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ANNUAL REPORT
BOARD OF REGENTS SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
THE OPERATIONS, EXPENDITURES, AND CONDITION OF THE INSTITUTION
iwkay 2 tesS -
—— > o> oe
WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFIC3, I8-9'03
Firty-Frrst CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION.
Concurrent resolution adopted by the House of Representatives May 27, 1890, and by the Senate, June 17, 1890.
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That there be printed of the Report of the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum for the years ending June 30, 1888, and June 30, 1889, in two octavo volumes for each year, 16,000 copies; of which 3,000 copies shall be for the use of the Senate, 6,000 for the use of the House of Representatives, and7,000 for the use of the Smithsonian Institution.
IL
LETTER
FROM THE
SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
ACCOMPANYING
The annual report of the Board of Regents of that Institution to the end of June, 1888.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, D. C., July 1, 1888. To the Congress of the United States:
In accordance with section 5593 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, I have the honor, in behalf of the Board of Regents, to submit to Congress the annual report of the operations, expenditures, anc con- dition of the Smithsonian Institution for the year ending June 30, 1888.
J have the honor to be, very respectfuily, your obedient servant,
S. P. LANGLEY, Sceretary of Smithsonian Institution. Hon. JOHN. J. INGALLS, President of the Senate, pro tem. Hon. JOHN G. CARLISLE, Speaker of the House of Representatives. lil
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION TO THE END OF JUNE, 1888.
SUBJECTS.
1. Proceedings of the Board of Regents for the sessions of January and March, 1888.
2. Report of the Executive Committee, exhibiting the financial affairs of the Institution, including a statement of the Smithson fund, and re- ceipts and expenditures for the year 1887—88.
3. Annual report of the Secretary, giving an account of the operations and condition of the Institution for the year 1887-83, with statistics of exchanges, ete.
4. General appendix, comprising a selection of miscellaneous memoirs of interest to collaborators and correspondents of the Institution, teachers, and others engaged in the promotion of knowledge.
The report of the National Museum for the year 1887-88 will be pub- lished in a separate volume.
XV
CON LiwN TS.
Page. Resolution of Congress to print extra copies of the Report..........-.....--. If Letter from the Secretary, submitting the Annual Report of the Regents to COMGIERS cocoon ssq6cs coonee canes ScoSctp. os néat Usetooesebde sosedboeso soeSce III General subjects of the Annual Report...--. aE ees ar eee ae eae ae ed a IV Contentsvof the Keport..--2)---)---- seine Peed eo SN be ce ree A Ae ec Vv List of Illustrations ..--- jose SE CHC SE oa Sass See serie Sec atesee VIII Members ex officio of the TD SO Poss see Sr eo Ne Se eee Se Fea 1X Recentsomine SnuvhsOnitanMNStibUblO Ny Sessile, soso oes elaie see Coes Seem soe ax JOURNAL OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS ..--- Bee sie sere XI Suaedmneevine namularyal lS88 oo japoieyye eee cites ene eae nee se ere XI Special meeting, March 27, 1888.-.........-. Aba GoBe Bee a Sea aace XVII REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE Gonmurnan for the year onan June 30, 1888... XXI Condimionotuhesundesinlyel. LesSie ee «seen aac eecte ances cere eee ee XXI RC COlpUSpOT UN OMY Cala tec seins Gace kos | onsite e crete 'etassis ial s Snel eice ainiee ween NEXT PROMI bUTES HOM LUO OAT. cia) jel acts ys sto eae Wea ese raacss cece eee DOU alOsHANGne-PAVMOEN LS 2. s.25. cases 5 coe cess cose ne cee cic eee cyoeree aethe XX Appropriation for mternabional/ exchanges... .-.- -. - 22 ceeeceecon sos cee XXII Details of expenditures of same .----- --- a heinetaiserciciejoe siejsatersicie aerate toes XXII Appropriation for North American Ethnology.-.-.-.-....-...----.-------- XXIII Details of expenditures of same ..--.---- Leone eee UES ancients OS Se OLY: Appropriation for Smithsonian Buiiding repairs ....-.......-..---..----- XXV WetallstomexpenaiUuUres OMBAMC ooo ac cet eee Sots sce cece cisccimscayeces =r XXV Appropriations tor the National Museum)... 5. -- 22222. sen-sse. so-e ce cece X XV Weal sO MexXpPeNdLWEES Ob SAMOL = = cscs cs < sisicie ssc ee Fe cece emese aeeveate XXVI GOnermlestnNM DLVies nee eri oe celsers oro win selsisen sate casetec cues aanoes Bie PEXOXOX
Incomerayallable torn Gnsuine Weary 2 Sec. oc. hes Se ctce rlmcleceeeees ec ne, KOR ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS relative to the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum, etc., for 1886, 1887, and 1888.-........-.. Slates Seca eye aio OORT
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
(REM OMG SONTAN SING TEDW RLON, <2 2 <)ci.c sl ois mjc cise ismaielc mtn: ne sins: cicels c's nie «olin 1 OMNI TORY ROMA TIC weaves fare Seiciaier see) cieriS is s/c ied sais <mic e eic).« ais cicieusepe eee 1 Unusualibereaviementiby, deathse <2. - 9. cei cnsc-pc oss ose neisice scence 1 Position and character of the Institution ---------..----.--.---.----- 2
Its property relation to the National Muscum.--.-....--.........---.- 3 Appointment of Dr. Goode, Assistant Secretary, as Fish Commissioner 3 Appointed by the Chancellor, Acting Secretary....-.----.-.-.------- 4
hes bOsTdOneweventsrocs.- 26 22c05cncs.<c 55 HE Ec Raa rE heen 4 WIGEITINOAS OHNE: TROON ae as DAS SOB OSESe Gen Oe ee Ee eS Sora Epp SE ene orenee 4 VERVE GTO iT BG POG eae ee eee 4
Vi
VI CONTENTS.
Page. Winances.-ceaee- sec dsere eia tee eect Senet eines sesdene es oa cwce nd acute 25s Gradual depreciation of incomes ses a-ceseisweelos-e eee eee nee eee 5 Just claims on the Government .-.-.---- Les arene Saeene eee eae Saose 6 Present totalicndowmentbeca-seces - es cee Stee Sosa See een ee eae 6 Appropriations under charge of the Institution....-..---- oeteaeiee sean G Estimates for the next fiscal year...--.-.----.--- ae =, saparesioe rotate sepsis 7 Correspondence relative to the assignment of Museum appropriations ---- - 8 Proposed transfer of Museum appropriations to the Institution --...--...- 12 Appropriation for international exchanges .----..- 55505 s65s0a556 Sonce escc" 12 Appropriation for preservation of collections, ete....-.-...-.......-..---- 3 Appropriation for North American Ethnology --2--..-- 2-2-2. soe == eee 13 Boldin gs os... .cstece - cismae tenuis sisi ee ents se ee eee eee Cee ee eee eer 14 Necessity for additional Museum accommodations....---.--..------.---- E 14 Sanitary condition of the Museum Building........-.-. -----------+-----e 15 Bilis introduced into the Senate for new building -.....--.-----....-- ee 15 Estimated cost of-new building, .$500;000)232- sass =4— aes eee eee eee eae ee 17 Senate bill for fire-proofing west wing of Institution.----.--...-......---- 17 Pire-proofing west connecting range, completed ..-.-....--.---.---.------ 17 Eexpense:0f same -... 22. ans eee a eee Cae eee eee eee PEO error 18 Researches 52.055 vexicccce ose tivicseicisis sis sell eee eboa tear neee eee Bete eae eee 19 Astro-physical observatory suggested!-- 2... 25. -- 2. seseieees core ene aecees 19 Philosophical apparatusion! hands. o=sc-eeee eee eee eee eran eee eereee 19 Preparation of a work, by Prof. E. D. Cope, on the reptiles and batrachians of North Ameritas. 22 sane oes coe ee eee ene ee ee eee eee 20 Bxplorabions 505.2325 seis, 2 Se See eee ee ae ee eee 20 Investigations in Japan, by Mr. Romyn Hitchcock. -.-.-....---..----..--. 21 Mineralosical-explorations®2= > os. 2-2 seen a ee ee eee eee eee 21 Explorations in natural history of the islands of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 21 ‘Poblications = 225.2. ks yas mea sae nee oe ee ee eee eee eee 21 Classés:of: publicationys2%3 s2./sa5.cse ajc ne Seine eee eee eee eee 21 Hxpense of contributions tothe Annual Report =... .22--- .2---seeess. see. 22 The science record unsatistactory, from delaiy~22s.e- eee eee eee 23 Act of Congress restricting i uabralbivoemet ten ees een eae 23 Publications of the Museum and Bureau of Ethnology..-.--.-.-..---- 24 Distribution of publicabhionsssss-s 2 oeee See eee ee 24 Rules and conditions of distribution....- oe Soa oeeeeee Sere 25 Hconomy-of publicationidemanded s-s5 eee seen sees eee 25 Proposed restriction of the Miscellaneous Collections..........- 26 Exchange system of the Institution 22-4. 4----2 ass = eee 26 Needfor more expeditians transmission-e-= = s=ssee- eee eee eee eee 27 Iixtension of the service for the Government.......-....-.-.------- 27 Oxricin-of this'service inw867, sesseeeee ees oo eee eeeeee eee ae 27 Relative costof thisservices:_ = = ses see a 28 - Increased-appropriations desiredyes-- ess ss2se ee eee eeeeeeeee 29 Causes of delay in foreign recelptsi.2o.22-csese ooo ae ee eee 30 Tabular statement of exchanges for the fiscal year..-..---- an annie = 31 Hstimated cost of- fast freight. e225 -22-- ee eee: eee eee 32 Preparation of new exchange lists of scientific periodicals..---.---- 33 Hxperienced) biblioeraphers | consulitedmss-jese seeee eee eee 34 Additional titles of periodicals furnished’ 2-2....- 2.222 -sose oe eee ee 35 library of the Institutions s:-22..250 ose eee ee eee eee Sects 37 Extent of deposit in the Library of Congress...-.......-.--c------ 37 Resignation of former librarian and appointment of new one.....-.- 38 New regulations for the Library.-.-.-. Te et sO Cee Sue ac Rae oe 39
4 CONTENTS. VII Page.
Publications—Continued. Library of the Institution—Continued.
Annual accessions deposited mainly in the Library of Congress.... -- 40 Total additions of books during the fiscal year.......-..--..-.....-- 40 Some of the more important accessions ....-...- eases Phe AP Saree ae Al OOO ICale patkesse= ceca Aa. = Sebi psoessocejbe SEtiehae RBAOSE ESaen SHEE 42 Collechionstof living animals)..22.52-222:-------.5-- Ava steisee Sterate eaeeies 42
Bill introduced in Senate for zoologica] park..--.....--.-.----.-----.-- 43 Favorable reception of the project by the press of the country ..----.- 44
Art and miscellaneous subjects....- Si ASG ORS ISO aS eis are a cet 45 JATHE COMI GUIIOI Ss on epepacic SEES SBOE CS Onsale wet or ee eee are 45 AGH O MMe i On rOOMs LOL SClON bILlG WOU s.soocs + <5 sen cn -~ ances sic ce : 46 NOM ETA CC HUME RUN Meer tat te ta amen nee ey cao ape ciss onic cern oes ease ase 47 AUMETIGAN EU STOLI CAA SSOCI A MOMS jcceece aoe eecisicc conc ceccts ses one. = 47 Highth centenary of the University of Bolopna-..-.....-...:---..---- 47 Cranistangesulscripblonss. so --— sees seen ss taisecce Behe est maar Hectares a3 48 Privilege of the floor of the House of Representatives...-.-..---..--.- 48 IVECEPUIOM aera tes rea oe. ee ae Sinise nee Seer eo ee eee 46 HNP LOVES Oleh NOP UM SUIUUbLOM sm sen tacts woes scree on siesis ecle = eo aioe 48 NERDS Cisse NATIT ON AT OMIUSINIMS: Saije iis cte enc ieye recto piatnalcnisiacte ale cleieis se sie a> 49 General considerations: -.-.---.------.-- Neo nee ne Stain sais ieete ee emia se 48 InsuLUclencyrot present DUldING: 25. ces5cc2- =~ sce oo tas AMA Se 50 Extent of the collections .----.-.--.-.-- SEA SES IS SE eter aera Sere 51 Papilamstabement ofsammial imCreas@s. 22-2222 e222 see ee cisioe ele he ele 52 Accessions received from the Departments of Government .-...----..----- 53 Lectures, and meetings in the Museum lecture hall...--.--.------- Sess 54 Poaneanionale wOrmotthem Museums ccise os J2-0 oe ae cine isicisa is siers = eeice ie 55 Pubiications of the Museum-..--..... CEASERS Re eC OES po EE nee SeEnoe = 56 ANdduinousio ches Muscuml Wibrary case c=-2'scee es cece] eta =o amie se 56 Collections made by the Museum during the year --....--- eee ee earn oie 57 Participation in the Minneapolis Exhibition..-........-..---. ie Crea C 58 Acf authorizing participation in the Cincinnati Exhibition........------- 59 Objections to the dispersion of Museum collections at frequent exhibitions . 61 BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY ...-- et Nae Oe Sater Bee eae ee eae eee 62 piveldiswoubkse = - esos sce see 2 epson aoe cs ese eRe eee 62 Mound explorations .---- See Sete eb ante e sce cis See os senses 2 62 General tieldystudieseesmo-co- csc osc cce scene saaees Janes se peaee aialeicets 64 Office -work=.2222.-42 22 =< Smee IS Me oN f SIN. By Sa dre eel Peat ates ne Sra, n aloes 69 mIMeMIshC researches =. s 54 - ses. ons secoece Ee ae eece REE OO rS 69 3ibliographies of North American languages in preparation .....----- 71 orci aga ies OIG CIE | 3 CoG eneGe Seed BEE BeOraLo COD eebIsBoceane 72 Publications of the Bureau...-...---- A) 38 Shee ae ere ae are DOSER OI Oc 74 LEAGUE 2 SN ie HE Sooo Be cesTeae 75 Chief-Justice Morrison R. Waite; Chancellor.._....:---.---------..----<- 75 Prof.S. F. Baird, Secretary ........---- fae fe ell cag ee ee RE A ar Ci Prof. Asa Gray, Regent.-.---. Rie aS Gee Rie ae gee eter eee 89 mene LN Ren MENG MONG a) sacs oc sel ay- Se ee (sin ae ~ Seren Samels secs se 91 be Ohatles had, Curator 2-2-2522. ..2.-.--- epee oe ae en eters See eae 91 CDRS ety Ta cies 55 Sie CA oe ee ea 92 RPEENDI< 10 REFORT OX THH SECRETARY .....-222- .-s-06 wecees eensee ee = 95 I. Programme of organization of the Smithsonian Institution .-.-..------ 95 Il. Smithsonian publications of the year.-..-......----.----------------- 99 III. Report of Curator of international exchanges -.---..---------------- 103 IV. Circulars respecting periodicals .......-----.- Pe EO Rene ae le 117
V. Organization of the Smithsonian Library ..--------- Perce mele
Vill CONTENTS,
GENERAL APPENDIX.
I. RECORD, OF SCIENCH KOR 1887 AND, 1888) ..2-.2 222. -5:.5. eccaasume seers ASTRONOMY, Oy Williaa Cy WaIMlOCks \omraa seers cine ieee eres eae teetel Geoloryby, Wi J McGee s2..05 ce se2 semen e ote ae ee eee ee North American Paleontology, by Henry S. Williams. ..--......-.....---- Hetropraphiy,.by, Georee Merrill 2. «ocmeeestee eee eae eaiae eae eee earn Meteorolooy, by, ClevelandvAb De) = sere a.ce cette eae anette fag eee Chemistry, by: bs Ws Clarke: cscs/<.0 sseaee seeaey este eee eee eee Mineralooy, by Edward's. Dana 252 -2-se---\s ees eee eee ieee eee Botany, by) Basin o wlton ys. csc slecse seo cerns aces aocins Se ie eee Anthropolosy, by Otis, T: Masons ....22- 5-252. sa ce eee eee et ee eee
ie MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS 22) ..2 -5 o3-98- ee eee eee ya eee eee eee eee ree Chronology of the Human Period, by J. Woodbridge Davis .----.---.---- Were the Osages, Mound-builders? by J. F. Snyder ...-.. ...--...---..--. The progress of Science as exemplified in the art of Weighing and Meas-
uring, by Williameaitiarkm ess 2se0.- 1 ses s)eel oe eis eee eee eee eee Determination of the mean Density of the Earth by means of a pendulum (OUI HOC ARUN AO eA NOS NVR emer beeeen cece sdoccs coosdcchescdbocensccspoac Amerriques, Amerigho Vespucci, and America, by Jules Marcou.......---- Progress of Oriental Science in America, during 182%, by Cyrus Adler... -
1 — BIOGRAPHICAL, MEMOIRS mctecnlcnccs = tect eee Reo eee ee eee Scere
spencer, Bairdhibyahobertaiidowa\ ess o-eeeeeee see ee eee ee seen eee Memorial meeting of Washington Societies. .......-..-.
by iGarricksMalleng, =... ec. secs eae eee er ee eee
Ne AVA All iE cite Shred BE VIKA Ao rience aoe Seo CL
bys WilliamvE Dall ccs eee Seeee no eee ieee nee eee ee
by John: W. Powell 22222... 5- Sata. ae eee ee ee
Asa Gray, by James i Danae. - acme cero aioe eel see eae ee by: William:G.-Farlow- 3. s2..ysnocteies snack ee eee
Listiof his writings;5 = 262.) -..snss eee more eees ete eee
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Article on Meteorology.
He. 4. Curves showing wind currents... c=-- == Saeee er ee SnPAsacs Kiga2. Isotherms - ::..2=<j5 25 8 sce) eee sae ose nese eee eee eee eee Bigso. Adiabatic curvewsc ass) sc cent aoe eect Meee eee eee eee Fig. 4. Dew-point curve
Fig. 5. Adiabatic curves Pig“6s Adiabatic Curves -c<5c-c6 Jssscces ccs Seen Hee eee eee eee eee Pies. Adiabatic CUurVies'.c2.os.: cas aceee eee ease ee eee eee
Article on the name America.
Fac-simile of letter by Amerigho Vespucci ....-.-...
INDEX to the volume. .-....... 5
i fe as
Page. 125 125
ig ae al
Gee Sve SONTAN INSTITUTION.
MEMBERS EX OFFICIO OF THE “ ESTABLISHMENT.”
(January, 1888.)
GROVER CLEVELAND, President of the United States.
JOHN J. INGALLS, President of the United States Senate pro tempore. MORRISON R. WAITE, Chief-Justice of the United States.
THOMAS F. BAYARD, Secretary of State.
CHARLES S. FAIRCHILD, Secretary of the Treasury.
WILLIAM C. ENDICOTT, Secretary of War.
WILLIAM C. WHITNEY, Secretary of the Navy.
DON M. DICKINSON, Postmaster-General.
AUGUSTUS H. GARLAND, Attorney-General.
BENTON J. HALL, Comunissioner of Patents.
REGENTS OF THE INSTITUTION. (List given ou the following page. )
OFFICERS OF THE INSTITUTION. SAMUEL P. LANGLEY, Secrelary. Director of the Institution, and of the U. S. National Museum. G. BROWN GOODR, Assistant Secretary
WILLIAM J. RuHES, Chief Clerk.
REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
By the organizing act approved August 10, 1846 (Revised Statutes, Title LXXx1lII, section 5580), “ The business of the Institution shall be con- ducted at the city of Washington by a Board of Regents, named the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, to be composed of the Vice-
President, the Chief Justice of the United States [and the Governor of the District of Columbia], three members of the Senate, and three mem- bers of the House of Representatives, together with six other persons, other than members of Congress, two of whom shall be resident in the city of Washington, and the other four shall be inhabitants of some
State, but no two of the same State.”
REGENTS FOR THE YEAR 1888. The Vice-President of the United States: JOHN J. INGALLS (elected President of the Senate February 26, 1887). The Chief-Justice of the United States: MORRISON JR: WADE ae oso rre ee eee eee eee died March 23, 1888. SAMUEL F. MILLER, Acting Chief-Justice, elected Chancellor and President of the Board pro tempore March 27, 1888.
United States Senators: Term expires. JUSTIN S. MORRILL (appointed Febrnary 21, 1883)............ Mar. 3, 1391. SHELBY M. CULLOM (appointed March 23, 1885).:...-----....- "Mar. 3, 1889. RANDALL L. GIBSON (appointed December 19, 1887) ..---. Zocor Mania oS tt889:
Members of the House of Representatives :
SAMUEL S. COX (appointed January 5, 1888)...-....----------- Dee. 26, 1889. JOSEPH WHEELER (appointed January 5, 1888) ..---..-....--- Dee. 26, 1829. WILLIAM W. PHELPS (appointed January 5, 1888) ....-...---- Dec. 26, 1889:
Citizens of a State:
ASA GRAY, of Massachusetts (first appointed in 1874). -.....died Jan., 30, 1888. HENRY COPPEE, of Pennsylvania (first appointed in 1874)..... Dee. 26, 1891. NOAH PORTER, of Connecticut (first appointed in 1878).... -- fe Marie ss ISO:
JAMES B. ANGELL, of Michigan (appointed January 19, 18°7) - Jan. 19, 1893. ANDREW D. WHITE, of New York (appointed February 15, 1888,
to:sneceed Asa Gray, deceased). .- ana e ee eee eee Feb. 15, 1894. Citizens of Washington: JAMES C. WELLING (appointed May 13, 1884) 225. seco eee eee ee Mayall clicoes
MONTGOMERY C. MEIGS (appointed December 26, 1885)..---.- Dee. 26, 1891. Executive Committee of the Board of Regents.
JAMES C. WELLING. HENRY Copphe. MONTGOMERY C. MEIGS. ae ¢
ae: Ce ee a
JOURNAL: OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
WASHINGTON, January 11, 1888.
The stated annual meeting of the Board of Regents of the Smithso- nian Institution was held this day at 10:30 o’clock A. M.
Present: Chief-Justice M. R. WArrE, Chancellor of the Institution, Hon. 8. S. Cox, Hon. W. W. PHELPS, Hon. JOSEPH WHEELER, Dr. HENRY CopPEs, Dr. J. B. ANGELL, Dr. J. C. WELLING, General M. C. MEIGS, and the Secretary, Professor LANGLEY.
Excuses for non-attendance were read from Dr. NOAH PORTER and Senator J. S. MoRRILL. The Secretary made a statement that the ab- sence of Dr. ASA GRAY was caused by his severe illness.
The journal of the proceedings of the Board at the meetings on Janu- ary 12 and November 18, 1887, was read and approved.
The Secretary stated that in accordance with the instructions of the Board at the last meeting, he had again consulted with the widow of the late Professor BAIRD, and ascertained that while she desired to defer to the wishes of the Regents, her own preference would be that the interment of the remains of her husband should be strictly private. It was necessary therefore to depart from the arrangements which had been contemplated at the last meeting of the Board, and by the advice of the Executive Committee, a meeting of the Board of Regents was not called as had been anticipated in December, and the stated annual meeting is therefore now held at the regular time, as provided by the regulations of the Board of Regents.
The Chancellor announced the appointment by the President of the Senate, on December 19, 1887, of Hon. Randall L. Gibson, of Louisiana, as a regent of the Smithsonian Institution, vice Senator Maxey, whose term had expired.
The Chancellor also announced the appointment by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, on January 5, 1888, of Hon. 5. 8. Cox, of New York, as regent, vice Hon. O. R. Singleton, who had not been re-elected to Congress; and on the 10th of January, of Hon. Joseph Wheeler, of Alabama, vice Hon. W. L. Wilson, and the re-appointment of Hon. W. W. Phelps, of New Jersey.
Dr. Welling, chairman of the Executive Committee, presented its an- nual report for the year ending June 30, 1887. Dr. Welling, in presenting the report, called attention toa paragraph onthe third page, relative to the appropriation for ‘ethnological re- De I
Xi JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS,
searches,” and he wished it understood—not as a matter of criticism, but in explanation—that the Executive Committee made no examination or inspection of the accounts of the Bureau of Ethnology. These were exclusively under the control—according to the acts of Congress mak- ing the appropriations—* of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- tion.” In this respect a difference existed between the duty of the com- mittee iu regard to these accounts and those of the Museum or of other trusts committed to the Institution, of which careful examination was made of every voucher.
The Secretary stated that he would be very wiliing to be relieved of this weighty responsibility and would be gratified ifit could be assumed by the Regents. He had no desire to assume a personal responsibility in regard to the appropriation referred to, and he hoped that in the future if might be found possible to make the appropriations to the “ Smithsonian Institution” instead of to the ‘ Secretary.”
Dr. Welling remarked that the Executive Committee does not care to share this responsibility.
Dr. Coppée said he thought it the duty of the Regents to share in this; and that if the language of the act was doubtful, and if in relation to one trust it was the duty of the Secretary to confer with the Execu- tive Committee, he thought that in others, although the Regents or the Institution were not specially mentioned, he ought to come under the same arrangement.
General Meigs said that Congress made the distinction referred to by Dr. Welling, and it was not for the Board to advise or dictate to Con- gress.
[This view was assented to by various members of the Board. |
The Secretary having stated that the accounts of the Museum were settled by the Interior Department, and that the estimates for preserva- tion, ete., of the collections were sent by him through the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chancellor remarked that he thought that all the accounts of the Institution in regard to any operations committed to it, should be settled directly with the Treasury Department, and not through an intermediate department.
The Secretary said that the Chancellor had anticipated what he was about to say. As the Executive Committee had observed, the relations of the Museum with the Department of the Interior on the one hand and with the Regents on the other, are undoubtedly ambiguous, since the late Secretary of the Interior himself wrote to say that he did not understand them. At present the Secretary of the Institution transmits the estimates for the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Treas- ury, but does not transmit those of the Museum, which are sent through the Secretary of the Interior. It would seem desirable that some ar- rangement should be made by which in the future all the estimates should be submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury, and all appro- priations for the Museum, as well as for the Bureau of Ethnology, made
JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS, XIII
to the Smithsonian Institution, and that the sundry eivil bill should be changed in the items relating to the Museum and the Bureau of Eth- nology. ;
The Chancellor expressed the opinion that all the appropriations ought to be disbursed and controlled by the Institution.
After remarks by several of the Regents, on motion of Dr. Welling, the following resolution was adopted :
Resolved, That the Regents recommend to Congress that the form of the sundry civil appropriation bill be so changed in the items relating to the Museum and the Bureau of Ethnology as to provide,
First, That these moneys shall be disbursed under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution.
Second, That the estimates for the appropriations of the Museum in future shall be sent direct to the Secretary of the Treasury by the Smithsonian Institution through its Secretary.
On motion, it was resolved that the report of the Executive Committee be accepted.
The Secretary presented the annual report for the year ending June 30, 1887, which had been printed; but he regretted to say that he had not been able to procure copies from the Public Printer in December, in accordance with the resolutions of the Board.
The Chancellor suggested that some action ought to be taken by Con- gress to avoid delay in printing the annuai reports of the Institution. He thought provision might be made by law for the printing of the Smithsonian Institution outside of the Government Printing Office, as is done in the case of the printing for the Supreme Court. The attention of the Congressional Regents was especially called to this subject.
The Secretary stated that a large amount of indispensable printing was now done through the Department of the Interior, and some pro- vision ought to be made for this if the connection of the Museum with the Department should cease. He hoped that the Congressional Re- gents would take some action in this matter.
On motion of Mr. Cox, it was resolved that the report of the Secre- tary tor the year ending June 30, 1887, be accepted, and that the Sec- retary transmit the same to Congress.
The Chancellor announced that on December 2, 1887, in accordance with the statute, he had appointed Mr. G. Brown Goode to act as Act- ing Secretary in case of the absence or disability of the Secretary.
The Secretary called the attention of the Board to a bill introduced in the Senate by Senator Edmunds on the 12th of December, as follows:
A BILL to provide for paying the widow of the late Spencer F. Baird for the services rendered by him as Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the ‘Lreas- ury De, and he is hereby, directed to pay Mrs. Mary ©. Baird, widow of the late Spencer F. Baird, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, in full compensation
XIV JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS.
for the services and expenses of the said Spencer F. Baird during his administration of the office of Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, from February twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, to the time of his death in August, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven.
The Secretary also called attention to the fact that Senator Morrill had introduced a bill in the Senate on the 12th of December, 1887, as follows :
A BILL for the erection of a bronze statue of Spencer F. Baird, late Secretary of the Smithsonian Jnstitution.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Regents of the Smith- sonian Institution be, and are hereby, authorized to contract for a statue in bronze of Spencer F. Baird, late Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- tution, to be erected upon the erounds in front of the National Museum; and for this purpose, and for the entire expense of the foundation and pedestal of the monument, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, or so much of said sum as may be needed, is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
On motion of Mr. Phelps it was resolved that the Executive Commit- tee and the Secretary be authorized to act for the Board of Regents in case of the passage of any act of Congress relative to the erection of a statue of Professor Baird.
The Secretary stated that he had but one more matter to which to call the attention of the Board; it was brief, but of considerable im- portance.
It may be remembered that several years ago the Secretary of the In- stitution, Professor Baird, called the attention of the Regents to a bill ntroduced in the House of Representatives as follows, viz:
“For the erection of a fire-proof building on the south portion of the Smithsonian Reservation for the accommodation of the U. 8. Geological Survey, and for other purposes.
‘* Beit enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the sam of two hundred thousand dollars be, and hereby is, appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the erection of a fire-proof building on the south portion of the Smithsonian Reservation for the accommodation of the U.S . Geological Survey, and for other purposes: Provided, That the consent of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution be first obtained thereto, and that the building be under their direction when completed: And provided further, That the building be erected by the Architect of the Capitol in accordance with plans approved by the Director of the United States Geological Survey, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Architect of the Capitol, acting as a board therefor.
‘‘ After a very full expression by the Regents in favor of immediate action, on motion of General Sherman, it was
‘* Resolved, That the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution recommend to Congress to enlarge the National Museum, so as properly to exhibit the mineral, geological, and other collections already on hand and increasing each year, by the erection of a fire-proof building
JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. XV
on the southwest corner of the Smithsonian Reservation. similar in style to the present National Museum, and they request an appropriation of $300,000 therefor, to be expended under the direction of the Regents of the Institution.” *
The Secretary remarked that the placing of the offices of the Geologi- cal Survey upon land heretofore reserved exclusively for Smithsonian purposes might be perhaps considered as committing the Institution toward the policy of a union with other scientific bureaus of the Gov- ernment. It was in view of the questions of general policy thus involved, that it seemed proper that he should ask instruction from the Regents. He could only infer their opinion on the former bill from the language of the resolution, which apparently implied,
First. That increased provision was desirable for the Museum col- lections.
Second. From its silence as to the Geological Survey, that the building proposed in the bill was not to be appropriated to that use.
The Secretary had lately been informally advised that it was the desire of the Geological Survey to obtain his opinion with reference to this, in anticipation of a bill to be brought before the present Congress, and he desired to be favored with the judgment of the Regents. -
The Chancellor stated that it was desirable that new Museum build- ings should be erected in any case, but that since by act of Congress a certain part of the public grounds had been set apart and appropri- ated absolutely and exclusively to the Smithsonian Institution, he for one did not want to see anything else placed on these grounds. He further said: “Ifthe Smithsonian Institution is to grow it will need chem all, and whatever is put upon them should be under our exelu- sive control.” “
After remarks by a number of Regents, expressing concurrence in the views of the Chancellor, it was suggested by Mr. Phelps that the unanimous opinion of the Board ought to be embodied in a resolution.
The Chancellor did not think this was necessary. He supposed all the Secretary wanted was the moral support of the Board in a policy which would forbid the placing of any building on the Smithsonian grounds except for the exclusive use of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Seeretary alluded to another bill, which proposed to occupy part of the public grounds, including the Smithsonian reservation, with buildings for the Columbian celebration in 1892. It was here remarked by a Regent that there was no danger of this being done immediately, to which the Chancellor said, ‘‘ With my consent, never.”
On motion of Dr. Angell, it was resolved that the income of the Insti- tution for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1888, and ending June 30, 1889, be appropriated for the service of the Institution, to be expended by the Secretary, with the advice of the Executive Committee, upon the
* Proceedings of the Board, January 17, 1883, Smithsonian Report for 1882, pp. Xii, xiii, :
XVI JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS.
basis of the operations described in the last annual report of said com- mittee, with full discretion on the part of the Secretary as to items of expenditures properly falling under each of the heads embraced in the established conduct of the Institution.
The Chancellor informed the Board that he had the melancholy duty to perform of announcing the death, yesterday, of Dr. PETER ParkER, who had been for many years a Regent of the Institution and chairman of its Executive Committee.
On motion of Dr. Angell, it was resolved that the Executive Commit- tee prepare resolutions relative to the death of Dr. Parker.
Dr. Welling, of the Executive Committee, presented the following resolutions, which were adopted :
Whereas the Board has received the afflictive intelligence that the venerable Dr. PETER PARKER, who, for sixteen years, was a member of the Board of Regents, aud who for this whole period served with fidelity on its Executive Committee, has departed this life after a long career filled with useful labors in the service of God and of man: Therefore, be it
Resolved, That in the retrospect of such a life-career, protracted as it was beyond the limits usually allotted to men, and yet at each stage of its progress, dedicated to beneficent works in the cause of religion, philanthropy, and science, we desire to testify our respect for the exalted worth and scrupulous conscientiousness which Dr. Parker brought to the discharge of every duty, and which, during his connection with the government of this Institution, were nobly exemplified by the zeal and diligence with which he ever watehed and worked for its prosperity and usefulness, even during the later period of his honorable service, when the burden of years was added to the burden of his official cares, and when with a less conscientious sense of public duty he might have claimed an exemption from the tasks of life.
Resolved, That since the retirement of our departed colleague irom the membership of this Board we have continued to follow him with the grateful recollections inspired by the association of this council cham- ber, as well as with a reverent respect for the Christian patience with which he bore the infirmities of advancing age and the unfaltering Christian hope with which he awaited ‘the inevitable hour” in fuil assurance of immortality.
Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Board, and that the Secretary of the Institution is hereby reyuested to transmit a copy of them to the family of our late colleague.
On motion, the Board then adjourned sine die.
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE REGENTS.
WASHINGTON, March 27, 1888.
A special meeting of the Board of Regents was held this day at 11 o'clock A. M.
Present, Hon. J. J. INGALLS (President of the United States Senate pro tem.); Hon. SAMUEL F. MILLER (acting Chief Justice of the United States); Hon. J.S. MorRILL, Hon. S. M. CULLOM, Hon. 8. 8. Cox, Hon. JOSEPH WHEELER, Hon. WILLIAM W. PHELPS, Dr. JAMES C. WELLING, General M. C. MEIGS, and the Secretary, Prof. S. P. LANG- LEY.
The Secretary called the Board to order.
On motion of Senator Morrill, Hon. J. J. Ingalls was elected Chair- man.
Excuses for non-attendance were read from Dr. PORTER, Dr. COPPEE, Dr. ANGELL, and Dr. WHITE.
The Secretary stated that this special meeting had been called at the request of three of the Regents as provided in the organic act. ‘There were two subjects requiring consideration: First, the recent death of the Chancellor of the Institution, Chief Justice Waite; second, the elec- tion of a Chancellor.
Professor Langley remarked that it would be for others who had known the late Chancellor longer than he had to speak of his worth and public services. He could only say that Judge Waite was not only a tower of strength to the Institution; he was much more; he had the regard, the respect, and the reverence of all those who were brought into relation with him. He could only speak of him with the real affection he felt, and say that the loss the Institution had experienced was to him that of a dear and revered personal friend.
On the second point, the Secretary stated that the joint signatures of the Chancellor and Secretary were required on requisitions for money from the United States Treasury for carrying on the operations of the Institution, and that on the 1st of next July the semi-annual interest would be due, and some one who could act as Chancellor, within the provisions of the iaw, must sign the requisition in connection with the Secretary, at that time.
On motion of Dr. Welling, a committee was appointed to express the sense of the Board in relation to the death of the Chanceilor.
The Chair appointed Dr. Welling, Senator Morrill, and Professor Laugley.
H. Mis, 142——11 XVII
eso velslth JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS.
The committee retired and on its return reported through the chair- man, Dr. Welling, the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:
Whereas the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution has been called to meet in extraordinary session by the afflicting intell- gence that MORRISON REMICK WAITE, late Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and late Chaucellor of the Smith- sonian JInstitution, has been removed by the hand of death from the scene of his high activities and distinguished usefulness; therefore be it
Resolved, That sitting as we do at this time and place, in the very center of that dark shadow whici has fallen upon the whole land in the lamented death of the late Chief-Justice Waite, and appalled as we are by the suddenness as well as by the magnitude of the great afflic- tion which in coming to the nation at large has come to us individually, with an added pathos of sorrow because of the nearer view we have had, for so many years, of the talents, virtues, and graces which found their familiar home in the person of our honored friend, we could with much good reason crave for ourselves, in this hour of bereavement, the humble permission of mourning apart, that we might silently gauge the depth and the dimensions of a calamity which brings to us its message of personal grief and which has also torn away from our high- est seat of justice its venerated and beloved chief; from the legal pro- fession of the country its foremost official representative and therefore its crowning exponent; from the walks of social life in this national capital a commanding presence no less remarkable for his genial and open-hearted sincerity than for his affable and gracious benignity; and from the Christian communion a true and faithful disciple who wit- nessed a good confession as much by the simplicity and humility with which he walked before God as by the unswerving consistency with which he wore the ornament of a pure heart and of a meek and quiet spirit before the scrutiny of his fellow-men.
Resolved, Vhat while an obvious sense of propriety must dictate that we should leave to others in that great forum which was the chosen arena of his life’s career the sad privilege of depicting, with minute and detailed analysis, the remarkable combination of strong and lovely traits which met in the person of the late Chief-Justice and gave to the symmetrical character of our beloved friend its blended sweetness and light, we can not omit, even in this hour of our special sorrow, to bear our cheerful testimony to the pleasing amenity with which he presided over the deliberations of this council chamber as the Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution, and sharing, as we all do, in a profound ad- iniration for the intelligence he brought to our discussions, while ever moderating them by the guidance of his clear thought and mild wisdom, we can but render our reverent homage to the engaging personal qual- ities which endeared him to us as a man, while at the same time grate- fully confessing our obligations to him for the provident care and deep interest which he always brought to the discharge of his official duties in this place, where, through all the years of his honorable and useful service at the head of this Board, the Secretary of the Institution in common with ourselves has leaned on him as the wise and true coun- sellor who could be trusted as well for the rectitude of his moral intui- tions as for the clear perceptions of his calm and judicious intellect.
Resolved, That we will attend the funeral of our departed Chancellor in a body, aud that the Secretary of the Institution, together with a deputation from the members of the Board, be requested to accompany
JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. XTX
the other friends and associates of the late Chief-Justice who will bear his remains to their last resting place in Ohio.
Resolved, That these resolutions be entered on the minutes of the Board, and that the Secretary be requested to send a copy of them to the family of our departed friend in token of our sincere condolence with them in their great affliction.
On motion of Senator Cullom it was resolved, that Acting Chief- Justice SAMUEL F. MILLER be elected Chancellor pro tem.
On taking the chair, Justice Miller remarked that in this hour of grief it was a consolation to be honored with the appointment which had just been conferred upon him, especially as it was not a necessity of law that he as Acting Chief-Justice should have been selected to fill this important position. While it would not be expected of him on tbe present occasion to deliver a eulogy on the late Chancellor, it was only proper for him to say that, sitting beside Judge Waite as he had done for four hours a day for about fourteen years, he felt as well qualified to appreciate his character as any man living. He was an able judge, an upright man, honest in every fiber of his nature. No sophistry could induce him to act in violation of his conscience. He never was led to believe only what he desired to believe, or to decide against his con- victions of right. He was a sound jurist, and above all an able manager of our complicated legal administrative affairs. We can not do too much to honor his memory.
He thanked the gentlemen of the Board for the honor they had con- ferred in electing him Chancellor.
On motion of Mr. Phelps, it was resolved, that all or any of the mem- bers of the Board, and the Secretary, who wish to attend the funeral services of the late Chancellor at Toledo, be appointed to represent the Board of Regents.
On motion, the Board then adjourned sine die.
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REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, |
(For the year ending 30th of June, 1888.)
To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution:
The Executive Committee of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution respectfully submits the following report in relation to the funds of the Institution, the appropriations by Congress for the National Museum and other purposes, and the receipts and expenditures for the Institution and the Museum for the year ending June 30, 1883.
Condition of the fund July 1, 1888.
The amount of the bequest of James Smithson deposited in the Treasury of the United States, according to the act of Congress of August 10, 1846, was $515,169. To this was added, by authority of Congress, act of February 8, 1867, the residuary legacy of Smithson, and savings from annual income and other sources, $154,831. To this $1,000 was added by a bequest of James Hamilton, $500 by a bequest of Simeon Habel, and $51,500 as the proceeds of the sale of Virginia bends owned by the Institution, making in all, as the permanent Smith- son fund in the United States Treasury, $703,000.
Statement of the Receipts and Hxpenditures of the Smithsonian Institution July 1, 1887, to June 30, 1888.
RECEIPTS.
Cecinonilagaye: dilly a icty) sesso Geocee esos spoon eeraorscalees $1, 423. 14 Interest on the fund, July 1, 1887 - EST Os SE Ee ec tcbvad 42, 180. 00 Interest on the fund, January 1, 1888 Casiminounsales Of PuUplicablons) = << s:22)< cee co $481. 75 Cash from repayments of freight, etc-.-..-......-... Ot Mell ———_ — 752. 86 Motvenccelpltspeeeermsiase aa nosis Hee ete oe niet ea onioss ees Stese eee $44, 356. 00
EXPENDITURES.
Building: | Repairs, care, and improvements. ...--.-..----. $2, 682. 37 IETICTG TOA Os TG OS 2 ono. Selec nce scree ices eve smal 1, 088. 64 —- $3, 771. 01 ldsrqeeyatebinendss) (Ghia Oh) = Seon Bees Se ene AOs CoOoeS OomEee MOL
XXI
XXII REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
General expenses:
MeelIn gs) co cnacias Piece ccee sce e es ale aoe seen Mase $576. 00 Postagevandsteleoraph +22--. a2. ees - eee ase 313. 50 SLAtlONeLy:caw sie cee ace es Sed wade ae Veo eee 953. 11 Genoraliprinitin g 2o25 an seca ce See oe ee eee 399. 71 Incidentals (fuel, gas, ice, stable, ete.) ..-..-..- 1, 625. 92 Library (books, periodicals, binding, ete.)..-..-- 2, 828. 00 Salaries tec. soe ieee hs fs hs ees eet ore 18, 430. 08 $25, 086. 32 Publications and researches : SHMMNCO Me OOM AON Neioe soec skookn sooceo eo 342. 00 Miscellaneous Collections .......--. = ok NEE ee 3, 835. 00 RG MOntS 2x25 aac Sete Sea eee S eS oleae omer 2, 413. 61 Bp loraLiOnS sss -\s56 aa Sac ee seca) se eee tease 545, 22 —_—— 7,135.83 ireranyaandscientiliciexchangeszssces 52> eee asses eee ee 3,113. 46 Portraits of the Jate Chancellor, and of the Secretary ...--....- 440.15 MotalkexpenditUNecsyes occ ssels vases Sean see e ac eae PO EEO Ae eS OL OA ibalancemmexpended unera0 1SSSt es eres eeeseeieeee aise eee 4, 809. 23
The cash received from sales of publications, repayments for freight, etc., is to be credited on the items of expenditure above as follows:
IROStA REY een ceeeee ee eee ten co cece cone meee eee $3. 80 LINGO KR S Sane eee Se OSG oe See os aes ebb so ntes Loge 61.56 Smmithsoniane Contribublang = eee eee eee eee 124. 40 MiscellanecousiColllections 255552 -4esecs eee eee 337. 67 Reponisees=-ossae- SR Ae eee eae oe ako aLere- 19. 68 Exchantes ooce os scoot cee seeier Coe oe eee eee 205. 75
$752. 86
The net expenditure of the Institution for the year was therefore $38,793.91, or $752.86 less than the total expenditure, $39,546.77, above given.
In addition to the aggregate of salaries, above stated at $18,430.08, the sum of $4,289.98 was paid as salaries for services rendered in con- nection with the subjects of building ($1,240), exchanges ($1,050), library ($1,200), and reports ($799.98), and makes a part of the charges reported under those heads.
All the moneys received by the Smithsonian Institution from interest, Sales, refunding of moneys temporarily advanced, or otherwise, are deposited with the Treasurer of the United States to the credit of the Secretary of the Institution, and all payments are made by his checks on the Treasurer of the United States.
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES.
Appropriated by Congress for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, “ for expenses of the system of international exchanges between the United States and foreign countries under the direction of the Smithsonian In- stitution, including salaries or compensation of all REDS) employés,” (sundry civil ‘act; approved! March 3. 1887)—o-2 sess 2s ee ee oe oe eee 2 OOON00
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, XXIII Hapenditures during 1887-88.
Salaries or compensation:
1 curator (part of year), at $175 per month....... $598. 39 1 clerk, twelve months, at $150 per month ....... 1,800.00 1 clerk, twelve months, at $100 per month ...-..- 1, 200. 00 1 clerk, eight months, at $75 per month.....-..-. 600. 00 1 clerk, six months, at $75 per month.-..-.-...... 450. 00 1 clerk, eight months, at $65 per month.......... 520.00 1 clerk, twelve months, at $60 per month...-.-.. 720. 00 1 clerk, six months, at $60 per month ............ 360. 00 i clerk, eight months, at $60 pez month... .---- 480. 00 1 clerk, four months, at $60 per month -......--.. 240. 00 1 clerk, four months, at $55 per month...-......- 220. 00 1 copyist, four moaths, at $40 per month....-...- 160, 00 ARGO Ppt PCOIA cates cone eeccieiec soir ss ielc esi e =e 40. 65 1 packer, nine months, at $75 per month.....-... 675. 00 1 packer, five months, at $50 per month ...--.-.-- 250. 00 1 messenger, nine months, at $20 per month...--- 180. 00 1 laborer, two months, at $40 per month-.--.....- 80. 00 acent (Germany) One yeat).s- 225-2 a.5 22256 - 1, 000. 00 1 agent (England), one year......-..--..--.'.-.-. 500. 00 Total salaries and compensation..........-.....-...:--- $10, 074. 04 BRN OMN Geren ae sia is Ce cictset = cis a sdictelsvasjsicials ceeiw'ale eee ee 924. 54 aCe DOES etnies ote eaisia ors aemeiere icicle eelsiehs amas eevee 527. 00 UNM Opiate ioe ee ate sis/a cereals ons cits mais Se ieee cece eae 230.50 HZOSUNO Cer eee eres cle) x's ercia's! cicys bwishe a cinic'e, Meee oeleee es Seen eee 100. 00 IBIMGIMOURS CONS hareeae fo saree se micas ano since SS'scie s eicjerese Sie are 88. 00 WD SHSINUA PSpeee sae case se aoe dss Sure we adie sree ele de Seis ees) =. Smee 5 ia: Mo halle eMC eye (e -.2/\ate stele wield eee eaicl eatats aot aay rasa na Ones Balanceunexpended July, 5 188825.) csn-cce seme os cece sce Obe 50. 17
NORTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY.
An appropriation of $40,000 was made by Congress for the fiseal year ending June 30, 1888, for the prosecution of ethnological researches under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The actual conduct of these investigations has been placed by the See- retary in the hands of Maj. J. W. Powell, Director of the Geological Survey. Theabstracts of expenditures and balance sheets for this appro- priation have been exhibited to us; the vouchers for the expenditures, after approval by theSecretary, are paid by the disbursing clerk of the Bureau of Ethnology and transmitted to the accounting officers of the Treasury Devartment for settlement.
The balance available to meet outstanding liabilities on the Ist of July, 1888, as reported by the official disbursing agent, is $7,847.08,
XXIV REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
The following is a classified statement of all expenditures made dur- ing the last fiscal year from this appropriation :
Classification of expenditures (A).
Salaries and compensation per year, viz:
dvethnologist ($3,000), : 2 2.-...--6¢--25 tes dae sce sone ooenose ee nan
Veen yovol araichish (CPE (NO) ls Meme eee cmeaconeAcGnn oe coo aouy osascelsanaso 4, 800. 00 Dethnolocists (Pl800) 228. jeans ee eiee caste oa eleenie =e peter eee 3, 600. 00
S MRSS E tla oysntsast (Galle) sheene Goosocecic tdon beecds seaosocses 4, 500. 00 ATPASES ALM e UMM OLOSISbS) (Aly 00)) parse ariel nel eee er aero 4, 800. 00 Massistamiethamolomiste (pL, OOO) casera eater te eel a ele lear 1, 000. 00 ivassistant ethnuolocist ($720) 222-2. Sees seen ee eee aa ee 720, 00 MMOM ETERS WOON cast doe sas coe cee ecco sa) amcle se eee Sain eerste eee eects 720. 00 TCO) ON ATS) Hel COLO) ne eee eee ea ened ea A Se ee A eeaao soe 720. 00 Devhunolociciassistants, (600). = 20 222 - Saco scents ie ie eee re 1, 200. 00 BICOPVIStS! (HOON)! So ears hek aac Seats aac eee eo atseaale eee 1, 800. 00 ISmessenven (S600) saceecie= 22 = wsteleyecmis oe = Since oe ee eee ene a ae 600. 00 itranslator ($480)... > cot 252 a ceeo es seee ee eee eae eee eee eee 480. 00
HM COpMist (HBO) tas aacers cetaee Geses cae eser aatesast eels nenlen Serta 300. 00
28, 240. 00
Unelassified and paid by day..--- et eee piers eee eee Sree eee eee 598. 33 Total salaries and compensation.....---...---- 6S AS ee en ee $28, 838. 33
Hi ravic bn zOxp CNSES\ ac te sec oasis ayecs or Sen sels escent eee Eee 3, 637. 66 ALANS Portail ONlOLaprOpenyyesseee sass easels eel aoe eee eee 444,91 OTN GMSMUSICMCEY Ses5 ponb ence caanoo ossona soso Sabo oRde nd0055 Soco0eco 2805 242. 06 Hieldisuppliesandexpensesia-as-- cee aces. = oe = ae ee erie eee eee 2,431. 04 Rieldimaterial=s.2 2 .ce-cseres senses + css Sele ae Pe ce eee ee eee 391. 06 IMS HRUM OD US Saas 2 Ses, cle clap eteratelnisiess nierehass Siclotere a reieiais ett elem eon ereteres 32. 50 Haboratory material ..-..... Me ora a Giat hie Sine mosis Si ae eerste Ree eee eee 42. 67 Photoorap ii cama tenia ease steer selene are seal cee sete oie ener 116.17 BOOKS AD GMMADS feo. vaies Sects = seers See eee eee oe eee eee eee eee: 181. 00 Statonenywandedrawine tm apenials see selec areice kas eee a et tae et 9. 10 Ml Mstrations for -ré porte asecee . cs cct, ook see seus sem aacoisine tmeieeeheeeere ae 926. 30 Goods fonmistnilp iron bo mlundians asec see eee oe eons eee 511.30 Onicestirmiune ds scisses ante ce Acces cee con eee ote eens eee eee eee 85. 00 Olfieersuppliessandorepains ve 2. assem ece eee eee eee ee eee eee 18. 62 Correspondence. ese seisee re ais pee aise Ses eC roe oe Sete eae 6. 49 Speclmenstaa=e cane em as a et ae eee ee Me eR or ay B o5G5 Gace 844.95 38, 719. 16
Bonded railroad accounts settled by Treasury Department. .-.---.----- ss 74
Lotakexpenditure s2226...2s.coies soe see ce do eet eae eee Eee $38, 719. 90
Classification of expenditures (B).
Sicn-lancuace and! pichure-wiribine) se sssecr se oasis ela ne alee eee ee 5, 053. 51 Exploration of mounds, eastern portion of United States.........-.----. 8, 208. 83 Researches in archeology, southwestern portion of United States ....---- 8, 901. 04 Researches—language of North Americans Indians ..-.-..----..--------- OxGsir 2 Explorations of ruins, New Mexico, and ethnological collections. ..---. -- 1, 417.56 OmMiGe Servis ss ook es be ee ae ee Dae Se ee eee 3, 436. 77
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTER, XXV
HUTS POU Mone Olle ecoeusc samen sclcicsslsciec slcncicise Salieeelesiees soars oe $926. 30 COTTE SOS Sa Gase echoes Bose s05 odu0 GoSsee GEE Bec e SUaSbO ead bIee 298. 99 Golleciions mint es pEGhMen See aretha cr yaa lo ve cicine sia feel.) sinc cisine cieees cies 844. 95
38,719. 16 Bonded railroad accounts settled by Treasury Department ..........---- .74
NO aE XSPEM UUM Omeey ae ere sey see ee oct ee oan Gacwale occloss Bote w ccm «i H38, 719. 90
SUMMARY, July 1, 18387: Balance on hand of appropriation for 1886—87..-..........--..----. 6, 553. 08 Amount credited to appropriation by disallowance by Comptroller... 13. 90 Appropriation by Congress ‘for the purpose of continuing ethnolog- ical researches among the American Indians, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, including salaries or compensation of all necessary employés” (sundry civil act of March
3}, ley NSS Sace cud bOs RasoCe BIC CES Hee ee Ses tee ere eerie 40, 000. 00 Total available for the year ending June 30, 13888..........-...-- 46, 566. 98 Expended during the year ending June 30, 1828..-...........-.- 38, 719. 90
July 1, 1858: Balance to meet outstanding liabilities... .....- ..-.-..22.-2-c-----% $7, 847. 08
SMITHSONIAN BUILDING REPAIRS.
Appropriation by Congress ‘‘for urgent and necessary repairs to central and western portions of the Smithsonian Institution Building” (sundry
CIMle ACPO MVIEC HAS OOM) occa ces cicacte Since Soe ae csc ee a seel eanereoes 15, 000. 00 Expenditures : Cut-stone, brick, metal, carpenters’, and miscellaneous
WOH Sese tS eg aut aS ae ae ae aie eae See $9, 800, 00 Tron-work ...... Belg OOS OPE CaCI ea eR 1, 848. 00 Steam-fitters’, laborers’, and day work.............--..--: 466. 30 PiCiM NW ALON TANGsC RS DI PCS +s -icc sea ems nceawi somo ctsaee 147. 58 eT i Re pet to oes = So iay <b orenre n= < one's boeeSe eee 275. 00 LA DDR Sri Taney 2s 0 2 ee a nr eee ee GL. 32 AA VOLMMH CARN PLING Go S05. ns ca omceea cesces cceseete 49. 10 LUTEAL INS. Sach A Ae ee a eS Be a oe a ee 72. 66
——— 12,719.96
Baiance July 1, 1888 -........-.. ... Strieis eictistsice slg cnehe See eee eee p2, 280. 04
(Of this appropriation $131.80 was expended in 1887, leaving $14,868.20 available during the year ending June 30, 1888.)
NATIONAL MUSEUM. PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIONS, JULY 1, 1887, [TO JUNE 380@, 1888.
Appropriation by Congress for fiscal year ending June 30, 1888, “for the preservation, exhibition, and increase of the collections from the sur- veying and exploring expeditions of the Government and from other sources, including salaries or compensation of all necessary employés” $116, 000. 00 Classification of expenditures : Salaries and compensation .............--...----.---e+- $96, 511. 43 (SPOUSE) See. aA ae Sea oe en ee 2, 608, 38 SUBUTOIGIRy hone Soe ee ee ee 1, 792. 20
XXVI REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Classification of expenditures—Continued.
SDOCIMONS Sree oe crema eye ria he ee cera eiek eke eae eee eee #2, 038. 65
BOOKS Sesto tc © Osc cee e eta ee AOE ee ee 500. 36
ANGE 0) es cca separa A Ee RR CRE Re Se SS A 822. 85
1 Ce) [ea] 0 in se eee ea ae en eaten eee eta ce ete ofr Sree Sh 1, 381. 08 Total-expenditure... s.5c 252: she Sse os Sea eee eee $105, 654. 95 Balance July 1, 1888, to meet outstanding liabilities.......--. $10, 345. 05
Salaries and compensation paid from the appropriation for preservation of collections, 1387-1823.
(All of these persons were employed by the month or by the day, and many for part of the year only.)
Direction.
Assistant Secretary Smithsonian Institution, in charge U. S. National = MusenimianGoermmonith)) jem sre setae tee $300.00 $3,600. 00 Scientifie staft :
S.curators|(permonth)) at. -s-.ess5ce eee ose eaee eee 175. 00 {Feurator (permonth)) ate ssescee eos cee oeaeee eee eee 166. 00 acting curatori@per nronth), at.7--s..--12-ce ese = ee seco 90. 00 Wassistannicurator (per month) yateeseereesasece seis 150. 00 2 assistant curators (per month); abens-sse=e a. eeee ee ee esee 125. 00 jvassistant curator (permonth), ates. --seeaeseeee soe ee eee 90. 00 isassistani Gpemmonthy abi. oasc52 <6 se cerose aise mee see eeee 125. 00 lassistanti(persmomth),\abty cece aocee re cate oe eee ree 100. 00 iscollector (permonth). ats. ca. eae ee eee eee 100. 00 2aids: (per month), Atiscess so se lecee eee ee eee ee eee 75. 00 Laid’(per month), atecy.\scee ade sos ace ae eee 65. 00 saids (per month) SAG ssceene cee eee eee ee eee Eee ree 60. 00 J,al1dsi(per month), abeoscos co see vel deerme ese eee eee 50. 00 Sratds (per month), atuo.se vinsecniccectease aeoce ee seer 40. 00
—_—— 25,726.39 Clerical staff :
chief. clerk: (per month) evbiese eects serene eee ee eee 166. 66 j;executive clerki(per month), atieee saeese aes eee 150. 00 isreristrar (per month); at). o.....ceacee + aaa ce eo eee 158. 83 larenci(persmonth)sathaqees: sco sscae eee eee eee eee 100. 00 ib Clan nvedanrstMeNOL (Gaehe KONO), Pisa dass socd cosa ceded soc Gace 75. 00 1 assistant drauchtsman (per month), at ..--.....-.. --.- 30, 00 leclerk (peramnonth); atyoece-< se coec haere Oe ee eee eee 115. 00 (clerk @perimonth)), aibsseaase ce susce se cee eee cose ee ee 110. 00 eiclerks (permonth),, atc osc aoese canoe nee eee 100. 00 iclerk/(permionth))y at 2.53: esos eens Seen Ree eee es 90. 00 Isclerki (per month); ates chic Secale tee eee ee ee OULD iyelerke(per month), ‘ate-c<. 22s. esse eee eee 70. 00 iclerki(permonth), cat: 5. -<c< des sooas eee eee ee eee eee 60. 00 a clerksi(per month), ab.ceauc soca stereo eee eee eeee 50. 00 ivtypewriter (per month), abc Los Weel ees eee eee 45. 00 (reopyist (perimon th) aheess sees sense ce ree A RBA See 55. 00 Mecopyists) Goer wonth) abmceseee eee eee ae eee ee eee 50. 00 Bicopyist (permormen)s Ahi. se-. eels soos ee eee re ieee 45. 00 Wecopyrsts \(permonth) ab. seer see tas cee ee cae See eee 40. 00 Lcopyisi(per month); ab. -- 48 yas seco oe eee eee 35. 00 PICOPYishs (peELAMONth) vases eeeee cess Meee Seer ae eee 30. 00 INcopyisth Men month) cies eee eee ee ee Ee eae ser 25. 00
———— 25,123.45
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. XXVII
Preparators : METISINGHOE RON katie as soec eae. c-c,scme 2n-=------=~-( PLLO, OO
1 photocrapher (per month), at ..-...........------------- 150. 00 Meta donmisti@HperqOONGN)\ abl nas ce seeiicictecwie= = cee ees == -in1- 150. 00 Mehaxidernnisyl(persMONt), Alison cea. -cjae a ciaiaieinnl= = wisi asin 80. 00 ichaxidenmish (per-MOnth). ate. 25-5 ---se0 22-0 Eee 70. 00 1 assistant taxidermist (per month), at ............-...-.-.- 60. 00 Lane lere (DEE TONS Dd cooo ea adobee eee eee eodsede Sasoce 125. 00 i) THGMELAP (OOP GHENN);: 6 osoead.esoacs Stora e Son nenoeeoO aaeers 4.00 PRULEVARALONs CPE MTOntM), abs. secede <1 sic co lhe oo 100. 00 iP preparator (permonth)) abso. 232-6 2-0 nnse ess 75. 00 HELE pana corm @POLMION GM) abiamcsetecieiste cic elie eeieias oc taal 65. 00 iL TORE RAO (Gore eNO) Ci oases seas Pano oo Goose eaomosesec 60. 00 HENLE A Avora (Memo NUM) ce Uieeee see sect) cleicls lo aces ciasiarelei 50. 00 Se EBSD Buildings and labor: 1 superintendent of buildings (per month), at......----.--- 135. 00 1 assistant superintendent (per month), at ........----.--- 100. 00
1 assistant superintendent (per month), at.....-...----.---- 75. 00 iS RMALCMINEnE (DEMMONth))sabesse~eSaa. se sec cewiscrsseeese) | 00.100
Arsisiiledsaboners (petmonth)), Ute. cc. ace -1--cs-ris2 sco ce 50, 00 PASkaledeLAbORersi(MeLiG@iGM))), aibi saa srs cele. Sicleis = mi- = ora atel= 2. 00 HBlLa One rAern OUD) Wa bees e re cline c eiejereisisitsinie.ajete efete emia) ters 46. 00 PA AMOLGUGQDOLMOMNGM Abe ae soc ois ase crn: 2 eo eid- ee cies cmiatecornse 45. 00 Bal aborersd(perimMonuul) wiabisces .--csc/ecce sce ses coses esa 40800 fs BOLeTS (MELAGIEM) yall acy nes oc ci tote acictnisa's, serelegcin laa 1.50 (ache udl amti (per MOnbGli)s ait = sor ce «<1 ceicie ce este ye ciele se 5) =is)=157 40. 00 PATE n Manis (PEL MONOM yb) cc sccacc ae fo. ccna sie ones ee 35. OO PCIESTLOL Se (Mele ONO yiaibinserscis ecielscivcions cise 2 leias= 2a oe 30. 00 IPeleamera( MEM MON) WAL sociiaces ces snes ecielecec cise ssc. Bee 000 DICIGATELSM (DELACLEM) wallipecteessmci- vicc« ais cic ceaaaeeieeimiesse 1. 00 IeMesseneera(PELIMONUA i aAbssc= sears oscces sord-esetecce ace OOO HPMessen Ver (PEM MONUM) Abe esac cae os celts wee is amine = cielo 65, 00 HemieGSSeHO en Qerem ONO) ab a= s5s4---205- sce neni le aicieuene 45, 00 Messen oor pete mOnNul i abrssaeeric- 22. 22 /cinnie'-ssoe.es se) cane 37. 00 [SMeESReONO CLC MOL MONO) Abscess. -s220< 2a - cece cece meee s 20. 00
—-—— —- 28, 356.52
Total svariesiand compensation. .-- 22. --2--- -- sce -- 2a cencas wom $96, 511. 53
NATIONAL MUSEUM.—FrURNITURE AND FIXTURES.
Appropriation for fiscal year ending June 30, 1888: For cases, furniture, fixtures, and appliances required for the exhibition and safe-keeping of the collections of the National Museum, including salary or com- Pensabioniot all necessary employ6s......- .c.--.-- 222. seaece sens ---=-- $49 000. 00
Classification of expenditures.
Salaries and compensation : Engineer of property, work inspector, clerks, and
CUDA a6 coe ROSSEUISE SESS GORE era merrreemt Sec eaten D)
(CEM T a ier 63 eS SS eke Oe ee ee 7, 807.75
INC ORA een set See Se i Re os seas 2, 020. 00
AUGER a ae en fk ha, See ee lon, 4, 926. 04
‘Cleans ap Abe BS eeice De eee ee ee ae 480. 00 ee $19, 203. 79
XXVIII REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Materials, ete:
Exhtbibonicase tramesees seers ooo eater eee b7, Bo. 44 Designs and drawings for cases .....--.---. ----- 305, 00 Glassvales steers lassen cee ese eee eee eee at oO md Drawers, brays;, DOXeS qebCes + 7s 4seee = eeeee ee eeee 595. 14 Hardware and interior fittings for cases.....-..- 874. 91 Tron brackets 22252 ce sae ee eee eee 126. 30 Cloth, cotton, felt (lining for cases) -.-.-.---.-- 420. 24 Glass jars and containers for specimens.----.---- 223. 29 Chemicals and apparatus: ---.....< -.22s----=:4- 3718, 33 . Em Der es ee eee an tee Sp eae epee eee 2, 140. 93 | OOISs | Se. oi, tae ee see ee seme 191. 68 ' Paints and! Ollsteste sess = sos cee eee 749. 99 Office furniture and other fixtures .-....-....... 1,784. 75 Plumbine bin wleadetcesss ses see sn ee 889. 54 Slatettiles CiGsses sone sae cee sate a eee 29. 50 Brushes;, brooms; pltchers, @tG- 2) seen ee 111. 47 (Rae tee esas Sate ay asa = Sucre nie: Sac ae ae 49, 50 Travelin evexpenses: os Jess ees. a= se eee Eee ee 30. 08 wae $19, 079. 25 Total expenditure ----.---------- +22 = anaes 1228s =o ete on pods CO. Om
Balance July 1, 1888, to meet outstanding liabilities---....... .....--. $1, 716. 96)
Salaries and compensation paid from the appropriation for furniture and fixtures, 1887—88. (Many of these persons were employed only part of the year.)
1 encineer of property (per month) at-- 2s eee. 5 aoe eee LOUNOO
i work imspector(Gorone month only) atases-s 2 =e ee eee ee 100. 00 liclenk (per month) at (25. o- cn cce2 see oene- eee eee secre 110. 00 Lclerk (per month) aby oo. 22. at nae se Cee nee eee 90. 00 Jielerka(permonth); aban aasSes- 2 eee ae ees ceca eee eee 80. 00 1 clerk (per month) at ---..----- Re eo Ooe nN Sosa Ce Ose 50. 00 lcopyasticpercsmonth)ittess co sce ae eee eee ee Beer eee 60. 00 SiCOPYAISbs (per month) iat. seen seater epe = ee lee Se ee eee 50. 00 ZACOPYVISUS.(PETAMOnth))patess sae seeee eee eee ee eee eee 40, 00 Lcopyist (persmonth))sa bese ac ose en eee ee eee 30. 00 L-ecarpenter (per diem) ati ses--2 a eee ee eee eee 3.50 iiicarpentersi(per.diem))iate2s- scar ees ote enice. eo eee ee ene 3. 00 2: carpentersi(per diem) atin s22-e eee eee eee eee eee 2. 00 1 painter’ (permonth) at 225.05: 2 ones eo Sees eee eee 50. 00 i painter/(per- diem) atesose5 sac eee eae ee ee eee 2.50 i painter: (pers diem) tatle eS ae ae Sie ee ee ee 2. 00 2 laborers @per month) atin see ee ee ee eee eee 50. 00 AN alhorersi(penmonbh\watessece mes een see oe aan cee Cee eee 40, 00 13 laborers:(per diem)! aticscnn. ooo ee ee ee ee ee eee 1. 50 2 cleaners (per monbh)iat.occeo ene ke see ee ee ye ee eee 30. 00
Total salaries and compensation: --s-see sence eee eee eee ee eee
NATIONAL MUSEUM.—HEATING AND LIGHTING.
Appropriation for fiscal year ending June 30, 1883: For expense of heat- ing, lighting, and electrical and telephonic service for the National Museum
i i ee
. . . Salaries and compensation:
Classification of expenditures.
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
[DIANE SS pert tO 8 DEO GRO nr eee eee $1, 440. 00 Telegraph and telephone clerks...-.-........... 1, 140. 00 HPIFEMen and MAGHINIStS =assa0 sci oeis cece seme e 3, 473. 36 Total salaries and compensation.........-........- $6, 053. 36 ASO MANOS OO Nee eset eee ciesisea sac caeise cess 3, 014. 08 BENS SOC ae No eee 795, 09 TGR DNO TES GasncoRSehGosoes COCR nC esr: Sera es 588. 65 HSC IRICLWODKere ee yas cee aaa ace seec cts cccese 293. 20 Rentalton callsboxes!.-<-..- ses sa. co-essch-ce5 2 110. 00 PARE ED OATS ote a) crcrerdae cl ashec clues) ssiceis'\s 389. 73
5, 190, 75
Ole XPENCUUECd se asoe AS eos sso seo ece ccs aee aces cae cee Soce
Balance July 1, 1888, to meet outstanding liabilities..........
XXIX
$11, 244. 11
$755. 89
Salaries and compensation paid from the appropriation for heating and lighting, 1887-
: 1883.
CTIAIMEOM (HOESIMONGEM)seabitesece Sacic ss ciccs cocci ceis als sc.cSemecees $120. 00 Beivleoraph clerk: (per: month), at. -t-.<,.e<<cec--+ swceee tos occ = 40. 00 menelephone clerk (per month), at.....-.-..-..- 020. 5220. eee ee 55. 00 ae iireman and machinist (per month), at ..............--...----. 65. 00 PELE ADE pPelLeNON bl) Walesa Mo Paces os eee e sh cels cose ae. aasiccers 50. 00 me firemen (temporary) (permonth), at .........---...----+ 202-5. 50. 00
Motaleaalanvessand compensations a+... cencce cos caress c cee ecu cweess $6, 053. 36
NATIONAL MUSEUM.—OTHER APPROPRIATIONS.
‘Preservation of collections, 1886: Balance of appropriation July 1, 1837 This balance remains July 1, 13888. Preservation of collections, 1887:
Balance unexpended July 1, 1888 Furniture and fixtures, 1856: Balance of appropriation July 1, 1887 This balance remains July 1, 1888. Furniture and fixtures, 1887 : Balance of appropriation July 1, 1887
Balance unexpended July 1, 1888 Preservation of co lections, armory, 1836 : 4 Balance of appropriation July 1, 1887 Expended during year ending June 30, 1888
Balance unexpended July 1, 1888
'
i er
* Expended during year ending June 30, 1588................
5,991.17 5.991. 15
2, 809, 80
2,734.83
Se ee
1.96
. 02
45, 05
74, 97
~
a -_
XXX REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,
Heating and lighting, 1887 :
Balance of appropriation July 1, 1887...--..-.-....-2..-.<-- $391. 73 Expended during year ending June 30, 1888.......-.--..-.- 373. 19 Balancennexpended| July ll SSSr =a ele eee ee $18. 54 Balances reported last year on July 1, 1887, viz: Presernvationvof collections: LS8oresss-. ee ee =e eee 2. 00 Expended durinew 88/88 jesse sees ete eeee ee eee 1.50 Balance July, [S68 52.5 esc Se ew cee are nee te eee . 00 Preservation of collections) 1885— 80). ase essen ee ee eee 1.48 AVMORY:; 1885) 55 2c. a. Sasee nba cee com cee Oe se eee eee eee 8.25 Burniture and tixtures, Le8o.ooce. asses ea ele eee eee eee .16
The above sums have, under the action of Revised Statutes, section 3090, been carried by the Treasury Department to the credit of the sur- plus fund July 1, 1888.
RECAPITULATION.
The total amount of the funds administered by the Institution during the year ending 30th of June, 1888, appears, from the foregoing state- ments and the account books, to have been as follows:
Smithsonian Institution:
Prom: balanceotlash year -<.-se-2=.2-- 2-9 eee a eee $1, 423. 14 From interest on the Smithsonian fund...-.....--.---..--. 42, 180. 00 Hrom) sales) of publications..2--.\2.- le... 2 -4-aoeeen4oledo From repayments for freight, ete-.......--..---.- Pipa li
— 79%, 86
$44, 356. 00 Appropriations committed by Congress to the care of the Insti-
tution, for the year 1838, and balances of appropriations unex-
pended in previous years :
Tuternationalvexchan ges) sa. sab emesis se)e sa nie see ee 12, 000. 00 Bthnolopical researches. —-==-\5->-- eee eee eee eee 46, 556. 98 Smithsoniambuildine repairse. =. -s--se sees ea 14, 868. 20 Preservation of collections: cle Oe AEA SOS ESS a ROE Ie Per At rerisocmtsaci 1.96 NBR iioss See. dees cowie sca ase eke eonee ee coterie 5, 991.17 ISSR eos sR s See cece Os onli eticeite oc See eee 116, 000. 00 —— 121,993.13 Preservabion) ALMOLY-- <2): ss 0 ea ais 5 os See lne ee oe eee eee 46.14 Hurnmiture-san detexpunesies.ossee see oo ee ance eee ene eee 42, 854. 85 Heating, lighting; set's. 2 sta.-c- tes oe oe cee eee eee 12, 391.73 - 290, 711. 03 Motaliae sean sees see eee ace See eaten eee See ee eee eee $295, 067. 03
The committee has examined the vouchers for payments: made from the Smithsonian income during the year ending June 30, 1888, all of which bear the approval of the Secretary of the Institution, and a cer- tificate that the materials and services charged were applied to the pur- poses of the Institution.
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. XXXII
The committee has also examined the accounts of the National Mu- seum, and find that the balances above given correspond with the cer- tificates of the disbursing officers of the Interior and Treasury Depart- ments.
The quarterly accounts current, the vouchers, and journals have been examined and found correct.
Statement of regular income from the Smithsonian fund, to be available for use in the year ending June 30, 1889.
Bal aniCeOUshangeUN GOO wl ocotas nce selacic s ce cs stesc-csceasis Saecs scsi Sets $4, 809, 23 interest due and receivablewulycl, 188855. 2... ve cecccae cece s Soe sce 21, 090. 00 Interest due and receivable January 1, 1883. ........--.-.--.-.---------- 21,090, 00
Motal available for year endine Juneis0, 1889... 2.2. 5... oo ne $46, 989. 23
Respectfully submitted. JAMES CO. WELLING, M. C. MEIGs, of Executive Committee. WASHINGTON, December 6, 1888.
“ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS RELATIVE TO THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, NATIONAL MUSEUM, ETC.
(In continuation from previous reports. )
[Ferty-ninth Congress, first session, 1885-’36. } SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
JOINT RESOLUTION (No. 2) filling existing vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the existing vacancies in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution of the class ‘ other than Members of Congress,” shall be filled by the re-appointment of John Maclean, of New Jersey; Asa Gray, of Massachusetts ; Henry Coppée, of Pennsylvania, and the appointment of Montgomery C. Meigs, of the city of Washington, vice William T. Sherman, whose term has expired and who is no longer a citizen of Washington.
(Approved, December 26, 1885. Forty-ninth Congress, first session. Statutes, 1885-86.)
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES.
NAVAL OBSERVATORY: For payment to Smithsonian Institution for freight on observatory publications sent to foreign countries, one hun- dred and thirty-six dollars.
(Legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act. Approved July 31, 1886, chapter 827.)
WAR DEPARTMENT.—For the transportation of reports and maps to foreign countries, through the Smithsonian Institution, one hundred dollars.
(Sundry civil appropriation act. Approved August 4, 1886, chapter 902.)
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: For ex- penses of the system of international exchanges between the United States and foreign countries, under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, including salaries or compensation of all necessary em- ployés, ten thousand dollars.
(Sundry civil appropriation act. Approved August 4, 1886, chapter 902.)
NORTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY. NoRTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: For
the purpose of continuing ethnological researches among the American H. Mis. 142——111 XXXII
XXXIV ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS,
Indians, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institu- tion, including salaries or compensation of all necessary employés, forty thousand dollars.
(Sundry civil appropriation act. Approved August 4, 1886, chapter 902.)
NATIONAL MUSEUM.
HEATING AND LIGHTING THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.—For expense of heating, lighting, and electrical and telephonic service for the National Museum, eleven thousand dollars.
PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIONS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.— For the preservation, exhibition, and increase of the collections received from the surveying and exploring expeditions of the Government, and from other sources, including salaries or compensation of all necessary employés, one hundred and six thousand five hundred dollars.
FURNITURE AND FIXTURES OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.—For cases, furniture, and fixtures required for the exhibition and safe-keeping of the collections of the National Museum, including salaries or compen- sation of all necessary employés, forty thousand dollars.
(Sundry civil appropriation act. Approved August 4, 1886, chapter 902.)
NATIUNAL Museum: For expense of heating, lighting, and electrical and telephonic service, six hundred and thirty-one dollars and sixty- seven cents.
Preservation of collections, eighteen hundred and eighty-three and prior years, one hundred and forty-nine dollars and sixteen cents.
(Act to supply deficiencies. Approved August 4, 1886, chapter 903.)
JOINT RESOLUTION (No. 35), accepting from Julia Dent Grant and William H. Vanderbilt objects of value and art presented by various foreign Governments to the late General Ulysses 8. Grant.
Whereas Julia Dent Grant and William H. Vanderbilt, by deed of trust executed on the tenth day of January, eighteen hundred and eighty-five, presented to the United States certain swords, medals, paintings, bronzes, portraits, commissions, and addresses, and objects of value and art presented by various Governments in the world to General Ulysses 8S. Grant as tokens of their high appreciation of his illustrious character as a soldier and a statesman: Therefore,
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the United States ac- cept, with grateful acknowledgments, the said property and articles, more fully described in the schedule attached to said deed of trust, to be held by the United States and preserved and protected in the. city of Washington for the use and inspection of the people of the United States.
SEC. 2. That the said property and articles be placed under the cus- tody of the Director of the National Museum; and he is hereby di- rected to receive the same for safe-keeping therein.
(Approved August 5, 1886. Forty-ninth Congress, first session. Statutes, 1885-36.)
ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS. XXXV [ Forty-ninth Congress, second session, 1886-1837. ] SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
JOINT RESOLUTION (No. 5) appointing James B. Angell a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the existing vacancy in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution of the class ‘other than mem. bers of Congress,” shall be filled by the appointment of James B. Angell, of the State of Michigan, in place of John Maclean, deceased.
(Approved January 19, 1887. Forty-ninth Congress, second session, Statutes, 1886—37.)
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: For urgent and necessary repairs to cen- tral and western portions of the Smithsonian Institution building, fif- teen thousand dollars.
(Sundry civil appropriation act. Approved March 3, 1887, chapter
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES.
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: For ex- penses of the system of international exchanges between the United States and foreign countries, under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, including salaries or compensation of all necessary em- ployés, twelve thousand dollars.
NAVAL OBSERVATORY : For payment to Smithsonian Institution for freight on Observatory publications sent to foreign countries, one hun- dred and thirty-six dollars.
(Legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act. Approved March 3, 1887, chapter 392.)
NORTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY.
NORTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: For the purpose of continuing ethnological researches among the American Indians, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- tution, including salaries or compensation of all necessary employés, forty thousand dollars.
(Sundry civil appropriation act. Approved March 3, 1887, chapter 362.)
NATIONAL MUSEUM.
HEATING AND LIGHTING THE NATIONAL MUSEUM: For expense of heating, lighting, and electrical and telephonic service tor the National Museum, twelve thousand dollars.
PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIONS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM: For the preservation, exhibition, and increase of the collections from the surveying and exploring expeditions of the Government, and from other sources, including salaries or compensation of all necessary em- ployees, one hundred and sixteen thousand dollars.
FURNITURE AND FIXTURES OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM: For cases, furniture, fixtures, and appliances required for the exhibition and safe- keeping of the collections of the National Museum, including salaries or compensation of all necessary employees, forty thousand dollars. (Sundry civil appropriation act. ‘Approved March 3, 1887, chapter 362.)
XXXVI ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS.
HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS.
COMMISSION TO REPORT ON HISTORICAL VALUE OF MANUSCRIPTS, Erc.: That the Secretary of State, the Librarian of Congress, and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and their successors in office, are hereby constituted a commission whose duty it shall be to report to Congress the character and value of the historical and other mannu- scripts belonging to the Government of the United States, and what method and policy should be pursued in regard to editing and publish- ing the same, or any of them.
(Sundry civil appropriation act. Approved March 3, 1887, chapter 362.)
MINNEAPOLIS EXPOSITION.
JOINT RESOLUTION (No.19.) authorizing the several Executive Departmenis of the poems to loan to the Minneapolis Industrial Exposition certain articles for e€xD1vit.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it is desirable, in any way consistent with existing laws and without risk to Government property or expense to the National Treasury, to encourage the effort being made for the open- ing and holding of a grand industrial and educational exposition of the Northwest, at the city of Minneapolis, in the State of Minnesota, and the interests of the whole northwestern section of our country demand it be made an unqualified success; and it be, and is hereby, approved that the heads of the several Executive Departments shall, in whatever respects they may in their judgment see convenient and proper, loan any articles or material suitable to such purpose: Provided, That such loan be made entirely on the responsibility of said Minneapolis Lndus-
trial Exposition, and shall not be of material needed for use in either -
Department, and shall not in any way interrupt the daily routine of duty or order in any branch of the Government, and shall be returned to the proper Department, in good order, within one month after the close of the exposition: And provided further, That before any such loan shall be made the proper head of the Department shall require and re- ceive a good and sufficient bond, by or in behalf of such exposition, for the safe return thereof as aforesaid,and to indemnify and save harmless the Government of the United States, or any Department thereof, from any liability or expense on account thereof, or on account of this reso- lution.
Approved, March 3, 1887.
[Fiftieth Congress, first session, 1887-88. ] SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
JOINT RESOLUTION (No. 4.) appointing Andrew D. White a member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the existing vacancy in the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution of the class “ other than members of Congress,” shall be filled by the appointment of An- drew D. White, of the State of New York, in place of Asa Gray, de- ceased.
(Approved, February 15, 1888.)
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ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS. XX XVII NORTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY.
For North American Ethnology, Smithsonian [nstitution, forty-nine dollars and nine cents. (Urgent deficiency act. Approved March 30, 1888, chapter 47.)
NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Cuap. 124,—AN ACT to purchase of the widow and children of the late Genera} James Shields certain swords.
Whereas the State of [linois and the State of South Carolina, after the war with Mexico, each presented to the late General James Shields a sword, in consideration of gallant and meritorious services rendered by him in said war; and
Whereas he has left surviving him a widow and three minor children, with but limited means of support, and said swords, though costly and valuable, can not be divided and apportioned between said children, and their value is needed for the education and support of said children ; Therefore,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to purchase of said widow and children said swords, at their actual cost, not to exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars, to be paid for out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and when so purchased the same to be depos- ited with the other military archives of the nation, in some public place at the National Museum.
(Approved, April 19, 1888, chapter 124.)
CINCINNATI EXPOSITION.
AN ACT making an appropriation to enable the several Executive Departments of the Government and the Bureau of Agriculture and the Smithsonian Institution, jncluding the National Museum and Commission of Fish and Fisheries to partici- pate in the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States, to be held at Cincinnati, Ohio, from July fourth to October twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred
and eighty-eight.
Whereas the States which comprise the Northwest Territory and the adjacent States will hold at Cincinnati, Ohio, from July fourth to Octo- ber twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, a centennial exposition commemorative of the organization of the Northwest Terri- tory, under the ordinance of seventeen hundred and eighty-seven, in which exposition all the States and Territories of the United States and the General Government lave been invited to participate, the object being in said exposition to present a panorama of the nation’s resources and present state of progressive development by an exhibition of the products of agriculture, of the various industries and fine arts; also the results of advancement made in the sciences; the whole illustrating the opportunities secured to and the possibilities which wait upon the citi- zens of this Republic; and
Whereas the citizens of the Ohio Valley and the several States adja. cent thereto have made suitable and adequate preparation and arrange- ments for holding said exposition, and are desirous—and it being fit and proper—that the several Executive Departments of the Government, the Department of Agriculture, the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Museum and Commission of Fish and Fisheries, should participate in said exhibition: Therefore,
XXXVIII ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS.
Be it enacted ,by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the head of each of the several Executive Departments of the Government, the Commissioner of Agriculture, and the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Museum and Commission of Fish and Fisheries, under the direction of the President of the United States, be. and they are hereby authorized and directed to prepare and make suitable exhibits at the said Centen- nial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States, to be held at Cincinnati, beginning on the fourth of July and closing October twenty- seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight.
That there shall be appointed a committee of Congress composed of ten members, five to be appointed by the President of the Senate and five by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Said committee is authorized and directed to visit said exposition and make such report to Congress in that behalfias they may deem needful and proper: Pro- vided, That the President may in the exercise of his discretion allow such documents, and exhibits as relate to early settlement at Marietta, Ohio, and the establishment of civil government in the territory north- west of the Ohio River, to be taken to Marietta, and exhibited during the time from July fifteenth to nineteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty- eight, inclusive, under such restrictions and custody as he may direct.
That to enable the several Executive Departments of the Govern- ment, the Department of Agriculture and the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Museum and the Commission of Fish and Fish- eries, to participate in said exposition, to be held as aforesaid, there is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, one hundred and forty-seven thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars, apportioned as follows:
For the War Department, seven thousand one hundred and fifty del- lars.
For the Navy Department, fifteen thousand dollars.
For the State Department, two thousand five hundred dollars.
For the Treasury Department, seven thousand five hundred dollars.
For the Interior Department, thirty-six thousand one hundred dol- lars.
For the Department of Agriculture, twenty thousand dollars.
Tor the Post-Office Department, five thousand dollars.
For the Department of Justice, two thousand dollars.
For the Smithsonian Institution, including the Commission of Fish and Fisheries, fifty thousand dollars.
For expenses of the committee of Congress, two thousand five hun- dred dollars.
That the President may, if in his judgment it shall be deemed neces- sary and expedient in order to secure the best results with greatest economy, transfer a part of the fund hereby apportioned to one Depart- ment or Bureau to another Department or Bureau. The term Bureau wherever used herein shall be construed to include the Agricultural Department, the Smithsonian Institution, and Commission of Fish and Fisheries.
That the President of the United States is hereby authorized to de- tail an officer of the pay department of the Army or Navy to disburse the fand appropriated by this act. .
The payments on account of expenses incurred in carrying out and into effect the provisions hereof shall be made on itemized vouchers ap- proved by the representative of the Department incurrivg the liability, and a person to be designated by the President to make final audit of
ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS. XX XIX
said accounts: Provided, That payment of the expenses incurred by the committee of Congress shall be made on vouchers approved by the chairman of said committee.
That the head of each of said Executive Departments and of the De- partment of Agriculture, Smithsonian Institution, and Commission of Fish and Fisheries shall, from among the officers or employees thereof, appoint a suitable person to act as representative of such Department or Bureau, and said representative shall, under the direction and con- trol of the head of the Department or Bureau, supervise the preparation and conduct of the exhibits herein provid: d for.
That no officer or employee appointed as aforesaid shall be paid extra or additional compensation by reason of services rendered in virtue of such employment; but nothing herein shall be so construed as to pre- vent the payment ‘of the just and reasonable expenses of any commit- tee, officer, or employee appointed or employed under and by virtue of the provisions of this act.
That all articles imported from the Republic of Mexico or the Domin- ion of .Canada for the purpose of being exhibited at said exposition shall be admitted free of duty, subject, however, to such conditions and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may impose and prescribe.
Approved, May, 28, 1888.
JOINT RESOLUTION (No. 30) declaring the true intent anil meaning of the act approved May twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That itis the true intentand meaning of the act of Congress approved May twenty eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, by the President of the United States, entitled ‘* An act making appropriation to enable the several Executive Departments of the Government, and the Bureau ot Agriculture, and the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Museum and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries, to participate in the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States, to be held at Cincinnati, Ohio, from July fourth to October seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight,” that the President of the United States may, in his discretion m: ike an order directing that any documents, papers, maps not original, books or other exhibits which properly and pertinently relate to the establishment of civil government in the territory northwest of the Ohio River, may be sent upon an executive order from any of the several Departinents in said act named, or from the exhibits now at Cincinnati, and that the appropriation of money in said act to defray the expenses of such ex- hibits, may be made applicable, in so far as the President of the United States may direct, to the payment of the expenses of the care, trans- portation to and return of suchexhibits from Marietta. And the same shall be paid from such fund heretofore set apart for each Department as the President may order. Nor shall anything in said act be so con- strued as to prevent the purchase of suitable materials, and the em- ployment of proper persons, to complete or modify series of objects, and classes of specimens, when in the judgment of the head of any Depart- ment such purchase or employment, or both is necessary in the proper preparation and conduct of an exhibit. Nor to authorize the removal from their places of deposit in Washington of any original paper or document or laws or ordinances whatever.
Approved, July 16, 1888.
XL ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS
JOINT RESOLUTION (No. 57), authorizing the exhibits made by the Government at the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States, at Cincinnati, Ohio, to remain at said exposition until and inciuding the fifteenth day of Novem- ber, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives uf the United States of America in Congress assembled, That authority is hereby granted to continue until and including November fifteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight, the exhibits made by the Government at the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Central States, at Cincinnati, Ohio, under authority of the act approved May twenty-eighth, eighteen hun- dred and eighty-eight.
(Approved October 20, 1838 ) INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES.
NAVAL OBSERVATORY.—For payment to Smithsonian Institution for freight on Observatory publications sent to foreign countries, one hundred and thirty-six dollars. ;
(Legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation act. Approved July 11, 1885, chapter 615.)
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.—For the purchase of neces- sary books for the library, and the payment for the transmission of public documents through the Smithsonian exchange, five thousand dlollars.
(Sundry civil appropriation act. Approved October 2, 1888, chapter 1069.)
INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: For ex- penses of the system of international exchanges between the United
States and foreign countries, under the direction of the Smithsonian |
Institution, including saiaries or compensation of all necessary em- ployees, fifteen thousand dollars.
WAR DEPARTMENT.—Transportation of reports and maps to foreign countries: For the transportation of reports and maps to foreign coun- tries through the Smithsonian Institution, one hundred dollars.
(Sundry civil appropriation act, approved October 2, 1883, chapter 1069.)
NORTH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY.
NortH AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY: For the purpose of continuing ethnological researches among the American Indians, under the diree- tion of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, including salaries or compensation of all necessary employees, forty thousand dollars.
NATIONAL MUSEUM.
Under the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution as Director of the National Museum.
NATIONAL MUSEUM, HEATING AND LIGHTING: For expense of heat- ing, lighting, and electrical and telephonic service for the National Museum, twelve thousand dollars.
PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIONS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM: For the preservation, exhib.tion, and increase of the collections from the surveying and exploring expeditions of the Government, and from other sources, including salaries or compensation of all necessary em- ployees, one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.
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ACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS. XLI
FURNITURE AND FIXTURES OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM: For cases, furniture, fixtures, and applianees required for the exhibition and safe-keeping of the collections of the National Museum, ineluding salaries or compensation ef all necessary employees, forty thousand dollars.
That the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution shall submit to Congress at its next session a detailed statement of the expenditures of the fiscal year eighteen hundred and eighty-eight under appropria- tions for “International Exchanges,” “ North American Ethnology,” and the *“‘ National Museum,” and annually thereafter a detailed state- ment of expenditures under said appropriations shall be submitted to Congress at the beginning of each regular session thereof.
(Sundry civil appropriation act. Approved October 2, 1888, chapter 1069.)
For the National Museum, ior printing labels and blanks and for the “ Bulletins” and annual volumes of the ‘ Proceedings” of the Museum, ten thousand dollars.
(Sundry civil appropriation act, approved October 2, 1888, chapter 1069.)
For preservation of collections, National Museum, eighteen hundred and eighty-five and prior years, to pay the claim numbered fifty-two thousand one hundred and eighty-two, in said Executive Document, number three hundred and seventy-seven, sixty dollars.
(Deficiency appropriation act, approved, October 19, 18388, chapter 1210.)
AN ACT for the relief of Semon Bache and Company.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Treas- ury be, and he is hereby, authorized to pay to Semon Bache and Com- pany, of New York, the sum of three thousand five hundred and sixty- two dollars and fifty-six cents, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of refunding the duty paid by said firm upon glass from imported stock furnished to the National Museum and the New Orleans, Louisville, and Cincinnati Expositions or exhibition cases.
(Approved September 26, 1888. Private laws, chapter 1043.)
REPORT OF SAMUEL P. LANGLEY,
SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, FOR 1887-83.
To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution:
GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to present with this the customary report for the year ending June 30, 1888.
This year is memorable for the loss to the Institution, not only of its Chancellor and of others to be mentioned later, but of its late Secretary, Spencer F, Baird.
I have endeavored elsewhere to characterize his character and serv- ices, while yet feeling that one who has been so recently called to fill his place is hardly the fittest person to adequately describe them ; but that may surely be repeated here which is no secret to any one, that a most honored and useful life, which might have been prolonged for many years, came to an end which can not but be called premature, largely through a too self-sacrificing devotion to the public service.
I shall also have to speak later of the loss to the Institution of its Chaneellor, the late Chief-Justice of the United States—a man whom those honored with his acquaintance grew, in proportion to their knowledge of him, to look up to and trust; and of one of its Regents, Prof. Asa Gray, pre-eminent in science, but in whom, as in the Chief- Justice, the qualities of the intellect were supplemented by others, such that both inspired even in their official relations, a feeling not only of respect, but of affection, which the formal intercourse of public life rarely brings.
The past has, indeed, been a fatal year to the Institution; but these great losses have been spoken of at length in its necrology, and I will now ask to be allowed to preface this and the rest of my report by a few personal words.
Although long acquainted with both Professor Henry and Professor Baird [ had no official relationship with either until two years ago, when the latter, in view of the end which he must have felt to be approaching, asked me if I was disposed to assume a connection with the Institution while continuing the scientific researches to which my life had been chiefly devoted.
The position then tendered me, and later at your hands, that of See- retary, was accepted, from the knowledge that in your view such re- searches for the increase of knowledge, no less than administrative la-
EieeMis;, JA 1 :
2 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
bors, formed the essential duties of the place to which I was honored by your invitation, though it has happened that this, the first year of these duties, has been passed all but exclusively in purely administra- tive work, of which there is alone occasion at present to speak.
The year was begun with the feeling that it was best to closely follow the methods of my predecessors till a longer experience should have brought material for independent judgment; but at its close I desire to be allowed to say that every experience has enhanced my confidence in their policy as a permanent guide; and if it be true, as hassometimes been said, that men eminent in science are apt to be devoid of capacity in the management of daily affairs, we must conclude that Professor Henry was a Singular exception to such a rule: for the practical wisdom of the general lines of conduct laid down by him, and adopted by my honored predecessor, so commend themselves to me in the light of daily service that more trust in them is felt with every new trial.-
From them there may, it seems to me, be deduced some general con- siderations with reference to the Smithsonian Institution and its asso- ciate interests, of which the following brief summary represents those general principles of official action by which I have sought to be guided.
If the position of the Smithsonian is that of a ward of the Govern- ment, having property of its own, for which that Government acts the part of a trustee, while leaving its administration wholky with the Re- gents, it follows that the Institution enjoys a measure of independence, and in it a power of initiative for good which ought to be deemed its most privileged possession ; so that any action which is taken by one having its interests at heart, ought to be with this consideration of its independence always in mind.
The Institution is for ‘the inerease and diffusion of knowledge among men.” It is not primarily for the promotion of utilitarian interests, which can be advanced through other channels, but for knowledge in the highest and widest sense, including not only all pure science, but even, in the words of Henry, “the true, the beautiful, as well as the immediately practical; ” and these interests it is to guard from all en- tangling alliances,
In dealing with the circumstances of to-day, the Institution should still be guided by these principles; but in bringing them to the test of present needs, we are daily reminded that these same principles are now to be often applied to quite new conditions.
The Smithsonian has under its charge besides the Museum, the Bureau of Ethnology, which will be referred to later, and some minor interests, which are, however, insignificant in comparison.
It has from time.to time been proposed by friends outside of this Institution that it should: take on much wider cares than these, and that it should be the center around which all the scientific establish- ments of the Government might cluster. . In the writer’s opinion it
ee
r Ce ee a ee a a
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 3
would not be perhaps impossible, but it would certainly be difficult, to make such a permanent arrangement consistently with the independence of the Smithsonian, and its continued devetion to the original objects of its being; but since the project is from time to time renewed, it may not be superfluous to observe that in any case the Museum would stand on an entirely different footing from any other governmental bureau of applied science, if only because it has been created in a very consider- able degree out of the endowment income of the Institution; while other scientific bureaus have grown up wholly independent of the Smithso- nian, which has neither legal nor moral title to their property.
It must be admitted, however, that the line of demarcation, even in the Museum, between the property to which the Smithsonian has an undoubted legal title; that to which this claim is only presumptive; and that to which it has no claim, is not in all cases at present clearly drawn, and we are endeavoring to remedy this uncertainty. As regards the care of this property, a great gain has been made in the past year by carrying out (with the concurrence of the Secretary of the Interior) the wishes which the Regents expressed in regard to the Museum at their last meeting; so that it is no longer uncertain how far this care falls upon the Institution, and how far upon the Interior Department.
Reference has just been made to the question of the general policy to be followed by the Smithsonian with regard to its accepting the charge of other Government departments of science, and this question is so far from being an idle one that the Secretary has been called upon during the past year to consider whether it was his duty te advise that the Fish Commission, which until lately had such intimate though unofficial re- lations with the Institution, should be united with it by a legal bond, ornot. While feeling that it would be in many respects most desira- ble to connect with the Smithsonian the purely scientific portions of the Fish Commission and its apparatus of research, he could not but recog- nize that these were almost indissolubly mingled with certain great utilitarian interests, which were not equally proper subjects of the Smithsonian’s care; and after consultation with those Regents whose advice he could separately obtain, he felt unable to urge such a union with any confidence that it would meet the approbation of the Board.
The President saw fit to appoint as Commissioner, Dr. G. Brown Goode, the Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who, while still, with my full consent, retaining that place, accepted the office provisionally, from a sense of duty to the interests of the Fish Commission, concerning which he had obtained an intimate acquaint- ance under the late Professor Baird.
Having placed these interests on a proper footing; after a brief period of laborious but wholly gratuitous service, he declined the higher salary and permanent appointment of Commissioner which was pressed upon him, and resumed the duties here to which his scientific life has been chiefly devoted.
4 REPORT OF THE SHCRETARY.
On the 2d of December, 1887, the chancellor, Chief-Justice Waite, uuder the provision of the law, designated Dr. G. Brown Goode as Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution during the absence of the Secretary.
If only from the ordinary need of a periodical revision, nearly every department of the Institution has been the subject of examination, and in some cases of considerable modification during the past year, and I now proceed to speak of these in some detail, prefacing each with a brief statement of such considerations as seem to me deserving of the particular attention of the Regents.
BOARD OF REGENTS.
Meetings of the Board.—A special meeting of the Board was held No- vember 18, 1887, to take action in regard to the death of the Seeretary,
Spencer Fullerton Baird, and at this meeting Samuel Pierpont Langley was elected his successor.
The stated annual meeting of the Board was held on the 11th Jan- uary, 1888. .
A special meeting of the Board was also held on the 27th March, 1888, to take action in regard to the death of the chancellor of the Tuistitution. Chief-Justice Waite.
The journal of proceedings of the Board is given in full, as usual, in the introduction of the Regents’ report.
Changes in the Board of Regents.—Other vacancies than those already mentioned have occurred in the membership of the Board during the year by the expiration of the legal terms of service.
Senator Maxey’s term ended March 3, 1887, and with the close of the Forty-ninth Congress the terms of the Hon. O. Rh. Singleton, of the Hon. W. L. Wilson, and of the Hon. W. W. Phelps, members of the House of Representatives, also expired; and on the 19th of December, 1887, the President of the Senate appointed the Hon. Randall Lee Gib- son, Senator from Louisiana, a Regent for the term of six years, to fill the vacancy occasioned by Senator Maxey’s retirement. On the 5th of January, 1888, the Speaker of the House of Representatives appointed the Hon. Samuel 8. Cox, of New York, a Regent in the place of the Hon. Otho R. Singleton; and on the 10th of January, 1888, he appointed the Hon. Joseph Wheeler, of Alabama, a Regent in the place of the Hon. William L. Wilson, and re-appointed the Hon. William Walter Phelps, of New Jersey, to continue his service as Regent. Lastly, by joint reso. lution of Congress, approved by President Cleveland, February 15, 1888, Dr. Andrew D. White, of New York, was elected a Regent for the term of six years, to fill the place of Dr. Asa Gray, deceased.
At the special meeting of the Board of Regents, held March 27, 1888, Mr. Justice Samuel F. Miller, senior Associate and acting Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was elected to act as chancellor of
the Institution pro tempore. -
(ey |
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. FINANCES.
While with this is presented the report of the Executive Committee and other statements, showing that the funds are in the usual sense in a satisfactory condition, this seems to be a proper occasion to say some- thing about the larger questions of finance, for, as time passes, the purchasing power of money imperceptibly but surely alters, until finally the consideration is forced upon us that these slow changes, though almost inappreciable from year to year, have, in the half century already elapsed since Congress accepted Smithson’s bequest, essentially dimin- ished the actual value of the fund, while its nominal value remains unchanged.
I do not now refer merely to the fact that we measure all things by another scale in 1888 from what we did in 1836; or that, owing to the immense increase of public wealth, the capital of the original bequest, which then was greater than any but a few private fortunes, has be- come relatively so inconsiderable to-day. More than this is meant. It is meant that the actual purchasing power of each dollar is, for our purposes, notably less; that it is being forced upon us that we can not print as many books, or pay as many employés, or make as many re- searches as when the scheme of expenditure was first fixed, and that, consequently, a scheme which was wise then, because not only desirable but feasible, is not necessarily so now.
i know that this consideration is not presented to the Regents for the first time, and that aacommittee of their number, as long ago as 1877, observed—
“That the income of the Smithsonian fand, while nominally fixed, is growing actually less year by year, with the rapidly-changing value of money, and of less and less importance in,the work that it accomplishes with reference to the immense extension of the country since the Gov- ernment accepted the trust.”
In a time, short with reference to the probable life of the Institution, the income of the Smithsonian fund proper will necessarily become en- tirely inadequate to carry on the object of Henry’s care on the scale which he inaugurated. Even when this is the case, it seems to me ‘that this income of the Smithsonian bequest will stiil have a value wholly beyond its nominal one, for it will at least maintain the Institution in that position of independence and disinterestedness which are its most potent means of influencing others to aid in carrying out the intention of its founder.
It is, nevertheless, most evidently desirable that the fand should be enlarged both by Governmental recontribution and by private bequest, so as to constantly represent at least the original position of its finances relatively to those of the country and contemporary institutions of learn- ing; a position which we can estimate from the observation that there are several such institutions, which were at first scarcely on a par with it financially, but whose funds, having been invested so as to share in the
6 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
growth of the country, and aided by private benefaction, now surpass ours from ten to twenty fold.
We can never regret the generous spirit which has dictated the direc- tion of the expenditure of the Smithsonian income in the past, but it is true that if a less absolutely unselfish policy had been followed—if, for instance, though keeping up all proper expenditures for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, those funds whose expenditure has practi- eally inured chiefly to the benefit of the General Government had been allowed to accumulate—the Institution would have been comparatively wealthy to-day.
I will instance, in explanation of my meaning, the remark of Profes- sor Henry in 1872, to the effect that the Government, in equity, should then have paid the Institution $300,000 for the use of the present build- ing. This building, erected wholly out of Smithsonian funds at the cost of over half a million dollars, has, with the exception of a small por- tion, been ever since that time used rent-free by the Government; and if the observation had force then, it has double force to-day.
Again, the Institution has left in perpetual charge of the nation, in the Museum alone, property acquired out of its private fund (and to which it has apparently the same title), whichis probably now more than equal in value to the whole amount of the Smithsonian bequest.
While it is gratefully recognized that Congress has never dealt in any ungenerous spirit with the Institution, I ean not think it superfluous to keep such facts as those just cited in mind at a time when it becomes necessary to review the whole scheme of expenditure, in view of an income practically diminishing, and which would, .if not for these facts, be more than double its actual amount.
The will of James Smithson, of England, “to found at Washington, under the naine of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men,” was made Octo- ber 23, 1826.
‘The existence of the bequest was communicated to Congress by a message from the President of the United States December 17, 1835, and by an act of Congress approved July 1, 1836, the bequest was ac- cepted, and the President was authorized and enabled to assert and prosecute with effect the claim of the United States to the property thereby bequeathed and then held in trust by the English court of chancery.
Under this authority the sum of $508,318.46 was received in gold by the United States and placed in the Treasury.
The “Smithsonian Institution” provided for in the will of Smithson was not established, however, by Congress until August 10, 1846, when a definite plan of organization was adopted and operations commenced.
By act of Congress February 8, 1867, the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to receive a residuary legacy of Smithson, which had been received by the Institution in 1863, amounting to $26,210.63, on
’ - + ee
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. f
the same terms as the original bequest. By the same act the Regents were authorized to add to the Smithsonian fund such other sum as they might see fit to deposit, not exceeding, with the original bequest, the sum of $1,000,000.
The original bequest and the sums since added are therefore as follows:
(NOM OSh Wit Siam on)s Ilo ese 286 =p oksoeaeen> pooone Se Sae re rOod SoU poaese $515, 169. 00 Resilaayne Sac ylOtnsinl UNSOUsLSOd.msiend = se. awe <2 sm croeaie= sonia - = 26, 210. 63 Wepositsaromrsavines Ob meome, etc:, 186722... sccc ec ccs e+ omnes 25 108, 620. 37 Bed monvoredomes iano, 1SVA-. 25. 622 on. 2 cee ace Seceicecs coe cee 1, 000. 00 Beqiesttoie Sine On@l Del mlOCU tee 0% A. ccs) oa oniwle loon are cceccle sensa 500. 00 Deposit trom proceeds of sale of bonds, 1881 .........--...--.-.....----- 51, 500. 00
Total permanent Smithsonian fund in the Treasury of the United States, bearing interest at 6 per cent. per annum..--....--..--- 703, 000. 00
At the beginning of the fiscal year the balance on hand of the income from the fund was $1,423.14. The interest paid semi-annually July 1, 1887, and January 1, 1888, was $42,180.
To this was added from sales of publications and miscellaneous sources $752.86, making a total available amount for carrying on the operations of the Institution of $44,356; totalexpenditures for the year, $39,546.77; leaving a balance July 1, 1888, of $4,809.23.
It is proper in this connection to state that the Institution is charged by Congress with the care and disbursement of, sundry appropriations, those for the past year being as follows:
MOMMMLeLT Aion alee XCHANGE ss 2 ce cisccinee cesses so eeeccesceened eset estes $12, 000 emeeninOlosie meTOSCArC MOG): 2 52 S5\s0 gan Joceid a kee se eiso es ee deco Jee eet 40, 000 For preservation of Government and other collections in natural history, eubnology.cuc...1m the National Museum -... 2.5.2... .5--.2s2 sc ¢--2 coe" 116, 000 For furniture and fixtures for the National Museum .---...------.--------- 40, 000 For heating, lighting, and electrical service for the Museum........------- 12. 000
The vouchers for all the expenditures from these appropriations as well as those from the Smithsonian income are carefully examined and passed upon by the Executive Committee of the Board of Regents, with one exception—those for ethnological researches.
The disbursement of this appropriation from its commencement has been made under the direction of Maj. J. W. Powell, who has been in charge.of the Bureau of Ethnology.
The necessity of greatly increased appropriations for the proper con- duct of the interests committed by Congress to the care of the Insti- tution is daily more manifest, and has been made known in the strongest terms to the National Legislature.
The estimates prepared to be submitted for the fiscal year ending June 30, 18389, are as follows:
MUGS MOM ANOS 68 65 cn aaa cue nae tin nnn otanecaesccos sous cece sane $27, 500 See tTMNSECRC AT MON Ga eas eee tts oe ema eca ands Jadenswe'ess-es same 50, 000 MEU mGIOE CL COMCCHIONS 65-2 52cdn cane coed So acca woe Sens ees sewe ens ae) 160,000 Vo ues: STG Ue nN 2 ee oe ec a ae 40, 000 MILA AGG MER er ches SOS a Scie wo wea vine vine) acini sjmnnne 12, 000
279, 500
8 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
In accordance with the instructions of the Board of Regents at its last annual meeting, I requested the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives to make certain changes in the assign- ment of appropriations and the method of their disbursement.
The following is the correspondence on the subject with the Secretary of the Interior and with the chairman of the Committee on Appropria- tions.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, February 29, 1888.
Str: I have the honor to make the following requests in regard to the assignment of the appropriations for the maintenance of the U. S. National Museum for the coming fiscal year:
(1) That the items for “ preservation of collections,” “heating and lighting,” “ furniture and fixtures” be transferred from their present position in the schedule of ‘ Estimates of Appropriations, 188889” (p. 237), under the Department of the Interior, to a place under the gen- eral head of “under the Smithsonian Institution,” and along with and in proximity to the other items to be expended under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution or its Secretary.
(2) That each of these items be placed directly under the subhead ‘“‘ Under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution as director of the National Museum.”
(3) That a special item be inserted under the caption “ Public print- ing and binding,” providing the sum of $10,000 for printing labels and blanks for the use of the National Museum and for the *“ Bulletins” and annual volumes of the ‘“‘ Preceedings” of the Museum.
In explanation of these requests, [ submit the following statements:
Theactof Congress establishing the Smithsonian Institution, approved August 10, 1846 (Revised Statutes, Title LX XII, sections 5579, 5594), provided that all objects of art and of foreign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological and mineralogical specimens belonging or hereafter to belong to the United States, which may be in the city of Washington, shall be delivered to the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and, together with new specimens obtained by exchange, donation, or otherwise, shall be so arranged and classified as best to facilitate their examination and study.
The National Museum, as it is now called, was thus placed under the sole control and direction of the Smithsonian Institution, and has ever since remained under its control; Congress having, since 1858, made annual appropriations for its maintenance. Until 1880, however, the sums thus appropriated were inadequate, and the yearly deficiences were paid from the income of the Institution.
In accordance with a practice of nearly thirty years the estimates for the annual appropriations have been each year, at the request of the Secretary of this Institution, forwarded by the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of the Treasury for transmission to Congress, and the disbursement of the appropriation has been made by the disbursing agent of the Interior Department.
This arrangement is somewhat inconvenient aud cumbersome, and at the last meeting of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution the following resolution was adopted:
“Resolved, That the Regents recommend to Congress that the form of the sundry civil appropriation bill be so chan ged in the terms relating to the Museum and the Bureau of Ethnologyeas to provide—
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 9
“6(1) That these moneys shall be disbursed under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution.
(2) That the estimates for the appropriations of the Museum in the future shall be sent direct to the Secretary of the Treasury by the Smithsonian Institution through its Secretary.”
In obedience to the wishes of the Board of Regents thus expressed, the matter was brought to the attention of the Secretary of the Inte- rior, in arecent interview, by Chief-Justice Waite (the Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution) and myself. Asa result of this meeting a letter has been received from the Secretary of the Interior, in which he expresses the opinion that changes may be made with great propriety both in the manner of voting the appropriation and in the method of its disbursement. A copy of this letter is herewith inclosed, together with a copy of a second letter received in response to an inquiry as to the manner in which this change may best be effected.
In further explanation of the third request, I wish to say that this does not involve anew appropriation, since the estimate for this amount is included, as I understand it, in the sum of $375,525 estimated by the Secretary of the Treasury for the printing of the Interior Department and its Bureaus (see page 129 of the “‘ Estimates of Appropriations, 1888-’89”). I may say in further explanation of this item that an ap- propriation has thus been made for the printing of the National Museum for at least twelve years past, and I am informed that the amount al- lotted during recent years has usually been $10,000.
I believe these changes will be in the interest of the public service, and respectfully ask that they be made.
I am, sir, your obedient servant, S. P. LANGLEY, Secretary. Hon. SAMUEL J. RANDALL, Chairman of Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives.
DEPARTMENT OF THK INTERIOR, Washington, February 14, 1888.
Str: I have considered the topic of the conference which I had the honor to have yesterday with the Chancellor of the Smithsonian Insti- tution and yourself, being the relation of the Interior Department to the expenditure of the appropriation for the increase and care of the National Museum, which is a part of the Smithsonian Institution, and whetber there be objection to the recommendation of an independency in the disbursement of the funds provided for its support as well as in its management.
The first collection of seientifie curiosities which appears to have been a special object of care on the part of Congress was that made by the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, provided for by the act of May 14, 1836 (5 Stats., 29). This collection was first placed in the care of the Na- tional Institution for the Promotion of Science, and afterwards was transferred to the hall in the second story of the Patent Office. In 1846, when the act for the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution was passed, it was provided that, ‘‘as suitable arrangements could be made for their reception, all objec ts of art, and of foreign and curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, eeological and min- eralogical specimens, belonging or hereafter to belong to the United
10 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
States, which may be in the city of Washington, in whosesover custody the same may be, shall be*delivered to such persons as may be author- ized by the Board of Regents to receive them, and shall be arranged in such order and so classed as best to facilitate the examination and study of them in the building so as aforesaid to be erected for the Institu- tion;” provision having been made in the act for a suitable building, etc. It was provided by Congress that the Smithsonian Institution might be constructed adjacent to the Patent Office Building, but the project was not accepted, and an independent building, where now located, was arranged, this being completed in the year 1853.
It is said that the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Patents were desirous of removing the collections of the exploring ex- pedition and of the National Institution out of the Patent Office Build- ing, and requested the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to receive them. This appears to have been acceded to by the Regents on the condition imposed that the Secretary of the Interior should provide for the payment of the expenses of the keeping and care of the collections.
An appropriation of $15,000 was made by Congress in the aet of March 3, 1857, for the construction of cases, and of $2,000 for the re- moval of the articles. It was then held by the Attorney-General, in response to a request of the Secretary of the Interior for his opinion, that the provision in the eighth section of the act of the 4th of August, 1854 (10 Stats., 572), placing the collections under the control of the Commissioner of Patents, and authorizing the employment by him of keepers therefor, was designed to be temporary only, and that the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution, as well as that making the appropriation in 1857, were to be regarded as indicating the purpose of Congress respecting permanent provision for these collections.
In 1858, by the act of the 2d of June (11 Stats., 301), an appropria- tion of $4,000 “ for the preservation of the collection of the exploring and surveying expeditions of the Government” was made as a contin- gent expense in the office of the Secretary of the Interior, This ap- pears to have been the product of the condition acceded to by the Sec- retary of the Interior upon the occasion of the removal of the collections from the Patent Office to the Smithsonian; and, pursuing the same practice in October, 1858, Professor Henry, your illustrious predecessor, requested of the Seeretary of the Interior the renewal of the same ap- propriation. Since that time this course appears to have been pursued without any other reason for its support than this summary narration indicates.
By the seventh section of the act for the establishment of the Smith- sonian Institution (9 Stats., 105) the Secretary is directed to discuarge the duties of “ keeper of the Museum,” and authorized, with the con- sent of the board, to employ assistants. No power of appointment of any of the officers who expend the money provided by these annual ap- propriations is supposed to exist, or, since the transfer to the Smith- sonian, has ever been exercised by any officer of this Department.
The manner of the appropriation has operated to impose upon the disbursing officer of this Department the duties of an auditor and a treasurer for this fund, as an officer for whom the Secretary is respon- sible. But no authority over the expenditures appears to rest with the Secretary of the Interior or at least ever to have been exercised, so that any scrutiny supposable has been thatonly of an auditor. Practically the disbursement of this appropriation has been made by the officers of the Smithsonian Institution, subject to two audits, one by this Department and the other by tine Treasury, while the disbursing oflicer of the In-
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:
: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 11 terior Department acts as the disbursing officer for the Smithsonian, and a clerk has been assigned, as I am informed, by the Smithsonian to duty in the Interior Department to assist the disbursing officer
Obviously there is nothing in the relations between the Smithsonian and the Interior Department to require the continuance of this state of things. The National Museum enjoys now an annual appropriation of a large amount in the various items, not usually less than $150,000. In the last act the appropriation was of $12,000 for heating, sheng, elec- trical, and telephonic service; of $116, 000 for the preservation, exhibi- tion, and increase of the collections; and of $40,000 for cases, furniture, fixtures, and appliances; both of the latter items embracing salaries. These items indicate not only the considerable proportions which the Museum has attained, but that their disbursement should be in the hands of those who have the government ot the Museum and a direct responsibility exacted.
So far, then, from there appearing to be objection, the facts suggest to my mind the wisdom and desirability of providing for the National Museum directly, and imposing responsibility for the disbursement of the appropriation immediately upon the officers of that Institution, and with accountability to the Treasury, as in other cases.
The act of July 7, 1884 (23 Stats., 214), was a step in the direction of this independency of requiring the director of the National Museum to report annually to Congress the progress of the Museum during the year and its present condition.
The papers you kindly loaned me are herewith returned.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Wu. F. VILAS, Secretary. Profs: Py LANGLEY,
Seerctaru of the Smithsonian Institution. =.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, February 20, 1888.
Sir: Replying to your favor of the 16th instant, I beg to say that it seems to me that so long as Congress has made the appropriation for the current year ‘‘ under the Interior Department” in terms, it is neces- sary that it should be expended according to the practice hitherto prevailing; and that, if the same terms of appropriation should be continued, it would be with the expectation that the fixed practice of disbursement would continue also. It is therefore probably necessary that the language of the appropriation should be changed in order to effect the object. desired. It may be presumed the accounting officers of the Treasury would require it.
The same observations may be applied to the appropriation for print- ing. I think it desirable that that should be separately made, so that the Smithsonian Institution should be independent, in its use of the provisions made by Congress, of this Department, and this Department freed of care in respect to it..
Yours, respectfully, Wm. F. VILAS, Secretary. Prof. S. P. LANGLEY, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
12 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
It was anticipated that when the wishes of the Regents were communi- cated to the Appropriations Committee of the House, the objection might be raised that the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as such, was not an officer of the Government in the sense that the head of an executive department is, and that this might be an obstacle to the proposed transfer.
Such objection was, in fact, made in the committee, and for this rea- son the bill as reported from the House committee places the Museum appropriation ‘under the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution as director of the National Museum; ” while at the same time this, with the other appropriations, is subordinated to the general title ‘under the Smithsonian Institution.”
In regard to the Bureau of Ethnology, the Secretary had already represented to the Regents his desire to see such a modification of the wording as might relieve him from the personal responsibility imposed by the language of former bills. The change actually introduced by the committee consists in making the former words ‘under the di- rection of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution” subordinate to the same general title “ under the Smithsonian Institution.”
Should the bill as reported pass both houses the disbursements for the National Museum will hereafter be made by an officer designated by the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, duly qualified and bonded to the acceptance of the Secretary of the Treasury, whose of- fice will be in the Smithsonian building, instead of by the disbursing officer of the Department of the Interior, as heretofore.
The appropriations for “ international exchanges” will also be dis- bursed by the same clerk at the Institution, instead of the disbursing clerk of the Treasury Department.
This new arrangement, while adding greatly to the responsibilities and cares of the officers of the Institution, will, it is believed, secure good results.
International exchanges.—The regular estimate submitted to Congress was as follows:
For expenses of the system of international exchanges between the United States and foreign countries, under the direction of the Smith- sonian Institution, including salaries or compensation of all necessary employés, $15,000.
A revised estimate was submitted to Congress through the Seere- tary of the Treasury, on May 31, 1888, asking for $27,050 for the ex- changes.
The House committee declined to recommend the proposed increase. It was then laid before the Senate Committee on Appropriations and an arguinent presented in favor of the increase, which induced the com- mittee to report an amendment to the sundry civil bill increasing the appropriation from $15,000 to $20,000.*
* See Congressional Record, July 29, 1888, page 7666. _
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 1)
This amendment was adopted by the Senate, rejected by the House, and finally lost in conference committee of the two houses, so that the increase of appropriation for exchanges is only $3,000 for the next fis- eal year.
Preservation of collections—The appropriation asked for this service was $150,000. The House committee reported $120,000; the Senate committee, $125,000, and this latter amount was finally agreed to.
Furniture and fictures.—An estimate of $40,000 was submitted, ac- cepted by both committees, and passed by Congress.
Heating and lighting.—The original estimate “ for expense of heating, lighting, and electrical and telephonic service for the National Museum,” was $12,000. ‘This sum was reported by the House Committee on Ap- propriations and adopted by Congress without change.
Armory building.—For several years this building has been occupied jointly by the National Museum and the U. 8. Fish Commission, the lat- ter paying the expenses of its care and repairs since July 1, 1885.
The House Committee on Appropriations in reporting the item of $120,000, for “preservation of the collection of the National Museum” inserted the following clause: *‘ And for the care and custody of the so- called Armory building,” thus transferring the whole of the building and its maintenance to the Museum.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations, after hearing a statement from the U.S. Fish Commissioner,* struck out this clause, and inserted the following under the items for the Fish Commission :t
Provided, That the building known as the Armory building, Wash- ington, District of Columbia, is hereby transferred to the charge of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries for use as a hatching and distributing station and for offices.
These diverse views were finally reconciled by the conference com- mittees, who reported the following, which became a law: “ Under the U. S. Commission of Fish and Fitheries.”
Provided, That the building known as the Armory building, Wash- ington, District of Columbia, shall be occupied as at present, jointly by the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries and the National Museum.
North American Ethnology.—The regular estimate for ‘continuing ethnological researches among the American Indians, under the direc- tion of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, including salaries or compensation of all necessary employés,” was $50,000.
The House Committee on Appropriations, however, only reported $40,000, the sum which has been appropriated annually since 1884. This sum was accepted by both the House and the Senate, and is the amount appropriated. The appropriation is placed in the language of former years “ under the direction of the Secretary,” but at his request this with other departments is placed under the general caption under the Smithsonian Institution.”
*Senate Report No. 1814, p. 26. + Act No. 1877, p. 47.
14 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
Report of the expenditures to be made to Congress —The House Com- mittee on Appropriations proposed a clause in the sundry eivil bill for the next fiscal year which was agreed to by Congress and forms part of the act (No. 307), which is as follows:
That the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution shall submit to Congress at its next session a detailed statement of the expenditures of the fiscal vear 1883, underappropriations for “ International Exchanges,” “North American Ethnology,” and the “National Museum,” and annu- ally thereafter a detailed statement of expenditures under said appro- priations shall be submitted to Congress at the beginning of each reg- ular session thereof.
BUILDINGS.
Among other matters discussed at the last meeting of the Regents was the erection of a new Museum building.. On this occasion the Re- gents tacitly re-affirmed their resolution of 1882, recommending to Con- gress the enlargement of the National Museum by the erection of a fire- proof building on the southwest corner of the Smithsonian reservation, similar in style to the present National Museum; but on viewing the sketch plans, which had been prepared subsequently to the resolution, so as to include offices for the Geological Survey, they added an ex- pression of their opinion that the new building should be planned ex- clusively for Museum purposes.
It was not at first intended to take action in this matter during the present year, but the overcrowded condition of the building, on account of which not only the current work but the proper development of the collections is greatly impeded, seemed to render immediate action nec- essary. A still more urgent need appeared to be the unsatisfactory sanitary condition of the new Museum building. A committee, consist- ing of Dr. J. H. Kidder, chairman, Dr. James M. Flint, U.S. Navy, and Mr. J. E. Watkins, was appointed on April 14 to make a careful study of the water supply, ventilation, and drainage, and in May submitted a preliminary report, from which it appeared that an alarming amount of sickness and mortality has been manifest among the employés since 1881—a mortality which can not be attributed to the location of the building, which has sometimes been pronounced unsanitary, since there has been no corresponding percentage of ill health in the old Smithson- ian building adjoining. The number of days lost by employés on ac- count of sickness in 1836 was 796; in 1887, 875; and in 1888, up to May 10, 213, by far the largest part of this loss of time being attributed on the books of the Museum to miasmatic diseases. The committee states that there is no reasonable doubt that some, if not all, of the ten deaths since 1881 were hastened or induced by the unwholesome condition of this building. The committee suggested repairs and modifications of considerable extent, including the construction of continuous cellars under each of the four sides of the building, which, in addition to the
other necessary expenses, would cost in the neighborhood of $40,000. >
REPOR! OF THE SECRETARY. 15
This state of affairs seemed to demand decided action, and it being absolutely impossible to make any changes in the present building with- out entirely vacating a portion of it for a considerable period of time, the exigency for more accommodation seemed a great deal more urgent than had been at first supposed.
While it became evident, on study ot the question, that for the ulti- mate needs of the Museum, a building of but one story occupying the same area as the present Museum would be insufficient, the question of immediate action was unexpectedly brought up in May by one of the senior Regents, a member of the Senate, who, when visiting the Museum with some friends, noticed its crowded and unsatisfactory condition. Having learned from me of the mortality and sickness of the employés, he inquired as to the feasibility of erecting a new building, and offered to use his influence to procure an appropriation, if 1 could obtain for him a set of sketch plans within a week, time being, as he stated, a very essential condition. After consulting with the chairman of your Exec- utive Committee, I had no hesitation in accepting such an offer, but a difficulty arose from the fact that the sketch plans which had been laid before the Regents in 1882 were in part for purposes which the Regents had at their last meeting disapproved, and that hence they could not be used. By great diligence, however, plans for a building to be de- voted exclusively to Museum purposes were prepared within the time mentioned. ‘These were based upon an extensive accumulation of notes and drawings, embodying the record of the best recent work of museum construction in this country and in Hurope, and they were for a building, as far as was consistent with these improvements, like the existing Museum. The report submitted by Senator Morrill, to accom- pany Senate bill 3154, contains the correspondence on which action was taken, and I have discussed the acts therein presented elsewhere under the proper heads.*
The following bill was introduced by Senator Morrill on June 12, was passed by the Senate on June 20, and at the end of the fiscal y year was in the hands of the House Committee on Public Buildings and Gr ounds:
A BILL for the erection of an additional fire-proof building for the use of the National Museum.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the sum of five hundred thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treas- ury not otherwise appropriated, or so much thereof as may be neces- sary, for the erection of a fire-proof building for the use of the National Museum, to cover three hundred feet square, and to consist of two stories and basement, to be erected under the direction of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, in accordance with the plans now on file with the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds, on the south- western portion of the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution. Said building to be placed W est of the Smithsonian Institution, leaving a
$4 See museum, ete.
16 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
roadway between it and the latter of not less than forty feet, with the north front on a line with the south face of the building of the Agricult- ural Department and of the Smithsonian Institution; and all expendi-
tures for the purpose herein mentioned shall Oe audited by the proper’
officers of the Treasury Department.
The building, as proposed, covers the same area as the present Museum, and is of the same general style, so far as is consistent with the introduction of a second story, thus affording nearly three times as much accommodation under the same area of roof as the building now in use. The arrangement of the interior of the proposed new structure is, however, considerably modified, as the result of the experience of seven years’ occupation of the present building. The eighteen exhi- bition halls, on the two main floors are completely isolated from each other, and are capable of subdivision into smaller halls. The lighting will be equally as good as in the present building, the ventilation will be much better, and in other important respects thé sanitary arrange- ments will be far more satisfactory.
A basement story is absolutely necessary, not only with a view to promoting the comfort and health of v ‘seers and employés, as well as for securing greater dryness and better preservation of the specimens, but also for the purpose of providing large apartments for store-rooms and workshops. These proposed improvements in arrangement will not, however, interfere with the possibility of constructing a building which shali conform in the essential points of exterior proportion with the main features of the present building.
The present building contains about 80,000 square feet of floor space available for exhibition and storage. The building proposed will con- tain about 220,000 square feet. The amount of room for offices and laboratories would be about the same in each. The net area in the new building available for exhibition, storage, and office rooms, as esti- mated, would be between 5 and 6 acres.
For the construction of the present Museum Building an appropria- tion of $250,000 was made. This sum was supplemented by the follow- img special appropriations: $25,000 for steam-heating apparatus, $26,000 for marble floors, $12,500 for water and gas fixtures and elec- trical apparatus, and $1,900 for special sewer connections. The total amount expended on this building was therefore $315,400, and it is generally admitted that the cost of its construction was considerably less than that of any other similar building in existence; in fact, per- haps too cheap to secure the truest economy.
The proposed structure can be erected at a proportionately smaller cost. I have obtained from responsible bidders, who are willing to give bonds for the completion of the work in accordance with the bids which they have submitted, estimates for the erection of the building com- plete, with steam-heating apparatus and all other essential appliances, excepting the electrical equipment, amounting in the aggregate to $473,000. These bids, upon which the estimates of cost have been made,
. >
; |
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 7
were not competitive, and it is possible that something may be saved through competition. It is, however, necessary to provide also for the architect’s superinten dence, and for the removal and reconstruction of the Smithsonian stable, which now occupies the site. I therefore think it advisable to make request for the sum of $500,000, in order that these additional items and other contingencies may be covered.
The plans, though drawn in the limited time imposed, represent the results of an exhaustive study—which has extended over several years— of plans of the best modern museum buildings in Europe and America, nearly all of which have been personally inspected by officers of the Smithsonian Institution.
It will be remembered by the Regents that neither the central por- tion of the Smithsonian Building nor the so-called ‘* chapel,” at its west- ern extremity, has ever been made fire-proof. The first contains valua- ble collections, which are in somewhat menacing neighborhood to the paint shop outside and to alcoholic stores within. These ought to be provided for separately, but the representations made of the necessity have not yet obtained attention from Congress. A special occasion having arisen which made it desirable, at any rate, to complete the fire- proofing of the ‘‘ chapel,” on the 21st May, at the request of the Sec- retary, Hon. J. S. Morrill reported from the Committee on Public Buildings the following bill:
A BILL to provide for making the west end of the Smithsonian Building fire-proof, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Statessof America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of making the roof of the Gothic chapel at the west end of the Smithsonian Build- ing fire-proof, and for other purposes, under the direction of the Re- gents of the Smithsonian Institution, the sum of seventeen thousand five hundred dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro- priated.
This bill was adopted without a dissenting vote by the United States Senate.
It was referred in the House May 22, 1888, to the Committee on Public Buildings, but no report was made by the committee. The same bill was offered in the Senate on the 28th of June by Senator Morrill as an amendment reported by the Senate Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds to the sundry civil bill. This was referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, but was not reported back.
Fire-proofing west range of Smithsonian building.—In 1887 Congress made an appropriation of $15,000 ‘for urgent and necessary repairs to central and western portions of the Smithsonian Institution.”*
This was expended in removing the combustible material in the west range, as this was the most urgent work required. The contents of
* Sundry civil act, No. 148, Mareh 3, 1887
H. Mis. 142—_2
18 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
this part of the building, consisting of the alcoholic collections, were very inflaminable and dangerous. ‘The fire-proofing was intrusted to Messrs. Cluss and Schulze, architects, from whose report the following account of the work is taken:
“The reconstruction extended over the curtain between the main building and the west wing, a building of 60 feet in length and 54 feet in width, with an adjoining turret containing stairs. It contains a basement where alcoholic specimens are kept.
‘¢The main story is mostly occupied by an exhibition hall, extending up into the roof, with a clere-story. Along the north front was origi- nally an open cloister, which had been, for many years, temporarily fitted up, by frame-work, for offices.
‘Permanent provision was made for these purposes, and a mezzanine story formed by the insertion of a fire-proof upper floor.
‘‘ Besides the old, rotten, combustible floors and roofs, a complicated system of decorative hollow columns and vaults, framed of wooden scantlings, boards, and lathed plastering, had to be carefully removed, so as not to injure the outside walls, consisting of a thin cut-stone fae- ing, backed by ordinary rubble-work.
‘In the reconstruction the Romanesque general character of the building was preserved with the greatest simplicity compatible with the surroundings, and also made a necessity by the limited appropria- tion, in conjunction with the increased cost of decorations in fire-proof materials.
“The first advertisement for bids for the work was confined to what was required for making the reconstructed building ready for oceu- pancy; and to leave desirable but not absolutely necessary improve- ments and internal tinishings to any balance left from the appropria- tion.
‘‘ Under date of June 27, 1887, an advertisement was issued for the wrought and cast iron work, and the award made to C. A. Sckneider’s Sons, of this city, at $1,848, the lowest bid received.
“On July 6, 1887, another advertisement was issued for cut-stone work, brick-work, fire-proofing, metal-roofing, lighter iron-work, eorru- gated-iron lathing, carpenter’s work, plastering, and miscellaneous work. There was no bid below that of D. T. Cissel, of Washington, which amounted to $9,850, and was within the estimates.
‘ Miscellaneous minor operations, such as cleaning and clearing the building, steam fitting, and electric work, were done by day’s work and settled for on pay-rolls.
“The hardware was obtained in open market, by competition among the principal dealers of the city, on specifications.
“The contractors have satisfactorily and for the sums agreed upon completed their work.
‘‘The cost of the work to June 30, 1888, has been—
Pay-rolls of laborers, carpenters, and steam-fitters...,...--.--.----..-.-- - $466.30 AGVELrbISING, Prinvinig, ANG typeO- WILLING ceo se scl eee ase ete ae eee 49.10 Brick repairs, nails, and dumber.) =... ces occ cece eee eee ee eae 61. 32 Contract for iron-work by C. A. Schneider’s Sons-...-..-..--.--.-....-.-. 1, 348. 00 Contract for miscellaneous work by D. D.-Cisselss— 222s. eee eee eee 9, 800. 00 Hardware <o22 ssdaceeciecec se ocss ee clse eee weiccle Scey nee ere area eter eee eters 72. 66 Steamvand water pipesigge.- 2:3. 2e.sc- ccs eee eee enna eerie 147.58 @lerk-hite S22.).se secre ns Soe es osc ose Sem ae eee oa eee eee eer 275. 00
125,719.96
“leaving a balance of $2,280.04 for frescoing and decoration and com- pletion of the work.” :
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 19
The east room, used for the meeting of the Regents, has had such improvements made in its ventilation as the defective construction of the building in this respect admitted, and I have taken occasion to draw on the different departments of the Smithsonian for its farniture, so that this may recall in some measure the various interests under the Regents’ care. .
RESEARCHES.
From the foundation of the Institution the promotion of original re- search has been regarded as one of its important functions under the general provision of Smithson’s bequest, and by encouraging and facili- tating the discovery of new truths it is obvious that the primary pur- pose of the founder—the increase of knowledge—can be most efficiently attained.
Natural science falls into two great divisions, the biological and the physical, and since it has been the case that of late years the first of these has been almost exclusively encouraged by the Smithsonian, it was the desire of the late Secretary, Professor Baird, to do something to restore the balance, and with this end in view he had made prepara- tions to secure an astro-physical observatory and laboratory, and though these preparations were interrupted by his death it is understood that through his action some friends of the Institution have already offered to give the means for the erection of the modest structure needed for the accommodation of such a special observatory. The site would nec- ° essarily be suburban, on account of the especial need of seclusion and the absence of tremor in the soil, such as is felt in the neighborhood of the streets of a city.
No steps have yet been taken to secure a site, but in view of the promise of meaus for the building, and the fact that the construction of the necessary apparatus will occupy a leng time, I have ordered such of the essential pieces as are not likely to be ready, even under these conditions, till the building is prepared to receive it. With the excep- tion of this preparation there has been nothing done for the increase of knowledge in the physical branches of science in the past year, but it may be remarked that the institution is in possession of a certain amount of philosophical apparatus. This is formed of the débris of its first collection (nearly destroyed by the fire) and of a certain few pieces purchased by Professor Henry in the later years of his life.
There are also a number of historical relics, as the philosophical instruments used by Dr. Joseph Priestly and others. These were on exhibition in the new Museum Building, but the room they occupied being wanted for other purposes the collection was transferred to the Smithsonian Building where they were placed in an apartment adjoining the laboratory. Arrangements are now being made for a more suit- able depository and for the exhibition to the public of such articles of this class as may be of general interest.
The Institution has continued to give an important impulse to the
20 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
prosecution of the biological sciences, but most largely 80, indirectly through the Museum and Bureau of Ethnology.
The chief research has been under an arrangement made by the late Secretary. Prof. E. D. Cope has been engaged during the en- tire year in completing and preparing for publication the results of an investigation upon the reptiles and batrachians of North America, which has been in progress under the direction of the Institution for more than twenty years. The first part, consisting of a Monograph on the Batrachians, has been handed in and sent to the Public Printer, and the work of printing it as one of the bulletins of the National Museum has been already begun.
The expense entailed in the pubdlication has been much greater than the late Secretary anticipated, but I have felt it proper to continue it, not only to carry out a purpose which had engaged the interest of Pro- fessor Baird, but on account of the great intrinsic importance and value of the work itself. No complete memoir on the Batrachians of North America has ever been published; while the projected work enters fully into questions of anatomy and geographical distribution, in addi- tion to the customary discussion of classification and synonymy, and will supply a long-felt need of biologists not alone in America but throughout the world. :
The second part, relating to the Reptiles, is in progress, and its com-
pletion is promised during the coming year.
Important investigations arein progress at the hands of the curators and their assistants in every department of the Museum, for which ref- erence may be made to that portion of my report.
EXPLORATIONS.
Our function in promoting the increase of knowledge haS always been regarded as including in its scope and object explorations at distant or less familiar localities. Though no special explorations independent of those already undertaken in connection with the Fish Commission have been made during the past year, I am in hearty accord with the policy of giving such encouragement to the lines of investigation heretofore prosecuted in this respect as may be practicable from the portion of our income which can be thus appropriated.
The activity in exploration this year is not less than heretofore, but it has chiefly been carried on by the appropriation for ethnological re- searches. This has been placed by law under your Secretary, who has continued the arrangement, in some sense inherited from his predeces- sors, under which the direction of the expenditure has been left almost wholly within the discretion of Maj. J. W. Powell, from the confidence felt equally in his seientifie acquirements as an ethnologist and his known capacity as an administrator. The usual report of the Bureau of Ethnology is given elsewhere.
There has also been a limited amount of exploration carried on in con- nection with the Museum. .
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 21
Mr. Romyn Hitcheock, one of the curators of the Museum, has been for two years on leave of absence, while performing the duty of profes- sor of English at the University Osaka, Japan, and has been assisted as far as has been practicable in his explorations in the west and north of the Japanese Archipelago.
Two of the geological curators have explored numerous mineral locali- ties in connection with the work of completing the sets of minerals for distribution. Their work is referred to in the report of the Museum.
Two employés of the Museum accompanied the Fish Commission schooner Grampus on her trip to the Gulfof St. Lawrence, for the pur- pose of taking advantage of the opportunity, should any offer, of exploring the natural history of the islands of that region, and par- ticularly to make search for the remains of the Great Auk. They were successful in their efforts, obtaining important collections and material for a report which will be presented in connection with the work of the Museum.
At the beginning of the fiscal year Mr. Charles H. Townsend, of the U.S. Fish Commission, was engaged in the joint service of the Commis- sion and the Museum in natural history exploration in Central Amer- ica. He returned in October, 1887.
Ensign A. P. Niblack, U.S. Navy, (for three years attached to the scientific staff of the Museum,) during a cruise upon the coast of Alaska made extensive collections and obtained material for a report on the ethnology of that region.
PUBLICATIONS.
Classes of publications.—Of the Smithsonian publications, the first class—both in priority of introduction and in scientific importance—is the quarto series of Contributions to Knowledge. This series, numbering twenty-five volumes, was inaugurated forty years ago.
An early hope had been entertained that the Institution might be enabled to issue one volume of the quarto series each year, but it was soon discovered that original memoirs of merit, embodying new acquisi- tions to our knowledge, could not be procured at any such rate. Partly by reason of the rapid growth of scientific institutions in our country, and partly by reason of the largely increased endowments of some of them, other channels of scientific publication have been opened, and there has been a steady reduction. both in the number of memoirs pre- sented to this Institution for publication and in the numbers of these judged deserving of a place in the ranks of the “ Contributions.” This diminution of fertility is perhaps best exhibited by the following table of volumes issued during each successive period of ten years:
During first decade (from 1848 to 1857), nine volumes.
During second decade (ending 1867), six volumes.
During third decade (ending 1877), six volumes, .
During fourth decade (ending 1887), four volumes.
<
oD REPORT OF TERE SECRETARY.
It may be stated that the last volume of this series (Volume XXV) was issued in 1885, and that one memoir of 196 pages, with five chromo- lithograplific plates, ‘“‘ Researches upon the Venoms of Poisonous Ser- pents” (by Dr. S. Weir Mitchell and Dr. Edward T. Reichert) has since been published (1886) as an installment for Volume xxvI:
The second class of Smithsonian publications is the octavo series of Miscellaneous Collections, which was not organized until nearly a quarter of a century later than the ‘ Contributions,” the first volume having been published in 1862.
As estimated by the number of volumes published during the period of its existence, now amounting to thirty-three, this series (as was to have been expected) has grown about twice as rapidly as the former.
In addition to these two classes of works, published at the expense of the Smithsonian fund, three other series of works are issued under the direction of the Institution, the publication of which is provided for by Congressional appropriations.
Of these, first in order may be mentioned the Annual Reports to Con- gress of the Board of Regents of the Institution, in accordance with the provisions of Revised Statutes, section 5593, enacting that the Board shall submit to Congress at each session thereof a report of the opera- tions, expenditures, and condition of the Institution. These are in octavo form, and have gradually increased in bulk from a few hundred pages to two thick volumes per annum. Although printed by the Gen- eral Government, these reports have been a constant and increasing charge upon the funds of the Institution, required by the preparation of suitable material for the usual appendix, in illustration of particular investigations, or of the principal advances made in science. For a number of years past the expenditure for this purpose has amounted to several thousand dollars for each year, and it has become a serious question whether we can longer afford to bear the burden. If Congress can be induced to make a small appropriation for the collection and preparation of information relative to the annual progress in the United States of scientific discovery, and of its technological applications, to be appended to the Smithsonian Report, such a record would not only be in‘ keeping with the great objects of this Institution, but would main- tain for its report its high popular and educational character as well as promote the industrial interests of our country, and the trifling expend- iture would seem to be well justified by the precedents of similar appro- priations for obtaining and diffusing valuable information through the medium of the Agricultural and other official reports.
In the original “ programme of organization,” approved by the Regents December 8, 1847, was specified among the details of the plan for diffus- ing knowledge “ the publication of a series of reports giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge not strictly professional.” And it was added, ‘“‘The reports are to be prepared by collaborators eminent in the different branches of knowledge.” s :
Os a ea
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 23
In the Smithsonian Report for 1854 appeared for the first time an “ap- pendix,” containing an account of American explorations for the years 1853 and 1854, by Prof. S. F. Baird; a full report of lectures delivered before the Institution by Marsh, Brainard, Loomis, Channing, Reed, and Russell; extracts from the scientific correspondence of the Institution ; and miscellaneous papers relating to American archeology, geology, ete. This general appendix to the Annual Report of the Regents has been regularly continued to the present time (for more than the third of a century), and has served to bring the Smithsonian Report into great popular demand.
In the Report for 1880 (after the abandonment by the publishing house—the Harpers, of New York—of an “Annual Record of Science and Industry”), asystematic ‘* Record of Scientific Progress,” compiled by various specialists, was made the principal feature of the general ap- pendix by my predecessor. This annual scientific summary, however acceptable and however conformable to the plans originally laid down, has labored under two very serious difficulties: First, that from the vex- atious delay of publication the record of recent science lost much of its interest and value; and, secondly, that the expense of its preparation (averaging $2,500 per annum) has become more and more a tax upon the Smithsonian income that could be but illy afforded. To this may be added a practical difficulty in getting all the different summaries completed at the time of making up the general appendix, so that an omission of one or more branches occurred in every report. Under these circumstances, it has become a serious question as to the manner in which this appendix to the Report is to be maintained, if maintained at all.
An additional complication of the question may be referred to, arising out of the construction given to an act of Congress approved August 4, 1886, and since continued from year to year, which prescribes that heads of departments “ before transmitting their annual reports to Con- gress, the printing of which is chargeable to this appropriation, shall cause the same to be carefuliy examined, and shall exclude therefrom all matter including engravings, maps, drawings, and illustrations, ex- cept such as they shall certify in their letters transmitting such reports to be necessary, and to relate entirely to the transaction of public busi- ness.” (Statutes, Forty-ninth Congress, first session; chapter 902, page 255.)
This restriction has been held by the Public Printer to apply equally to the reports of the Regents to Congress, which are printed under the provisions of this appropriation. This consideration seems to furnish an additional reason for having the supplementary matter of the report placed under a special clause of authorization, for the avoidance of all question as to the “necessity and entire relation to the public business” of such general scientific information.
The second series to be mentioned under this head consists of the
24 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
publications of the U. 8. National Museum, comprising its “ Bulletins” and its “Proceedings.” The Bulletins of the National Museum were instituted for the purpose of furnishing a prompt publication of origi- nal descriptions of specimens received, and of thus illustrating the mineral, botanical, zoological, and ethnological collections belonging to the Museum. ‘They consist of monographs on biological subjects, check- lists, taxonomic systems, etc., and are prepared mainly by the curators and other attachés of the establishment. This series was commenced in 1875, and now nuinbers thirty-two Bulletins. These memoirs, from their variety of subject, are naturally of very unequal extent, ranging from fifty to over one thousand pages. Collected, they ferm nine large- sized octavo volumes.
The Proceedings of the National Museum consist of shorter and less elaborate papers, designed to give early accounts of its recent acces- sions, or of freshly acquired facts relating to natural history, ete., and are promptly issued in single *‘ signatures,” as soon as matter sufficient to fill sixteen pages has been prepared, the date of issue being given on each signature. These “ Proceedings” thus partake of the character of an irregular periodical, the numbers of which—contintously paged— form an annual volume.
This series was commenced in 1878, and now extends to nine annual volumes, averaging about 650 pages, and illustrated with numerous wood-eut plates. Both these series of publications of the National Museum have hitherto been printed at the expense of a fund under the authority of the Interior Department; but it is proposed to ask for legislation which will permit them to be printed at the Government Printing Office on the requisition of your secretary.
The third and last series to be mentioned comprises the annual re- ports of the Bureau of Ethnology, which are large-sized volumes of royal octavo form, well printed and well illustrated with euts and lithographic plates. These volumes (of which fouronly have thus far been issued, but - of which the material for four more awaits the printer) present matter of great interest to the anthropologist, and in their production reflect credit upon the scientifie’staff of the Bureau of Ethnology.
Distribution of publications.—Since the diffusion of knowledge, next to efforts for its increase, is one of the principal functions and duties of the Institution, it would.donbtless be desirable if we could offer a copy of its works to every intelligent inquirer specially interested in any subject of which some of these volumes might treat. Since, however, the Institution can not afford to print, in ordinary cases, more than from 1,250 to 1,500 copies of one work, three-fourths of which are required to be supplied to our regular list of “ correspondents,” for the mainte- nance of our exchange series, it has been found necessary to restrict the gratuitous distribution to these, and to hold the small reserve, more strictly than in earlier times, for sale to those sufficientiy interested to purchase them.
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 25
The remarks made on this subject by the first seeretary so long ago as 1850, are no less pertinent to-day: “It must be evident that from the small portion of the income which can be devoted to this object the distribution must be cireumseribed. Fifteen hundred copies of each memoir have been printed; but this number, though ail that the in- come could furnish, has not been found sufficient to meet a tenth part of the demand. It should be recollected that though these memoirs consist of the results of new investigations of the highest importance to the well-being of man in extending the bounds of his knowledge of the universe of mind and matter of which he forms a part, yet they are not in all eases of such a character as to be immediately appreciated by the popular mind, and indeed they are better adapted to instruct the teacher than to interest the general reader. They should therefore be dis- tributed in such a way as most readily to meet the eye of those who will make the best use of them in diffusing a knowledge of their con- tents.”
That our present circulation, however, is placed on a liberal basis, is sufficiently shown by the published conditions on which we are en- abled still to offer them gratuitously. This distribution is made, first, to those learned societies of the first class which give to the Institution in return complete sets of their own publications. Secondly, to colleges of the first class furnishing catalogues of their libraries and students, and publications relative to their organization and history. Thirdly, to public libraries in this country having twenty-five thousand volumes. Fourthly, they are presented in some cases to still smaller libraries, especially if no other copies of the Smithsonian publications are given in the same place and a large district would he otherwise unsupplied. Lastly, to institutions devoted exclusively to the promotion of particular branches of knowledge, such of its publications are given as relate to their special objects.
These rules apply chiefly to distribution in the United States. The number sent to foreigu countries, under somewhat different conditions, is about the same as that distributed in this country.
Economy of publication demanded.—In view of the natural expansion of the Smithsonian operations with advancing years, with its resources fixed to a rigidly measured income which, as I have already observed, is itself undergoing a slow depreciation in intrinsic value or actual pur- chasing power, it would seem that some curtailment will be necessary in the appropriations for preparing and printing the works that may be offered. In looking to see in what direction this economy may be most advantageously exercised it has seemed to me that a more critical supervision over the series of ‘‘ Miscellaneous Collections” might be adopted so as fo limit it to works of a more general interest or of a higher scientific value. This series already extending (as above stated) to thirty-three volumes, has included a number of the Museum Bulletins and Proceedings as well as the proceedings of several scien-
26 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
tific societies established in this city. In the infancy of the Philosoph- ical, the Anthropological, and the Biological Societies of Washington, this form of patronage appeared to be a very proper method of pro- moting the increase and diffusion of knowledge. But now that these societies are well established on a permanent basis, with a large mem- bership for each, such a support appears to be less required. In like manner the publications of the National Museum being provided for by a Congressional appropriation, this Institution may well relinquish the expense of any re-issue of them, while still employing its exchange service for the gratuitous transmission of such copies of the “ Bulle- tins” and ‘ Proceedings” as may be intrusted to its care. Thus far eight volumes of the Miscellaneous Collections have been ocecupded with these issues, to wit: Volumes XIII, XIX, XXII, XXIII, and XXIV, with the publications of the National Museum; and Volumes xx, XXV, and XXXxIII, with those of the societies named. I propose to discard these from the series in the future and to make such other restrictions aS may seem judicious under present conditions. In con- nection with this I have had in mind the renewal of an experiment made by your first secretary of placing (in certain exceptional cases) the excess of copies beyond those regularly distributed, in the hands of a publisher. ;
With regard to the quarto series of Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge there will probably be no occasion to suggest any change, at least for the present.
THE SMITHSONIAN EXCHANGE SYSTEM.
The “ diffusion of knowledge among men,” which, next to its ‘in- crease,” is the reason for the existence of this Institution, has been, ever since its foundation, largely carried out by means of the exchange sys- tem, under which all knowledge, but especially new knowledge, as em- bodied in scientific and other literature, is disseminated by the gratu- itous efforts of the Smithsonian.
The system of exchanges, even in its present condition, involved in 1886~87, the shipping of about ten thousand domestic and over forty thousand foreign packages of books, and this has been increased to over twelve thousand domestie and sixty-two thousand foreign packages by the operations of the past year.
Before the writer’s connection with the Smithsonian Institution he had abundant opportunity to know that the regard and confidence in which itis held by all scientific men did not prevent a then general rec- ognition of the fact that its exchange system did not work the benefits contemplated, in that it took a time which ordinarily seemed excessive to send a package toHurope or to get one in return.
The writer having been assigned to the charge of exchanges on his first connection with the Institution as Assistant Secretary, gave early
‘ } 7 } ‘ .
or) (arr es ee
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 27
attention to this subject, The result of his investigation appears to show that the reproach for delay was then well founded, but that the blame did not lie at the door of the Institution, which did not, and does not, possess the means to efficiently fulfill the tasks now imposed upon it. He hopes some improvement has already been effected ; but much doubtless remains to be done.
In the early period of the history of the exchanges nearly all trans- portation was slow, but if it took the Smithsonian two or three months to send a package to Europe and as much to bring it back, it took the private individual the same time. The early steam-ship lines, then or a little later, generously aided the Smithsonian plan by giving the ex- changes free transportation, a privilege which the Institution has often used, but now that rapid transportation is general, does not wish to abuse by making a request that such companies should continue to transport the whole of its greatly increased freight without charge.
There is another reason why they should not be requested to do so in the fact that the character of the freight the exchange department sends has changed, as the greater part of it is now the property of the nation, and if the General Government desires this to go by rapid transit, it is certainly able to pay for it. As Congress does not pay for rapid transit, it is a reasonable conclusion that it does not desire it, but it may be doubted whether cither the extent of the actual use of the Smithsonian exchanges by the Government or the degree of delay of governmental business is understood.
To bring the facts in the case to mind let me recall, first, that the original exchange system commenced in 1846, and, second, that after twenty years of useful work exclusively in the interests of knowledge, an entirely new duty was imposed upon it by the act of March, 1867,. which established the International Exchange of Government Publica- tions and made the Smithsonian Institution the agency for this ex- change, giving it for distribution 50 copies of all documents printed by order of either house of Congress, 50 additional copies of all docu- ments printed in excess of the usual number, together with 50 of each publication issued by any Department or Bureau of the Government ; while the resolution of July 25, 1868, makes it obligatory upon the De- partments to furnish 50 copies of each publication issued by them, wherever printed.
Accordingly, of late years, there has been added to the primitive Smithsonian exchange system and merged with it the additional feature of carrying the Government’s exchanges.
The Institutiog possessed unequaled experience and facilities for such work, and though the new class of books brought to its exchange department was partly foreign to its original object, the propriety of its assuming such a service, if the Government’s interests could be pro- moted by this experience, is evident. It certainly, however, was not
28 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
to have been anticipated that the Institution should conduct a purely administrative work for the General Government out of its private funds, as it appears to have done for thirteen years from 1868 to 1881, when the first appropriation of $3,000 was made by Congress.* If we look back to the commencement of the Government system we find that up to 1880, inclusive, the Smithsonian had paid $92,386.29 for exchanges, of which it is estimated that more than two-thirds were on Government account, for which the Government paid nothing whatever. Subse- quently to 1880, as the foot-note more exactly shows, the service has cost $96,065.85, for which the Government has paid $57,500, leaving nearly $30,000 of the cost to be borne by the Smithsonian Institution, and this exclusive of the rent of the rooms, which represents about $3,000 a year more:
All exchanges are now conducted by Government, but here ‘‘Govern- mental” signifies all publications received from or for any bureau or office of this or any Government, and ‘“ Miscellaneous” all others.t
It would appear that there is no doubt that in the intent of Congress, as expressed in the act of 1881, these appropriations should now be ap- plied indifferently to all exchanges, whether to those which it under- takes for the Congressional publications, for those of governmental bureaus, or for other terary: and scientific obireuss ; but the amount as-
* Proportion of ie amount and cost of Fae Sokongan. for the years 1881 to 188788,
Governmental. | Miscellaneous. Total. , Paid by Year. aay GES BT ESA ae ee SS oe ea ———— —| Govern- | Packages. Cost. Packages. Cost. Packages. Cost. SHEE NSS ee See esos 25, 747 | $7, 219. 72 11,915 | $8, 248. 12 37, 662 | $10, 467. 84 $3, 000 POS2iceeecis cones 42,731 7, 347. 46 | , 15, 316 | 2, 633.73 | 58, 047°; 9, 981.19 5, 000 ASSES eR eee ey 50, 634 | 10, 834. 83 13,260 | 2, 857. 51 | 63, 894 | 13, 692. 34 7, 500 IGte§ Seas oakaco 51,813 9, 955. 77 13,294 | 2,554.94 65,107 | 12,510.71 10, 000 1885 (6 months). 37, 618 7, 335. 51 5, 982 972. 08 | 43, 600 8; SOT ROO asters 1885-’86 .....--. 71, 446 9,101. 75 | 22, 647 | 2, 904. 05 | 94,093 | 12, 005. 80 10, 000 1SS6/87) saec cee 27,530 | 7, 788.04 24,688 | 6, 198. 59 | 52,218 | 13,986. 63 10, 000 ISST= "SO nee 50,691 | 10, 200.02 24, 416 | 4, 913.73 | 75,107 | 15, 113. 75 12, 000 ——— —_- | \——. Motaleeeee | 358,210 | 69, 783. 10 131,518 | 26,282.75 | 489,728 | 96, 065. 85 57, 500 | | |
t Under the classification which has prevailed heretofore the publications passing through the exchange office have been divided into ‘‘ official” and ‘literary and scientific,” meaning by the former designation only the publications furnished by the Public Printer for distribution among the national libraries of the Governments participating in the international exchanges, and including in the latter all of the publications sent or received by the bureaus of this Government in direct ex- change with the bureaus of others, and for the benefit of the burean libraries. The classification appears to be misleading, since this latter subdivision of the exchanges is quite as strictly official, or for the service of the Government, as the former. I have therefore directed.that hereafter all publications issued or received by the Gov- ernment, whether by legislative, judicial, or Executive authority, shall be desig- nated as “Governmental,” and all others as ‘‘Miscellaneous.”
| |
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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 29
signed is inadequate for the proper conduct even of the former, as has just been shown.*
Having been assigned to the charge of the international exchanges when Assistant Secretary, the writer has always taken particular inter- est in this part of the work of the Institution ; but so far as its suecess depends upon the provision by Congress of the indispensable means to meet the expenses which it has just been shown that the Government connection has made needful, his labors have been but partially sue-- cessful. The department of exchanges, however, has continued to be the object of more than usual attention, first under the immediate care of the writer, and iater under that of Dr. J. H. Kidder, appointed cura- tor of laboratory and exchanges on the 19th of March, 1888.
It has been remarked that the present system is unsatisfactory because of the delay involved, while it will shortly be shown that the expenses of shipment by a prompt and efficiently conducted system would be sub- stantially the same per tonof freight as by the present inefticient and slow one, which is largely carried on by what might be called the charity of the transportation lines. Unsatisfactory as is the service, however, and necessarily conducted as it is (under the present appropriations) in a manner prejudicial to every interest concerned with it, these appropria- tions do net, as we have seen, meet all the inevitable expenditures, and the deficiency still continues to be met from the proper funds of the Institution.
The expense for the service for this fiscal year has been $15,113.75, of which sum $12,000 were voted by Congress and $205.75 were re- funded by the Patent Office, Signal Office, and a correspondent in South America, leaving a net deficit of $2,908, paid by the Smithsonian fund. In the coming fiscal year, at the present rate of expenditure, the cost will be $16,050, making no allowance for the usual annual in- crease in the quantity of business or for increased salaries of employés. The domestic exchanges, it will be understood, form no part of this estimate. Finally, it should be stated that nearly every department of the Government has some small appropriation to partially cover sery- ices which should be gratuitously rendered.
Recurring now to one of the effects of this insufficient appropriation, the writer repeats that there are too many and too great delays in the transit of packages sent by the international exchanges. These delays do not occur in the office at Washington, nor in those of the agents of the Institution at London and Leipzig. They are due, broadly speak- ing, to the fact just stated that the Institution has not the means to
* The act approved in 1882 reads, ‘ For expenses of the international exchanges be- tween the United States and foreign countries, in accordance with the Paris conven- tion of 1877;” and this wording is repeated in 1883. Although the phrase referring to the Paris convention was afterwards dropped from the law, there seems to be no doubt that it has fixed its meaning, since the point has been raised more than once by the accounting officers of the Treasury, and so decided.
30 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
pay for rapid transit on land or sea, and that for what it obtains on the latter itis dependent upon the courtesy of several ocean steam-ship companies, with the natural result that the free freight is often delayed to make room for that which is paid for.* A subordinate cause, how- ever, lies in the apathy or indifference, or possible insufficient clerical force, of most of the foreign-exchange bureaus.
In a recent test case parcels shipped on the same day to London, Leipzig, and Paris, with letters requesting immediate notification of receipt, were acknowledged by the agents of the Institution at London on the fourteenth day, at Leipzig on the fifteenth, and by the Bureau des Echanges at Paris on the fortieth day.
In the hope of insuring a regular and certain ocean-steamer service, I requested, on the 50th of May last, through the honorable Secretary of the Treasury, an increase in the appropriation for the fiscal year 1888—89 to $27,050, based upon a careful consideration of the cost of ‘‘ fast freight” at the ordinary commercial rates and upon the quantity of material which past experience has made probable.
The following brief statement wil. give the essential facts on which the application was based.
It should be premised that only about one-third of the Government’s publications are actually received from the office of the Public Printer and elsewhere, for transmission abroad, and that while special appli- cation on our part might call out the remainder, we can not under- take to do this while only partly paid the actual outlay for the portion we carry already, while a sufficient appropriation to justify the employ- ment of a special exchange agent in Europe, as has been frequently and earnestly recommended by the Librarian of Congress, would bring back in return probably about eight times what we now receive. Accord- ingly, in the subjoined estimate of what should be done, if Congress paid the actual cost of efficient service (the services of the officers of this Institution being given without charge), more packages appear under the new plan than under the old.
*A shipment sent from Rome in December, 1887, for example, lay at Naples until the latter part of March, 1888, before the steam-ship company forwarded it,
3 4 ; :
—— wv
<,
tall é
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
31
Statement of exchanges during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1887, together with estimates for proposed new departure.
3 alsa = = 2 eS Old plan, | Estimate, 1886—87. | new plan. | I. AMOUNT OF EXCHANGES SENT ABROAD. | Packages. | Packages. MC OneTessionals se. = 2. va S Saco te gaaa pS tenes ARR 21,600 | 40, 000 = Hepartmental._.-......... «COO SEERA DEER Or ae AEE SPOS ACE 16, 901 30, 000 Reva GEM ALO once mc howe Aone sown se she ose see) e sales one 13, 145 15, 000 ; PO UAESEM ON OS sesekte Samia Seine aioee is acs ue wisi Sacicaer scree 51, 646 | 85, 000 Weiphtim tons..-......... or npdd Saas oGee yadN a Sepea sen aeE ee 52 87 AMcraro RGINper Ot packages tO. DOK --\..-..--..-----.ceces sles | scones ste! 80 OO ESGHETECIS ia TRS i pounds 3|- see ae | 175 ; Tt Tine. =. Days. Days. Average time in transit to western Europe * ..........-. days..| 36 15 | wo CY | Delayed. Prompt. sac z ome is 4 II]. EXPENSES. | Freight to New York .........--.- soo5 codedesoehes eos Se gec $684 | $2, 280 BeLreIOMotaGEOSS. LNG OCEAN... = secs 22 oc ee teenie ee e+ coe ween I’ree 5, 000 } Freight from port of debarcation to destivation .........-...... 750 1,750 Sleti fue MH OR eee eter aialeieine swale ev <n ls enone eis = 1, 434 | 9, 03 Conveyance. *Average time in transit to Western Europe: — Sa TinELiaaaa | Delayed.) Prompt. Days. Days. TL bed] 2G Te ee OR a re 2 4 Interval between steamers : i | OTT PeaIO aac Beemer ee ee are nate oa aiaiya = Serna s iase<tes © en ccls ss ewacseesie cee ces - 14 3h LRP (RIM? 0 oc nc Dae oeG OSS sO E eNOHSe DOUCSEE = DOI UU EO MOBCHEBHISS Ae SOSBaneaconsce 14 34 LDP DEG) soos ctecbtonoc aston segs EDS SeeCO SOc CE RC ECDe SoCO BOSOM EE Sob es Sass sm1 7 7 Ocean transport: | RRB TEDL eeteetetateriente etnies tele eset <ieiatenice e acewn <<a Scie sien sedaucivaceseescces 15 8 ) DAD IGRSTBIN TINY socSc choo tence UROCOSCBEOT HOOURE CSOD ICO REC ARE SE OEE EBEEcanenaees 15 9 18) INCE) eee con eoc os Sor 308 Sec OSS LOU ST SHE EEE DSC SOE COUSSOTE SETHE ESE Ase. 12 9 BBP ISOM ane oe CHTS One Nee terete tainiere <ia oc ciate: cluviwole nico voles wwlst cee eialewoccus cine accede 4 2 ; Continental freight: | Bing land see ss... ote oe Shick vee ow bm Awana Owe webens ats 4 2 : ASAE IRAN BEC IE IIe ra eect clicl ator Aye in nw Siaic.nla'w'n ia cw anucwsjcnaavcc Cemented seweise. 7 3 PLC OPO eR ey cee ae eile oe ade vicincecawees duleniaédeduessoaccliess 4 2 Leva OLA U OIL AN ADOV Oho scccsacincesacics> cco awe dear asineasesicleccwce ux 36 15
32 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
All this refers to sendings abroad.
Actual. | Estimated. | |
The receipts are: |
Coneressional packases|-ce. cae. aac aes eee | $1,348 $10, 784 Departmental packaves-- 7). - 4-5--0 255-5 sen eee eee li Ze EL 14, 000 Society and private packages: ...--. 22.2. 25.-.-2 See eee | 2,926 | 3, 000
feos: (Parr ae
Motalle emmcn a vsces, Sele crcac sae camer eee seer eee le aL 4aeas) 27,784
The average time for receipts will be probably reduced to less than one-half that at present.
| 188687. | Estimated.
Expenses of the service : | Service aneludimo salaries; “sss <- seem see eee eer $11, 630. 36 $16, 500 MrANSPOLbALION, ae-ce se voce -eisa es cows ce he eceel sce Eee 2, 064. 91 9, 000 BOXES. ehisse eee aes Sas ctaisee Sati alate mo eee ene 575. 77 950 Incidéntals, paper, printing, ete -----. 22-5. -ceeeese- == 412. 41 600 Mo talieesetsscsec cesses see cen Sens, fos inceinoeceetemeee 14, 683. 11 27, 050
This estimate does not include any charge for office rent.
Summary at present, 85 tons annually in thirty-six days at a total cost of... $14, 683 By proposed plan, 150 tons annually in fifteen days at a total cost of....--... 27, 050
The following memorandum appears in the Congressional Record of July 29, 1888, page 7666, and contains the leading facts in a succinct form:
“ International Exchanges.—Present system established by resolution of Congress approved March 2, 1867, and by subsequent legislation. Fifty copies of all Government publications put at disposal of Commit- tee on Library for international exchange.
Uniform system agreed upon at international geographical conference, Paris, 1875, and modified by conferences for this particular purpose at Brussels in 1880, 1883, and 1886. Treaty now before Senate is the re- sult of these conferences. There is now no completed treaty obligation. England, Germany, and France have declined to ratify the treaty, and were not represented at the last conference.
The Smithsonian is not concerned with the system otherwise than as the agent of the Government, but has paid a material part of the cost annually from its private fund.
As the office is now organized the annual expenditure is at the fol- lowing rates:
Pay-rolls 965 penmonith 5222-25 snsceaaciaee sce seeiee ee a cee setae ae eee $11, 580 Foretom-agents .. sss 2s 8.0 sh8 J sce ae snes nse ls See nl Uecle eie ee eee nema renee 1, 500 Boxes; freicht;'ete.,estimated .< - cic <cew cs ces ores Sees ae ee eee eee eats 3, 000
16, 080
*Tt is not superfluous to repeat that these services are those of persons engaged in addition to the proper personnel of this institution, the services of whose officers are
given without charge.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 33
This means ‘slow’ freight, and for the most part gratuitous, on the ocean. Theaverage time for transmission of a parcel to western Europe is now thirty-six days. By ordinary fast freight it could be reduced to sixteen days. Extraordinary delays occur frequently because of the fact that the freight is carried gratuitously. Boxes shipped from Rome, for example, in December last were held in Naples three months by the steam-ship line because its steamer’s space was all filled by paying freight. The same thing has occurred frequently on this side of the ocean. As at present organized, the Smithsonian sends out about one- third of the United States Government publications, and receives from foreign governments less than one-tenth of their official publications, Very much is thus lost which is of great interest and value to our Gey- ernment offices.
Many of the Executive Departments which wish to use the exchange system are obliged to adopt other measures at considerably increased cost. Some of them have special appropriations to defray part of the cost of special transmissions by the Smithsonian.
The sum estimated for ($27,050), is the result of careful calculation, based upon a comparison of the details of the business for several years back. It is the Secretary’s opinion that it will far more than repay it- self by an increased efficiency in the service and by the number of val- uable works which it will bring to Congress and the Executive Depart- ments of the Government.”
Tam aware that it hardly lies within the power of the Regents as a body to correct the evils I have referred to, but I present this summary and imperfect statement of them, in the hope that those of the Regents who are legislators will perhaps be able and willing, in their individual capacity, to do something to remedy the state of things which I have just shown to be actually existing.
I have represented a wearisome and trying matter very briefly. For a statement more at large of the actual condition of the exchanges, I beg to refer to the valuable report made to the Secretary by thescurator of exchanges, which will be found in the appendix.
Preparation of new exchange lists—In March, 1887, the writer, then Assistant Secretary, acting under the general instructions of the Secre- tary, Professor Baird, with a view to perfecting the collections of the Smithsonian Library so that they might include scientific periodicals published throughout the world, where these were obtainable by ex- change, undertook to ascertain as far as possible the names of all useful (particularly of all modern) publications which were not on the old Smithsonian lists.
To do this it was necessary to get information not existing in print, and as the search for the names of desired publications was necessarily on an extended scale, it seemed proper to enlist as many expert coad.- jutors as possible. To this end the principal branches of human knowledge to the number of thirty were indexed on as many separate lists. Several copies were made of each list, and then it was sought, by sending a copy of each to an eminent specialist in the branch in
H. Mis. 142——3
34 REPORT OF TUE SECRETARY.
question, to enlist his services as a coadjutor by obtaining from him a list of the publications not actually on our records which would be most desirable in his own department.
Medicine was omitted, but Belles Lettres, History, Law, Fine Arts, and, in fact, Theology are evidently to be considered even in a purely scientific list, at least so far as they illustrate anthropology.
Periodicals devoted to science in its more restricted interpretation generally fall under one of two great divisions :
First, those connected with the biological, and second, those connected with the physical, sciences. :
As the former are represented by many distinguished specialists connected with the Smithsonian Institution as curators in the Museum there was at first prepared a circular letter (Appendix IV) to these bio- logical curators, requesting them to faurnish—
(1) ‘¢A list of those periodicals, whether transactions of societies or otherwise, which were deemed most nearly indispénsable to their re- spective departments ; ” and
(2) ‘A list of recent serials, whether transactions or otherwise, of interest in connection with the special investigations of the curators, even if not exclusively devoted to them.”
Pending the replies, which related almost altogether to biology, the writer himself prepared a list of the main divisions and subdivisions of physical science meant, with the preceding exceptions, to represent every department of knowledge outside of the biological sciences.
This list was submitted in April to Professors F. A. P. Barnard, Samuel H. Scudder, and H. Carrington Bolton, with the requests—
First. ‘To examine the list and see whether these headings them- selves are judiciously chosen; ” and
Next. ‘‘To indicate the names of the two most fitting persons, under each head, to give advice as to the periodicals belonging to their re- spective departments.” The list was also submitted to the Hon. A. R. Spofford, Librarian of Congress, and Mr. William J. Rhees, the Chief Olerk of the Smithsonian Institution.
A full list of the names of eminent specialists who could advise in each branch having been thus obtained, and the classification of subjects having been determined in the manner above indicated, circular letters (in three forms) were forwarded on the 9th of May, 1887. A third or supplementary circular (in two forms) was mailed on the 15th of June, 1887. One of these, which willi ndicate the general character of all, is given in Appendix LV.
The circular letter of March 19, sent to twenty-six curators of the Na- tional Museum, was responded to by twenty-two curators, among whom Prof. L. F. Ward was pre-eminent for the extent and character of the lists of periodicals specified (352 titles).
Of the circulars of May 9 and June 15, 1887, 274 copies were sent out
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 35
and 152 replies received, among which those of the following deserve special mention for completeness of lists furnished :
Titles. IPrOrpnCHarde lly tace<do sacish i.e) clases else s)5 2S = (a poses C05 BE. J. Farquhar, assistant librarian Patent Office .......... 701 W. H. Wahl, secretary Franklin Institute .-.-............ 542 PTOMWiLiIamMel nD DAY; |lecciscccns et sicceisioccicissloe-ls coe =| caus 183 Mrs uUstine WansOre--~<\..5-= Wesoece cet eencianh Soe cer oaia > 157 miele 3), VN IB iiGlle ces SASS SAS SSE aaHGoSe Beaencesecoaress 147 Tea, Ake ity SOO HONS 6565 Sas pHonos cbdeed on oeee dseasaEsEo 113
The result of the inquiry was to bring in 5,730 names, of which, after deducting those found on more than one list, 3,594 independent titles remain; but of these, as will appear, a considerable portion was on our list already. It may be interesting, however, to notice how these titles are distributed throughout the world, the little tables in the foot-note* giving incidentally an interesting exposition of the activities of different peoples as well as of different professions in this direction.
*Geographical arrangement of the numbers of titles and references received in reply to the “Circular for the increase of the Smithsonian Library.”
| Country. Titles. Heley Country. Titles. re - — = — | AFRICA. | AUSTRALASIA—cont’d,
JAEGER Sec Sappennedod cepOcE Sot'sod 3 4 || VE QUa SP opacocemodu cones cGcoGr 5 6 CapeColonysnesnccia--c<css. === -' 1 t || New Zealand--2-.-=--s.ese- =e 7 12
Egypt.----.----------+2-20+------ 2 ee GUROPE. ae AN Austria-Hungary. .<-<0--c2-0.--- 124 168 LTE acon cer ooocisne cso seco nObe 44 GUS | PB elm Me. ec ceee ees eerie eee 66 105 IMG SLALCS cease ooccccccccninn- SOSN eel 445" || Menmark.. sacs ais cn et ace see 14 20 NO COb 35586 os S050s sbecoOnooSgseae 8 110), ]]| Ute oeasoseacmocasc none ee: 439 695 Argentine Republic..........-.-. Il LGM German Versses eee se rere eee 669 | 993 SrA lertats oie ceils esis Scie cies =nice 9 11 || Great Britain and freland....... 439 | 809 COLTS = A Se eS RS pOCOe COC HOB EC DEIOEE 4 AYN GTeCOCOi-nisccicciccin estes se ance eee 4 9 Colombia..-......... SeeSensoassde 1 1 |elcolands=2- ose comecin-~ sence aces 1 2 (Oy LSD Ace aepeeescepcspsadcsdne 2 24 | UA KY SS oocoacocogosoebo coneeeodee 154 217 Gee es 1 dill Wetherlands(c2.-c. a2. e-cee ees 37 49 NO AO een einie sem ata imlelais(s clon 1 i! |) MO WwE a eaqodoscoonoc0 asGconescsnc 19 | 31 ASIA. I etoleel caoreacessecrsececsscece 12 20 ; IROUIMADL Ae = = rere totes ein.cl leteleielet= steele 2 2 eee eee ce onrio rar ra--==-o-- 3 Ay Weiuaials S21. ude eseueetoceeee 52 74 IGT), pase saescncccosS Foe aBea 23 SU icra cind. tances Seana 1 1 Japan ...-. tie he Btn och a! of 9 13 SPALDN es ees eee eee eee 35 38 Java .- 0220-2 ee eee eee eee ee ee eee 5 8 SwOdenj-ccecoeeeteeseccispeceass 26 44 AUSTRALASIA, l(Swwitzenland 42-22 At ect cere 51 | 66 New South Wales.......--.....- 7 13 ||) LUtkey -<-- a2--=-2seeen ae ana 1! : GiWoariciandis aoe ees o).04 £2 1 1 Wnclassifiedtesc--Mes eceeemeceae ee ay 134 Sonth Australian. os -.<.cesncseccs 1 1 Motalsscescre en clcnowoncesanses a0, 005] ArosTaO
TCG ni hie ee ay peaceerorocoece 1 2
Of which number 433 are titles of and 734 references to books, the remainder relating to pamphlets or periodicals.
36 REPORT OF
THE SECRETARY.
The second list* subjoined is a subject index, and is also not without
interest.
It is a striking testimony to the complexity of modern science that when a number of its representatives are asked to indicate the inde- pendent periodicals, desirable in their opinion for its study, these peri- odicals (each representing monthly contributions of numerous original
* Subject arrangement of the references received in reply to the circular for the increase of the
Library.
BACT ORT DMG eetstetsietetelelsiareleeyainnetaletetetefereleiatsiei= ata 72 | Mechanical engineering .--..--...........-- 18 Animal products and fisheries ..-...-..---- 1 | Mechanics and machinery....-...----...... 5 AN TAP RONO On soc conceoncenos syonososeceoase 6 |) Medicine‘and surgery: o--2-22s- erence 7 Archeology andianttoe o- ciesecine so-so 90) | Me tallrsyyo saeco eee eee eee 24 JAE OAL Ke) cacoccoccode cs saeapoUnesesosess 10) |) Marine engineerin gyn sees ams s- eee eres 10 Architecture and engineering..........-.-- 7 | Metaphysics and psychology..--..-.....-... 13 ATE ee ee erea se seen cecac tee cnommontices 46..| -Microscopy 222r soe on sens soe cae semen 19 SASSY OlO Mya claeisecie aaa e == mela eee lea 26 | Military engineering.........-....-.-.---.- 17 INEM: gaqboba. Coot on GOGOOe Code Ie haaSae 30:| Military. sciencossseseeeeees ss aueeee eee 36 TRO MWR soconcooacemvseuedcascseS Hecosecbede 380 || Mineralogyree-cescesseese eee ERE SESE Ace 50 Brewing and distillation..-........---..---- 2 | Mineralogy, chemistry, and physics.-...--. 39 IBLId PS OnPINGeLIN Fa ans ael-ece wei m= i-- NPA AY Gy bre Ee ee eison canootaorbedboosodcasessorc 101 Ghemistiyeeseeesa eee ee eee eee serene 105 | Mining and metallurgy .....-........-..... 3 Chemistry and physics ...--...------------ TE MONS po andodhe bapbccoonote tone ooaacaasssot 8 C@ivalfencineenn ewer. sa-te-eecio= === el-- 54 | Navallarchitecture). sce ces ---1 == aioe se 28 @lassicallphilology-2:ecos-eeae--ie--- == 1) Niatvallarts ieee eetcescealce eee eee eeetan et 113 Comparative anatomy..-..----------------- 35: | Navaliengineering 22 nccs-ceme eee eee 12 (CNS ARIAER = Sa cocoaosooure dseneS sansoseasoEs Navalimachinery, - <2. -ses~- ass ==-e eee 11 a cavione eases seas Swisisiere SS sietee 192))) HNUOIMISMAICS Soc cesta eee eee 13 Education of deaf and dumb.......----...- OrdnanCete se. cscs close ose ne neon Eeers 15 IDI ORTON; co aaneoctosco saooesesasesosceonae 60.) Ornithology: -a.--s-ssc~-e eee eee ce eee eee 49 Electrical engineering .............--....-- 35_| Paper and printing oso oecn =e. enea ee 4 ENT IO iy ppv NN Oeste ote ata = lelel= le nla eel in = vielaie (Hal ety relic) Gas spe coeodaasskcodastcncekbas arenes 11 IDEA BENS So seceucooeddecosnu cecisecmcsecs 59° Pedavopysssess- sao ssemesnnee eae eee 33 Engineering and induatries .......-...-.-.- 52a Wehilolocy yee cece posse ce sie aera 16 MThHICSeeneemeerereeceoroe one e cas ccoecics 3. Photopraphy 25-2. accesso senecee serene 13 Rh OO gyre cele wiseiae ie cieeisinvsin\s a eininieiioainiels NG LEM AMO paHoon so Aiseane seososeciongcosssoos 14 WTO. = oon be sakes go cocesenSscagssancdasoe 7 | Political economy..... at tare sie thea te easter 3 (Gasitenece cee estes chee snisaneserias cee: 25|| Roliticaliscien Cees sea eemeeiene etter 41 Goneraliacloncel ecesisismioancicticisseiteaae ease Q)2|/ P2DIMESMO LOPE tac srmeteceisiels stetamateletaiserel stele 7 (Cea ihy pceopanorooosdas saesresseceases5 3400) RSV. ChOlOS yi eee aaa eee eee 28 (Ge HE BUI) = Con Uh og dnacnoSsocsoacheadancec 16))|) Ralroads mass. -e eee eee eee eae "a Huastorical SCloOnGese. <=. ce scene =~ oe ee a 8210 Re poles a asts seam ae ete eats eee 10 GIA sacieicaooancasqsnoosScocusésososSEdss 97 | Sanitary engineering. — once e ee seaeeieee 8 IGAGHTRTEOS 3 oscecengoanonbsodaocnscssbocKess 12 (Social SClON CC researc aeons eeeenet eaters 24 IBTEEOUS) Gaeaoo codon Saeocr oso cnosE coer =se666 BTS I ISOs cob oncccdin tose seb ssoaasssncod aed. soc By Instruments of precision........---....--.. 9) || Statistics m-cpesemecccese sien eee eeeeee 80 International law......--.-.----- Ene seer 69) Telegraphy (co--2s2-520 seeene-<eeeeeeeenes 1 Invertebrate palwontology....-...-..--.--- 119 | Textile fabrics and dyeing ..----...---.--.- 3 Librarians’ art and bibliography-..---..-.. 150M pe heolo gy seen aceeeree ieee eee eee ees 170 Literature, ancient and classical........... 79) 4\\ ME rad OS ketecisere o seen a eee eee eee 17 A tholocyeeecreenesceaseeee eer es eee 68-\> Wind’en Cines seer ee-s-elee eee eee 4 TWO {coasnsonmsonoceds se sao nSSossso0Ns 6 7 | Johns Hopkins exchange list ...-...--...-. 805 Machine \construchonees-s<-scle- see == 16 | List of books, Patent Office................ 700 Gyre) ae sa5 Shans onc dboussosessosenscs 58 5, 756 Marine invertebrates Bad he ee te AR or Ee 50 Less duplication eee cc ene cess eccecece ricdonomos 26 Mathentaicseeseeesceseeesasmalceeesleee se 16
Mathematics and algebra.......-...------- 27 RGN sasaeeones sods Snbonmonscssass == 5, 730
| { |
aor eo FD '’
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. ont
articles) are found to reach the enormous number of 5,594; and yet these by no means comprise, as it will be seen, all that the Smithsonian lists contain.
Five thousand seven hundred and thirty names were in fact received, but many of these were duplicates, after striking out which, 5,594 titles remain, and a careful investigation by Mr. Boehmer, then in charge of exchanges, shows that of these, 2,328 were foreign, and 1,266 were domestic; and that of the foreign titles but 792 were on our old lists. As regards these latter, then, the final result of the inquiry is the nearly trebling of our foreign lists by adding to them 1,536 new titles (con- sisting largely of periodicals begun in the past twelve or fifteen years), and this list will be used by the library in obtaining, so far as possible, the periodicals themselves.
e
LIBRARY.
Chiefly through its exchange system, the Smithsonian had in 1865 accumulated about forty thousand volumes, largely publications of learned societies, containing the record of the actual progress of the world in all that pertains to the mental and physical development of the human family, and affording the means of tracing the history of at least every branch of positive science since the days of revival of let- ters until the present time.*
These books, in many cases presents from old European libraries, and not to be obtained by purchase, formed even then one of the best collections of the kind in the world.
The danger incurred from the fire of that year, and the fact that the greater portion of these volumes, being unbound and crowded into in- sufficient space, could not be readily consulted, while the expense to be incurred for this binding, enlarged room, and other purposes con- nected with their use threatened to grow beyond the means of the In- stitution, appear to have been the moving causes which determined the Regents to accept an arrangement by which Congress was to place the Smithsonian Library with its own in the Capitol, subject to the right of the Regents to withdraw the books on paying the charges of binding, etc. Owing to the same causes (which have affected the Library of Congress itself) these principal conditions, except as regards their custody in a fire proof building, have never been fulfilled.
The books are still deposited chiefly in the Capitol, but though they have now accumulated from 40,000 to fully 250,000 volumes and parts of volumes, and form without doubt the most valuable collection of the kind in existence, they not only remain unbound, but in a far more crowded and inaccessible condition than they were before the transfer. It is hardly necessary to add that these facts are deplored by no one more than by the present efficient Librarian of Congress, who would, I am confident, gladly give, as far as it lies in his power, effect to any ex-
*See Smithsonian Report of 1867.
38 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.
pression of the wish of the Regents that in the new building a hall or halls worthy of this really magnificent collection of a quarter of a mill- ion titles should be exclusively devoted to it, under the name of the “Smithsonian Halls”, or in any such other method as may point it out as an acquisition of national importance due to the Institution under the Regents’ care.
It will be remembered that a small portion of these volumes, repre- senting in number something like one-twentieth of the whole, is ordi- narily retained for consultation in the National Museum.
A certain limited number of books, chiefly of works of reference, obtained by purchase from the Smithsonian fund, is kept in the Smith- sonian building, under the titles of “The Secretary’s Library” and ‘¢ Hiditor’s Library.”
With thesé exceptions, it will be understood that a large part of the Smithsonian exchange system, and a considerable portion of the best rooms in the main building of the Smithsonian, continue to be given to this portion of the Library of Congress without any return.
On April 1, 1887, upon the resignation of Miss J. A. Turner, who had for many years performed the duties of librarian with the greatest dili- gence and faithfulness, the provisions for the care of the books supplied to the Congressional Library were reorganized under the regulations which I had prepared upon my appointment as assistant secretary. * Mr. John Murdoch, formerly assistant librarian in the National Mu- seum, was appointed librarian in Miss ‘furner’s place, and was also given the charge of the collection of books kept in the Museum as a working library for the use of the curators and other officers.
A force of three clerks was detailed to report to the librarian, in order to enable him to carry out the new regulations, which require greater promptness in disposing of accessions than it was possible to effect when one person alone was employed on this work. All acces. sions received during any week must now be completely recorded and ready for a final disposition to be made of them on the Saturday of the same week. All accessions, as heretofore, except the comparatively few retained for use at the Institution, and certain medical publications which are specially loaned to the library of the Surgeon-General’s Office, U.S. Army, are sent to the Library of Congress.
Publications retained for the use of the Institution must, under the regulations, be entered and ready for use within twenty-four hours from the time they are received.
A “full entry” of any publication, according to the regulations, is “to consist of both a day-book and a ledger account entry.”
The day-book is simply a continuation of the old Smithsonian record of accessions, in which the running numbers reached on June 30, 1888, 182,059. The ledger account is supplementary to the manuscript cata- logue in thirteen large bound volumes, called “ Publications of Learned
* These regulations are given in Appendix V.
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 39
Societies, Periodicals, ete., in the Library of the Smithsonian Institu tion,” which was complete up to April 1, 15387. The new record is kept on large cards, one for each institution or individual from whom the In- stitution has received any publication, and on each card is entered the title of everything received from the person or institution whose name appears at the head of the card, each marked with its accession or “day-book” number, by means of which reference can be made to the “day-book” for further particulars. These cards are now arranged alphabetically by the name of the donor’s residence.
These regulations have been carried out without failure since the re- organization of the library, though there have been weeks when, owing to the arrival of large invoices through the department of foreign ex- changes, the librarian and his clerks have been hard pressed to com- plete the work in the time specified. Upwards of five hundred acces- sions have been recorded in a single week.
The books destined for the Library of Congress are sent regularly on Monday of each week, and it is impossible for publications to be delayed at the Institution for the length of time which was frequently unavoid- able under the foriner arrangements. It is, however, to be regretted that the Librarian of Congress is unable to take advantage of the in- creased promptness of the Smithsonian library administration. Owing, as I am informed, to the pressure of copyright work and the over- crowded condition of the present quarters of the Library, the chests sent up from the Institution frequently lie for months unopencd, so that their contents are inaccessible to readers.
This is the more to be regretted as, on account of the limited space at the disposal of the Institution for keeping books and periodicals, only the most important publications can be retained for use here.
The books thus retained for use at the Institution form part of the National Museum library (the rest of which consists of such publica- tions as are donated directly to the Museum or pyrchased from the Museum appropriation for the use of its curators), and are loaned under certain necessary conditions to the officers of the Smithsonian Institu- tion, the Smithsonian editor, the scientific staff of the Museum, and such persons as are authorized to borrow books by special written per- mission from one of the officers of the Smithsonian Institution.
How important these contributions from the Smithsonian accessions are to the Museum library may be seen from the fact that out of the 6,053 accessions to the Museum library (ineluding parts of regular serials) during the fiscal year, 3,045, or a trifle more than 50 per cent., were from this source.
From