234 [Sept. 1, 



The following communication was read and referred to the 

 Curators : 



American Historical Association, Smithsonian Institution, 



Washington, D. C, August 2, 1893. 

 The Secretary of the American Philosophical Society, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. : 

 Dear Sir : — I am desirous of obtaining for the use of the American 

 Historical Association definite information regarding the collections of tiie 

 various Historical Societies in the United Slates. I have been informed 

 that under the supervision of your Society an interesting collection of 

 historical objects has grown up. May I ask your assistance in furnishing 

 m'e with a few lines explaining the scope of the collection, with a little 

 history of its growth, and the names of those who have been and are now 

 most conspicuous in its development. If a catalogue of the collection has 

 been published, ma}'' I beg that you will furnish me with a copy. 

 I am, sir, yours very respectfully, 



A. Howard Clark, 

 Assistant Secretary of the American Historical Association, Curator Hist. 

 Coll., U. S. N. M. 



Letters of envoy were received from the Geological Survey 

 of India, Calcutta ; Royal Society of New South Wales, Syd- 

 ney ; Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica, Helsingfors, Fin- 

 land; Fondation de P. Teyler van der Hulst, Harlem, Holland; 

 K. Danske Videnskabernes Selskab, Copenhagen ; Universite 

 Eoyale, Lund, Sweden ; Naturforschende Verein, Briinn, Aus- 

 tria; Verein flir Erdkunde, Dresden, Saxony; Wetterauische 

 Gesellschaft flir die Gesammte Naturkunde, Hanau, Hesse ; 

 K. Siiclisische Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Leipzig, Sax- 

 ony ; Gesellschaft zur Beforderung der Gesammten Naturwis- 

 senschaften, Marburg, Prussia ; Naturwissenschaftliche Verein, 

 Osuabriick, Prussia ; Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England ; 

 Zoological Society, Meteorological Office, Statistical Society, 

 London, England ; Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cam- 

 bridge, Mass. ; Meteorological Observatory, New York ; Di- 

 reccion General de Estadistica, Mexico, Mexico ; Observatorio 

 N. Argentino, Cordoba, Argentine Republic. 



Letters of acknowledgment (Trans, xvii, 3, and xviii, 1) were 

 received from the Geological and Natural History Survey, 

 Ottawa, Canada; Public Library, Boston, Mass.; INIuseuin of 



