REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 21 



A largor sum, liowever, ^vill be required for this puri)o.se during the pres- 

 ent year. 



The Smithsonian Institution is now in possession of a hirge amount of 

 manuscript material rehitive to the natural history, geology, and ethnology 

 of the whole of the northern part of the American continent, extending 

 from Labrador to Behring's straits, and northward to the Arctic sea, includ- 

 ing Greenland and the vicinity of Von Wrangell's land. These materials 

 have been derived i)iiucipally from s[)ecial explorations, directed by 

 the Smithsonian Institution, and with the co-operation to a greater or 

 less extent of the Chicago Academy of Sciences. They have been 

 gathered by the officers of the Iludsoirs Bay Company, at their stations 

 in various parts of the northern portion of the continent, by the scien- 

 tific corps of the Eussian telegraph expedition, and by si)ecial explorers 

 acting under the immediate auspices of the Institution. That part which 

 relates to natural history is now nearly ready for the press, and will 

 probably be published during the coming year, while that relative to 

 physical geogTaphy is in an advanced stage of preparation. This includes 

 all the scientific reports made to the Eussian telegraph company by its 

 employes, and liberally furnished, by the company or its officers, to the 

 Institution. The material also contains a large number of vocabularies 

 as well as other information relative to the languages of the country, 

 whicii we hope soon to have in a proper state for publication. All 

 these contributions, together with the observations of Kane, McClintock, 

 and Hayes, which have been discussed and published by the Institution, 

 form no small addition to the knowledge of the North American conti- 

 nent, and will forever remain a monument of the munificence and a 

 memorial of the name of Smithson. 



The annual report for the year 1867 w^as printed as usual by order of 

 Congress, and the extra number of 10,000 copies ordered as heretofore. 

 In addition to the report of the secretary, giving an account of the 

 operations, expenditures, and condition of the Institution for the year, 

 a'.ul the proceedings of the Board of Eegents to May 2, 18GS, it contains 

 the following articles: biographical notices of Professor C. C. Jewett, 

 formerly librarian of the Institution; of William Henry Harvey, of 

 Dublin, author of an extensive work on AlgiP, published by the Institu- 

 tion; memoirs of LegcMidre, Peltier, and Faraday; a sketch of the 

 history of the Royal Institution of Great Britain; a memoir on the 

 family Jussieu, and the natural method of classification in botany; the 

 natural history of organized bodies; the electrical currents of the earth; 

 considerations and facts relative to electricity; queries about expression 

 for anthropological inquiry; the various modes of flight in relation to 

 a:>ronautics; man as the cotemporary of the mammoth and rein<leer 

 in middle Europe; photo-chemistry; an account of the astronomical 

 observations at Dorpat and Poulkova; traces of tlie early mental con- 

 dition of man, account of Indian remains, ancient mounds, &c. ; explora- 

 tions in Central America and Lake Winuepeg; sketch of the flora of 



