24 NOTES BY THE EDITOR 



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ard instruments. All the observations at the military ports and naval 

 stations, as well as the vessels of the mercantile and goverment marine 

 (through the National Observatory,) are freely at its command, and are 

 used. The returns for each month fill a large folio volume. Nor does this 

 matter accumulate unused. A competent gentleman has been long engaged 

 in noting down the observations for particular days of interest, upon a large 

 physical map of North America and the Atlantic Ocean, developeing laws 

 of great importance. No institution or government in the world is now 

 doing anything like as much for Meteorology as the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. The results already obtained give promise of interesting and valua- 

 ble additions to our knowledge of the nature of the storms, which traverse 

 this continent during the winter seasons, and will probably serve to 

 settle definitely several theoretical questions of much interest to the mete- 

 orologist. 



Considerable progress has been made in the formation of the library 

 and museum of the Smithsonian Institution. The whole number of books, 

 pamphlets, engravings, &c., at present collected is nearly twelve thou- 

 sand ; of these 4,608 were obtained by purchase; 3,218, by donations; 

 3, IDG by copyright law ; and 873 by deposite. The number of books re- 

 ceived by exchange is large; an unique feature in this system of exchange 

 consists in the number of academical publications received from almost all 

 the Universities of Europe. The series from many are very full, particu- 

 larly for later years ; and very few are to be found in any other American 

 library. These works are generally of great value to the student. 



The museum of natural history, besides plants and minerals, numbers 

 eighteen hundred and fifty jars, containing specimens in spirits, of mam- 

 malia, reptiles, fishes, articulata, mollusca, and radiata, amounting in all 

 to twenty-five hundred species. Besides these, there are about nine hundred 

 specimens of skulls and skeletons, and three thousand skins of European 

 and American birds. 



A magnificent collection of Scandinavian mammalia has been presented 

 by the Swedish Academy, at Stockholm. Some very valuable European 

 mammalia have also been received from Mr. Steeuberg, of Elsinore, includ- 

 ing skins of wolves, seals, arctic foxes, &c., and several skulls of the rein- 

 deer of Greenland. 



The following statistics, obtained from official documents, afford some 

 idea of the present resources, wealth, and commerce of the thirty-one 

 United States at the present time; 



The annual value of the agricultural, mineral and manufacturing pro- 

 ductions of the country is supposed to at least equal three thousand mil- 

 lions of dollars, (3,000,000,000.) A large portion of these productions 

 are transported by river, canal, or coasting vessels, or on railroads, and 



