1912] Collins,— Papers of Wilkes Exploring Expedition 61 
from 1846 to 1874; whether the number of friendly foreign powers 
increased or decreased during this time, I have no idea; in any case 
the number available for general distribution must have been ex- 
ceedingly small. In a communication from the Librarian of Congress, 
whose kindness in furnishing me important data in regard to the 
matter I gratefully acknowledge, is a statement which incidentally 
shows what might have been thus available, and at the same time 
shows that probably none were really available. A fire at Washing- 
ton, April 11, 1856, destroyed about 21 copies of 18 of the volumes 
then in print, and of those destroyed only the narrative volumes 
and Vols. VI-VIII of the memoirs were replaced by a new impression. 
Probably none of the copies authorized by Congress ever reached the 
general public. 
The General Catalogue of Government Publications by B. P. Poore, 
issued in 1885, at page 500 has a list of the volumes, but the fatality 
that seems to attach to the whole business extends to this also, and 
it is incorrect in at least one particular, so that I shall give instead 
the list made out for me by the Chief Bibliographer of the Library 
of Congress, adding the author's names, which were given in only a 
few instances in the list. Vols. I to V, with an atlas, contain the 
narrative of the expedition, were issued in 1844, and need not be here 
considered. They seem, however, to have attracted interest, and 
several editions, some in smaller and less expensive form, were issued 
soon after by publishing houses. 
VI. Philology, Horatio Hale, 1846. 
VII. Zoophytes, James D. Dana, 1846, with Atlas, 1849. 
VIII. Mammalogy and Ornithology, John Cassin, 1858, with 
Atlas of same date. 
IX. Races of Man and their Geographical Distribution, Charles 
Pickering, 1848. 
X. Geology, James D. Dana, 1849, with Atlas, undated. 
XI. Meteorology, Charles Wilkes, 1851. 
XII. Mollusca and Shells, Augustus A. Gould, 1852, with Atlas, 
1856. 
XIII. Crustacea, Part 1, James D. Dana, 1852. 
XIV. Crustacea, Part 2, James D. Dana, 1853, with Atlas, 1855. 
XV. Botany, Part 1, Asa Gray, 1854, with Atlas, 1856. 
XVI. Botany, Cryptogamia, William D. Brackenridge, 1854, with 
Atlas, 1855. 
