CONTENTS. 



EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



Page. 



Letter from the Secretary to Congress 3 



Letter from the Chancellor and Secretary 4 



Officers and Regents of the Institution 5 



Members ex ofjtdo and Honorary members of the Instltntion 6 



Programme of organization 7 



Report of Professor Henry for 1857 13 



Report of Professor Baird, Assistant Secretary 38 



List of Meteorological Stations and Observers 55 



Report of the Executive Committee , 66 



Report of the Building Committee 71 



Journal of the Board of Regents from March 16, 1857, to May 19, 1858 72 



APPENDIX. 



Lectures. — On " Coal" By Prof. Jos. Le Covte 119 



On the " Vastness of the Visible Creation." By Prof. S. Alexander. . 169 



Meteorology. — Colonia Tovar, Venezuela. By A. Fendler - 179 



Sacramento, California. By Dr. T. M. Logan 283 



On the best hours of daily observation to find the mean tempera- 

 ture of the year By Prof. C. Dewey 310 



Observations and results in the District of Columbia. By J. Wiss- 



NER . . 317 



Observations on Natural Phenomena. By Stillman Masterman. 323 

 Report on recent progress in Physics. By Prof. J. Miller: 



Electricity 333 



Galvanism 394 



28 s 



