APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



EEPOET OF PKOFESSOE BAIRD ON THE CEXTEXNIAL 

 EXHIBITION OF 1876. 



Smithsonian Institution, 



WasJiington, Jamiary, 1877. 



Sir : I beg leave to present a statement of operations for 1876 con- 

 nected with the Smithsonian department of the United States Centen- 

 nial exhibit, in continuation of that given in the annual report of the 

 Smithsonian Institution for the year 1876. 



At the end of the year 1875 the preparations for the exhibit referred 

 to were in full operation, involving a great deal of arduous labor, for 

 the purpose of having everything in readiness by the 10th of May, the 

 date of the opening of the International Exhibition. 



As originally authorized by you, the display to be made by the 

 Smithsonian Institution was to include, first, the mineral resources of 

 the United States; second, its animal products; and third, its eth- 

 nology. 



The superintendence of the mineral section was intrusted to Prof. 

 "William P. Blake, of New Haven, a gentleman of much experience in 

 such labors and familiarly acquainted with the mining industries of the 

 United States generally. By visiting different localities, especially in 

 Michigan, Missouri, and elsewhere, and by the efforts of several assist- 

 ants, among them Mr. Charles M. Shepard, Mr. Howe, Professor Brod- 

 head, and Professor Hitchcock, supplemented by an extensive and 

 laborious correspondence, he succeeded in securing for the Institution 

 a very full display of ores, building-stones, clays, &c. 



The arrangement made with Mr. Thomas Donaldson to gather a full 

 series of the ores of the precious metals of gold, silver and mercury 

 from the Western- States and Territories also continued to be highly 

 productive, Mr. Donaldson personally visiting a great number of mining 

 localities, and obtaining a full series of specimens, many of them rich 

 in bullion and thus of very considerable commercial value. 



In no case was either he or Professor Blake called upon to pay money 

 for any article, no matter what its intrinsic value, the specimens being 

 contributed by the owners of the mines with the understanding only 

 that they were to receive a suitable display in the Government exhibit 

 and subsequently in the National Museum in Washington. 



Most of the material of these collections was sent directly to Phila- 

 delphia, only one of at least thirty car-loads of mineral matters being 

 shipped from Washington. 



In addition to the objects just referred to, arrangements were effected 



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