28 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY, 



many or too few. This induced my predecessor, many years ago, to 

 order that everything published by the Institution shouhl either be elec- 

 trotyped or stereotyped, and the first edition for miscellaneous distri- 

 bution of 250 copies was generally printed. If more than this was 

 required a second and a third edition of similar extent were ordered. 

 In this way the expense of an investment in paper and printing, as 

 well as an inconvenient and possibly dangerous accumulation of mate- 

 rials in the building, was avoided ; and it has now become possible to 

 keep down the stock to the minimum. The stereotype and electrotype 

 plates have usually been kept in the basement of the building; but for 

 the greater convenience of reference and transfer to the i)rinter when 

 required, they have been arranged during the year in a large fire x)roof 

 room in the upper stories of the south tower. 



By far the largest proportion of electrotype plates have been stored 

 in Philadelphia in a portion of the building of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of that city, and under the charge of the printers of the Insti- 

 tution, the T. K. Collins establishment. The Institution is under great 

 obligations to the Academy for permission to occupy so much of its 

 basement and for allowing, at the same time, free access to it by the 

 agents of the Institution. 



Index to Smithsonian Publications. — In the constantly-increasing mass 

 of serial publications the general titles of which express but indefinitely 

 the character of their contents, the preparation of special indexes has 

 become a matter of great importance; and within the last twenty years 

 quite a number of such publications have been made; one of these, of 

 the most importance, namely, the Index of Periodical Literature, by Mr. 

 Henry Poole, has been of very great assistance to students and investi- 

 gators, and a still more elaborate system of indexing has lately been 

 carried out. An association of persons familiar with this kind of work 

 has been formed for the purpose of continuing this series of indexes. 

 Two propositions have been made to the Institution to prepare a full 

 digest of all the papers it has published. 



Such a bibliography has, however, been in preparation by the Institu- 

 tion for some time past. Mr. Boehmer, one of the assistants, has prepared 

 a full alphabetical index to the subjects of ethnology and archaeology, 

 contained in the Contributions to Knowledge, the Miscellaneous Collec- 

 tions, and the Smithsonian Eeports; an abstract of which, published in 

 the Report for 1879, will give some idea of its plan. The complete work 

 will be printed as soon as funds are available for the purpose, and it 

 will meet an acknowledged want. Similar indexes will, in time, bo 

 furnished, relating to other branches of science. 



Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. — During the year, Volume 

 XXII of the quarto series of "Contributions" has been made up and 

 published, consisting of independent memoirs ijreviously issued by the 



