10 PUBLICATIONS OF SPENCER F. BAIRD. 



1851. Baird, Spencer F. — Coutiimed. 



drafts on its income, it is not deemed expedient for the Smithsonian Institution ever to do 

 much more for its cabinet by direct purchase. It is confidently believed, too, that the mu- 

 .seum will increase almost as rapidly as accommodations can be fumished, by donations of 

 individuals who may have it in their power to make collections, as well as by the special efforts 

 of its officers. This hope is strengthened by the actual experience of other institutions. 



" The employment or assistance of collectors in visiting particular portions of countrj- is 

 productive of very important results at very little expense. In illustration of this, I would 

 refer to the acquisitions made by the Institution through Messrs. Lendler, Lindheimer, 

 Wright, Culbertson, and others. In this I am also borne out by my own experience. For 

 several years past I have been in the habit of visiting different portions of the United States, 

 mainly in search of vertebrate animals. Accompanied on such occasions by zealous volun- 

 teers, I have succeeded in accumulating very extensive collections, including very many rare 

 and even undescribed species, besides obtaining much valuable information in regard to the 

 general history of animals and plants. 



"It is mainly to the employment of collectors that the great European museums owe their 

 richness. In most of these a regular corps is employed continually in traveling through vari- 

 ous portions of the world and gathering large numbers of duplicates, which are nltunatcly 

 distributed in exchange to other institutions. 



" In cases where memoirs cont.aining descriptions of animals or plants are presented to the 

 Institution for publication, it should, as far as possible, be made a condition of their accept- 

 ance that a series of the objects described be deposited for the purpose of being placed on 

 record and as authenticating the species. These should be labeled by tjie author, and the 

 names thus attached be ever afterwards retained, oven though they may have been incorrect 

 or may hsive been modified by subsequent discoveries. Individuals, too, should be requested 

 to present similar specimens, to be kept in the same manner, illustrating descriptions pub- 

 lished elsewhere than by the Smithsonian Institution. 



"At some future period, when the number of duplicates is sufBcientlj' large, it may be pos- 

 sible to furnish lyceums, schools, and other institutions with series of specimens, properly 

 labeled and arranged, of various branches of natuial history. Individuals, too, engaged in 

 special investigations may hereafter find it practicable to procure objects in such quantities 

 or of such character as to render material if not indispensable aid. This feature will, how- 

 ever, require the cordial co-operation of naturalists and collectors to render it practicable. 



" I may remark that, for the assistance of those who may be unskilled in the collecting, pres- 

 ervation, and packing of specimens, a pamphlet containing the directions is now in prepara- 

 tion and will shortly be issued by the Institution. This will bo of considerable size, and, in 

 addition to the merely taxidermical portions, will contain notices of special desiderata in par- 

 ticular portions of the world, a brief indication of the principal divisions of natural history, 

 and notices of the most accessible sources to which the beginner must apply for information 

 respecting the different branches of the subject, the whole illustrated by figures. 



" Respectfully submitted. 



"SPENCER r. BAIRD. 



"December 31, 1850." 



17. 



1851. Baird, Spencer F. [Note prefatory to catalogues of specimens of Natural 

 History collected iu the Mauvaises Torres aud on tlie Upper Missoiu'i, l>y T. 

 A. Culbertson.] <^ Fifth Annual Report Smithsonian Institution for the year 

 1850, p. 133. 



18. 



1851. Baird, Spencer F. {editor). Proceedings | of | the American Association | for 

 thfe I Advancement of Science | Fourth Meeting, | held at New Haven, Conn. 

 August 1850. I — I Washington City. | Published by S. F. Baird, | New York: 

 G. P. Putnam. | — | 1851. [Edited by Spencer F. Baird, Permanent Secre- 

 tary.] 8vo. 1)1). xxxiv, 415, folding map. 



19. 



1851. Baird, Spencer F. {editor). Proceedings | of | the American Association j for 

 the I Advancement of Science. | Fifth Meeting, | held at Cincinnati, Ohio, 

 May 1851. | — | Published by the liberality of the Citizeus of Cincinnati | — | 

 Wa.shington City : | Published by S. F. Baird. | Cincinnati : Ward & Gaylor, 

 I — I 1851. [Edited by Spencer F. Baird, Permanent Secretary.] 8vo, pp. 

 xxiv, 201. 



