14 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



directiou of the United States Goverument and other sources of infor- 

 mation, an account of tlie various plants existing in tiiis country. The 

 work will be prosecuted as rapidly as the time which can be devoted to 

 it by Prof. Sereno Watson, who has it in charge, will permit; 184 

 pages havi.ig already been stereotyped. The cost of its i)reparation has 

 been defrayed by contributions from the principal botanists of the United 

 States, a fact which sufhciently indicates its value. 



Another publication made during 1875 belongs to the Miscellaneous 

 Collections, and is the fourth of the Toner Lecture Series. It is on ''A 

 Study of the Nature and Mechanism of Fever," by Horatio C. Wood, 

 M. D., of Philadelphia, and contains a series of original experiments and 

 observations on the subject. 



The phenomena of fever, according to the author, will be found 

 to be capable of being grouped in three sets: first, acceleration 

 of the beats of the heart and disturbance of the circulation ; second, 

 nervous disturbance; third, elevation of bodily temperature. It is the 

 opinion of the author that the first two are merely secondary and depend 

 upon the third ; i. e., the essential phenomenon of fever is elevation of 

 temperature. It forms a pamphlet of 48 pages, and has been extensively 

 called for by the medical profession. 



In order to assist in defraying the expense of the publication of the 

 Toner Lectures, a charge is made of 25 cents for each number. As an 

 answer to many inquiries, it may be stated in this place that the second 

 lecture of the series has not yet been published, the Institution having 

 failed to receive the manuscript from the author. 



The preparation of the tables of the "Constants of Nature" has been 

 in part interrupted, by the appointment of the principal author, F. W. 

 Clarke, to the professorship of chemistry in the Cincinnati University, 

 all liis time having been absorbed in the prej)aration of his course of 

 instruction. He has, however, resumed his labors on the constants, and 

 will probably furnish us during 1876 with another installment of materials 

 for the extension of the tables. There has been a large and increasing 

 demand for this work, which is of much importance to the analytical 

 chemist iu facilitating his investigations. 



During the past year another series of j)ublications, which will form 

 a part of the Miscellaneous Collections, has been commenced. It is enti- 

 tled " Bulletin of the National Museum," and is intended to illustrate 

 the collections of natural history and ethnology belonging to the United 

 States, and constituting the National Museum, of which the Smithsonian 

 Institution is the custodian. Of this series two numbers have been 

 issued in octavo form, printed at the Government Printing-OfiBce, by au- 

 thority of the honorable Secretary of the Interior. 



The first number is a check -list of North American Batrachia and Rep- 

 tilia, with a systematic list of the higher groups, and an essay on geograi)h- 

 ical distribution, based on the specimens contained iu the United States 

 National Museum, by Prof Edw. D. Cope. It is a contribution to 



