XVI NOTES BY THE EDITOR 



a valuable collection of relics, illustrative of American antiquities. The 

 library of the Institution now numbers about ten thousand separate arti- 

 cles, including a large and rare collection of engravings. 



A small appropriation has been made to defray in part the expenses of 

 explorations relative to the erosions of the surface of the earth, especially 

 by rivers ; and also for investigations relative to terraces and ancient sea 

 margins, under the direction of Pres. Hitchcock. A full account of these 

 investigations will soon be published by the Institution. 



The Assistant Secretai-y, Prof. S. F. Baird, has prepared, for the use of 

 the Institution, a small taxidermist manual, containing directions for col- 

 lecting, preserving, and transporting specimens of natural history. 



Among the official scientific publications of the past year, are the Keports 

 on the Mineralogy and Geology of the Lake Superior Mining District, by 

 Messrs. Foster and Whitney ; Patent Office Report, 1850-51, Mechanical 

 and Agricultural, by Thomas Ewbank ; the Fifth Annual Report of the 

 Smithsonian Institution ; Reconnoissances of Texas and New Mexico, by 

 various officers of the army ; Report on Meteorology, by Prof. Espy ; and 

 the Meteorology of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, by Captain Wilkes. 

 The remaining unpublished works, pertaining to the scientific departments 

 of the Exploring Expedition, are in a forward state of preparation. The 

 volume on Conchology, by Dr. A. A. Gould, of Boston, is in press, and 

 most of the beautiful folio plates finished. The volume on Ferns, by Mr. 

 Brackenridge, one of the botanists of the expedition, is ready for the press ; 

 as is also the folio Atlas of Illustrations. 



In this connection we would call attention to two other scientific publica- 

 tions of great value, issued during the past year, in this country, by private 

 individuals. The first, a work on the " Terrestrial Air-Breathing Mol- 

 luscs of the United States and the adjacent Territories of North America," 

 described and illustrated by Amos Binney, and edited by Dr. A. A. Gould. 

 This work is published in two volumes, 352 pp., with plates, under a pro- 

 vision in the will of the late Mr. Binney, of Boston. Some idea of the value 

 of this work may be formed from the fact, that near ten thousand dollars 

 have been expended upon it, and the whole edition, two hundred and ninety 

 copies, is reserved for distribution. The work is of the highest honor to 

 the lamented author, both as a contribution to science, and an example of 

 private munificence seldom equalled. The second work to which we would 

 call attention, is a Geological Chart, by Prof. James Hall, of Albany. This 

 chart is not only a full and correct expression of geological facts and prin- 

 ciples, but contains much original matter relative to fossils. It is partic- 

 ularly illustrative of American Geology, and, as a means of disseminating 

 geological knowledge, is a most important contribution to science. A new 

 edition of the Eucyclopcedia Britannica, in 21 vols. 4to., illustrated by five 

 hundred engravings on steel, and many thousands on wood, is announced 



