242 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



temperature in the United States from the 

 earliest times to the present : these have 

 been discussed by Prof. Schott, aided by 

 computers paid from the Smithson fund. 

 Still another work of this series is in prog- 

 ress on the " Geographical Distribution of 

 Thunder-Storms," and another work will 

 soon be commenced on the deductions from 

 barometrical observations in the United 

 States. 



The Institution is also aiding in a re- 

 searcli on the orbit of the periodic comet 

 of Tuttle (time of revolution thirteen years), 

 prosecuted under the direction of Prof. 

 Stone. An investigation into the efficiency 

 of steam-heaters has been aided by the 

 Institution during the year. 



" The diffmion of knowledge among 

 men " is powerfully aided by the Smith, 

 sonian system of exchanges. The Institu- 

 tion is in correspQndence with more than 

 two thousand institutions, whose publica- 

 tions, etc., it distributes in this country, and 

 to whom it forwards works relating to sci- 

 entific and literary advances in America. 

 As is said by the secretary in his report, 

 " the effect of this system on the diffusion 

 of knowledge cannot be too highly esti- 

 mated." The exchanges in books and 

 pamphlets alone amount to 5,546 in 1874, 

 and these are deposited in the Library of 

 Congress, where they are available for re- 

 search. The telegraphic announcements of 

 astronomical discoveries in Europe and 

 America have been in operation since 18Y3, 

 and are of the highest benefit to astronomi- 

 cal science. Six asteroids and six comets 

 were so announced in 1874. 



Tlie National Museum is deposited in the 

 building of the Institution, and is under the 

 care of Prof. Baird, Assistant Secretary. 

 Constant additions are yearly made to it 

 from all parts of the world, and all sources 

 are laid under contribution. Mr. P. T. 

 Barnum gives to the institution all animals 

 which die in his menagerie, and Mr. Black- 

 ford, of Fulton Market, New York City, 

 selects, from the thousands of fish which 

 come weekly into his hands, all rare and 

 curious ones, which are at once sent in Ice 

 to the museum. There is, indeed, no part 

 of the globe from which contributions are 

 not received. All the War Department and 

 other surveys in the West, the Navy Depart- 



ment surveys and exploring expeditions, the 

 State Department Boundary Survey, and 

 many other collectors, deposit the results of 

 their work here, where they are discussed 

 and elaborated. The museum furnishes also, 

 from its duplicates, specimens for study to 

 specialists who desire them. Its collections 

 of insects, etc., are deposited with the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, and exchanges are 

 constantly kept up with this and other in- 

 stitutions. The United States Fish Com- 

 mission may be almost considered as a part 

 of the Institution ; the valuable results 

 which have already accrued from its sci- 

 entific and energetic labors are too well 

 known to need more than a mention. 



The secretary of the Institution has for 

 twenty years been a member of the Light- 

 house Board, and is now its chaiiman, and 

 to this connection Science owes the exten- 

 sive series of experiments on sound in its 

 relation to fog-signals, which are published 

 in the appendix to the light-house report 

 for 1874. The results from these experi- 

 ments will undoubtedly be a guide for all 

 governments in their choice of a method 

 of fog-signaling. 



Besides the valuable report of the sec- 

 retary, of which the above is an abstract, 

 there are given : Eulogies on Laplace, 

 Quetelet, and De la Rive, by Arago, Mailly, 

 and Dumas ; a lecture on Tides and Tidal 

 Action in Harbors, by Prof. Ililgard ; 

 Observations of Atmospheric Electricity 

 and Aurora, by Lemstrom ; an essay on 

 a Dominant Language for Science, by De 

 Candolle ; Underground Temperature, by 

 Schott and Everett ; The North Carolina 

 Earthquakes, by Du Pre and Henry ; 

 Warming and Ventilation, by Morin ; and 

 several short communications on Ethnology. 

 All of these translations and memoirs are 

 interesting and valuable, and many of them 

 deserve a special review, but we must be 

 content to notice how carefully they are se- 

 lected to aid in the diffusion of information 

 not generally accessible. 



Enough has been given to show that the 

 closing words of the secretary's report are 

 but a mere statement of present facts : 

 " The Institution is successfully prosecut- 

 ing the plan adopted for realizing the be- 

 nevolent intention of its founder, in the way 

 of increasing and difiusing knowledge 



