounce a judgment

on any point of practical or applied science, it does not shrink from the responsibility, but, after diligent and cautious inquiry, gives the conclusions, whatever they may be, at which it has arrived.

Library.-Extensive alterations are in the process of being made in the wing of the building appropriated to the library, for the better accommodation of the bocks. The shelving has been arranged in two stories of alcoves, thereby more than doubling the space. Each lower alcove is separately secured by a door; a precaution which has been found necessary in the library of the Institution as well as in that of Congress. It is a fact to be regretted, but which it is necessary to mention in order to vindicate the restrictions imposed upon an indiscriminate access to the books, that there is in some quarters a lamentable want of honesty with regard to the use of property of a public character. Not only are works in many cases mutilated, merely to avoid the labor of copying a few pages, but valuable sets are sometimes broken by actual theft.

The appropriation for the library must not alone be measured by the sum assigned for the "cost of books;" it must be recollected that the library is principally increasing by means of the exchanges; that every year the Institution sends abroad, besides all the public documents which it can procure, some hundreds of copies of the quarto volumes of its transactions, the marketable value of which is several thousand dollars. It therefore ought to be distinctly understood that the library is constantly increasing by the addition of the most valuable series of the transactions of literary and scientific societies in all parts of the world, and that this is at the expense of what are denominated the active operations of the Institution. It is true the number of books directly purchased is comparatively small, but indirectly procured in the way stated the annual addition is valuable.

Among the numerous donations received during the past year it is of course impossible in this report to particularize more than a few of the most important. The Academies of Science of Vienna, St. Petersburg, and of Brussels, have all contributed largely both of their older and more recent issues. The Real Sociedad Economica, of Havana, has been particularly liberal in this respect, furnishing nearly complete series for many years back, as have also the Horticultural societies of Paris and Berlin. The most extensive single gift during the year has been that of the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles, in 72 volumes, and the Histoire Naturelle des Mammirfèes, of Buffon and Daubenton, in 15 volumes, from the Herzogliche Bibliothek der

Friedensteinschen Sammlungen, Gotha. The British Admiralty has contributed a full set of all the charts published by it during the year. We may also mention, as an object of special interest of this class, a valuable set of historical maps, presented by Justus Perthes, the celebrated geographical publisher of Gotha, exhibiting the political condition of Europe from the beginning of the third century down to the time of the crusades. The limits of the several empires are exhibited by different colors, and the whole are on such a scale as to be adapted for instruction in schools or academies. To render this interesting work more generally known in this country, it is proposed to exhibit the maps in the reading room and to translate and print the pamphlet of explanations for the use of the visiters to the Institution.

Among the curiosities of the library received during the past year the most prominent is an ornamental album, presented through the Department of State, from Miss Contaxaki, a native of the isle of Crete. This work was designed as a contribution to the universal exhibition at Paris in 1855, where it received a diploma for the artistic merit displayed in its execution. The "Classical Bouquet," as it is called, consists of illustrations of the principal monuments and places in Greece, to which are added a few from the author's native isle of Crete. These illustrations are accompanied by quotations from the most illustrious Greek authors, beautifully illuminated, while many of the pages are adorned with pressed flowers culled from the places which the drawings represent. The book itself is a large quarto, covered with blue velvet heavily embroidered, and lettered with silver. It is inclosed in a case, inade of olive wood of the country, about a foot and a half square, richly carved and ornamented with appropriate devices. This work was transmitted to the United States through Charles C. Spence, esq., and affords a favorable specimen as well of the present state of the arts in that country, which was the birthplace of the true and the beautiful, as of the talents, the taste, and the unwearied industry of the lady who devised and principally executed it.

The library possesses an extensive collection of pamphlets, including the separate theses of the candidates for graduation or honors at the German universities; also a series of the annual reports of the public institutions and societies in this country. During the past year these have been classified, a large number of them bound, and the remainder arranged in pasteboard boxes, labeled and placed on the shelves as volumes.

The binding of the books received through exchange continues to be a large item of expense, and we have devoted the remainder of the appropriation for the library, not expended in the purchase of books or for clerical service, to this object.

In relation to the books received by the copyright law, I have but little to say in addition to what has been stated in preceding reports. The provisions of the act are still disregarded, to a considerable extent, by the larger publishers, and, as a general rule, works are received of but little value in themselves and inconsistent with the character of the library of the Institution. Though the cost of postage has been diminished by the law of Congress authorizing the free transmission of copyrights, yet it has by no means exempted the Institution from a large item of expense on this account. The publishers frequently inclose within the packages letters relating to the proper direction of the certificates and other matter pertaining to the copyright, and by a decision of the Post Office Department all such communications are charged with letter postage. Though the sum in each case appears insignificant, yet in the aggregate it may amount, in the course of a year, to several hundred dollars; and since the system from the beginning has been of no real benefit to the Institution, we have addressed a circular to each publisher who forwards a copyright and neglects to pay the postage on the accompanying letters, apprising him of the fact.

In conclusion, I may state that though the copyright law was undoubtedly intended to enrich the library of the Institution, yet the non-compliance with it of some of the principal publishers, and the reception of a large amount of worthless matter involving expense in its transportation and care has entirely defeated this object. The cost of the system has been at least ten times greater than the value of the books received; nor is this all; a compliance with the act has constantly subjected the Institution to unmerited censure. We have therefore been a loser both in funds and in the friendly feeling of an influential portion of the community, and it is to be hoped that Congress will, at its present session, essentially modify the existing law. The deposit of a single copy of each article in the Patent Office, instead of the three now sent to Washington, would be sufficient to secure the rights of the author, and answer all the objects of a complete collection of this class of American publications.

Museum.-The general plan and objects of the collections which have been assiduously formed through the agency of the Smithsonian