xxxii GENERAL SUMMARY, ETC. 



of physicists are entirely incredulous. The final decision 

 must be left to the result of continued and careful experi- 

 ments by physicists of established reputation. 



The scientific societies of Holland have associated them- 

 selves to form what they call a Central Bureau of Exchange, 

 for the purpose of carrying out the system of international 

 distribution of publications inaugurated by the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and with which they propose to act as far as re- 

 lates to the United States. All the publications of scientific 

 institutions and learned men in Holland, to be transmitted to 

 correspondents in other parts of the world, are to be sent to 

 the central establishment in Holland, at Haarlem, under the 

 direction of the Academy of Sciences of that city, by which 

 they are to be made up into parcels and forwarded to corre- 

 sponding institutions in other parts of the world. 



The destruction by fire of the building, collections, and 

 library of the Academy of Sciences of Chicago has been a 

 great blow to that thriving establishment, especially as the 

 material within its walls was of extraordinary value, and 

 embraced rich treasures in science. A vigorous effort, how- 

 ever, is to be made to recover the losses, and it is not unlike- 

 ly that a few years will see this institution again on its old 

 footing. 



The destruction of the greater part of the whaling fleet in 

 the North Pacific by ice during the past autumn has been a 

 calamity to the whaling interest of no ordinary magnitude, 

 second only, indeed, to the damage caused by the privateers 

 during the late rebellion. Most of the vessels, as might have 

 been expected, were from New Bedford, and their loss repre- 

 sents the abstraction of a large portion of the capital of that 

 city. 



In a summary of the present character, it is, of course, im- 

 possible for us to weigh with any degree of precision the 

 comparative value of the various discoveries made, or to de- 

 cide upon their practical bearing, since some of the most val- 

 uable will not develop the full measure of their utility until 

 long after their first announcement. To those wishing to 

 become acquainted with any particular department of knowl- 

 edge, we must refer, as far as the present work is concerned, 

 to the systematic Table of Contents and to the Alphabetical 

 Index, where we trust they will not be entirely disappointed. 



