LITERARY NOTICES. 



241 



show in part liow important and useful the 

 work of the institution is, and how large a 

 field it covers. 



In direct compliance with the pro- 

 gramme above given, the institution publish- 

 es three classes of works : first, the " Contri- 

 butions to Knowledge " (quarto), which are 

 memoirs " containing some positive addi- 

 tion to science resting on original research, 

 and which are generally the result .of inves- 

 tigations to which the institution has, in 

 some way, rendered assistance ; " second, 

 the "Miscellaneous Collections" (octavo), 

 which consist of works " intended to facili- 

 tate the study of branches of natural his- 

 tory, meteorology, etc., and are designed 

 especially to induce individuals to engage 

 in these studies as specialties ; " ilm-cl, the 

 "Annual Reports " (octavo) contain, besides 

 the accounts of the operations, expendi- 

 tures, etc., " translations from works not 

 generally accessible to American students, 

 reports of lectures, abstracts of correspond- 

 ence, etc." These are liberally distributed 

 free of cost to public libraries, institutions, 

 colleges. States, and Territories, in such a 

 way, and under such conditions, as shall 

 secure them to be most generally accessible 

 and useful. No copyright has ever been 

 secured on any of the publications of the 

 Institution. They are left perfectly free to 

 be used by the compilers of books and 

 all other persons, on the express condition 

 that due credit is to be given, not only to 

 the author of the book, but to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution. This is eminently just, 

 because in most cases the researches have 

 been prosecuted with the aid of funds from 

 the Smithson bequest. The publications 

 for 1874 have been Volume XIX. of the 

 " Contributions to Knowledge," which con- 

 tains the results of three most important 

 researches : 1. On Problems of Eotary 

 Motion, by General J. G. Barnard, pp. '74. 

 2. On Fresh-water Algae, by Prof. H. C. 

 Wood, pp. 274, 21 colored plates. 3. Orbit 

 and Tables of Uranus, by Prof S. New- 

 comb, pp. 296. 



Besides this, the eleventh and twelfth 

 volumes of the " Miscellaneous Collections " 

 have been issued, containing nine contribu- 

 tions : On the Families of Mammals and 

 Fishes, by Dr. Theodore Gill; On the 

 Diptera of North America, by H. Loew ; 



VOL. vm. 16 



Directions for collecting and preserving 

 Insects, by Dr. Packard ; two papers on 

 Coleoptera, by Dr. John Le Conte ; Re- 

 view of American Birds, by Prof Baird ; 

 On the Constants of Nature, Part I., 

 boiling-points, specific gravities, etc., by 

 Prof Clarke (noticed in The Popular Sci- 

 ence Monthly, August, 1874); and Rules 

 for the Telegraphic Announcement of As- 

 tronomical Discoveries, by Prof. Henry. 

 Several of the separate memoirs which will 

 make up Volume XX. of the " Contributions 

 to Knowledge " have already been printed 

 and distributed : 1. On the General In- 

 tegrals of Planetary Motion, by Prof. New- 

 comb ; 2. On the Haidah Indians of Queen 

 Charlotte Islands, by James G. Swan. At 

 the time of making the report, there were 

 in the press, and intended for the quarto 

 publications: 1. The Antiquities of Ten- 

 nessee, by Dr. Joseph Jones ; 2. The Har- 

 monies of the Solar System, by Prof S. 

 Alexander (noticed in The Popular Sci- 

 ence Monthly for September, 1875) ; 3. 

 The Winds of the Globe, by the late 

 Prof. J. H. Coffin; 4. The Temperature- 

 Tables of North America, by C. A. Schott. 

 There were also in the p7-ess a monograph 

 of American Wasps, by Prof, de Saussure, 

 of Geneva, and a botanical index to all 

 known American species of plants. 



For many years the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution had a large corps of volunteer me- 

 teorological observers distributed all over 

 the United States, who forwarded their re- 

 ports for discussion to Washington. These 

 observers have been transferred to the 

 United States Signal Bureau of the War 

 Department, to whom their reports are now 

 furnished. But an immense amount of 

 valuable meteorological material has accu- 

 mulated at the Smithsonian Institution, 

 which is to be discussed and published. 

 The first work of this series, on "Rainfall," 

 has already been printed, the discussion of 

 the observations having been done by Prof. 

 Schott, of the Coast Survey. The second 

 volume, on the " Winds of the Globe," by 

 Prof. J. H. Coffin, and continued by his 

 son and by Dr. Woeikof, will be published' 

 in 1875. The next work of the series treats - 

 of the " Temperature of the United States," 

 and will also be published during this year. 

 It deals with all available observations of 



