EEPORT OF THE SECTETARY. 71 



toms, tbe articles represented being specimens in tlio ISTational Museum. 

 During the last year tlie Secretary of the Navy Las offered to the In- 

 stitution the manuscripts, notes, plates, cuts, &c., of Oai)tain Hall's 

 work to be preserved in its archives. 



Loan of hoolcs and apparatus. — The Smithsonian Institution has been 

 proverbial, from its first establishment, for the liberality %\:ith which the 

 use of books, apparatus, and specimens has been allowed whenever re- 

 quired in the interest of science, the regulations of many institutions 

 absolutely x)rohibiting the removal from their halls of such articles, not 

 •being at all enforced. It was found necessary, however, to establish 

 some restrictions to the indiscriminate borrowing, as it was ascertained 

 that in many cases the borrower was careless about returning the ob- 

 jects obtained by him, so that when others required their use they were 

 not available for the ijurpose. In some instances rare volumes of trans- 

 actions of learned societies would be kept for years, and not uufrequently 

 an entire set would be returned after the death of the borrower ; in 

 other cases, when called for, the report would be that they were not pro- 

 ducible. 



In order to throw upon the borrower the onus of making a proper 

 return without unnecessary delay. Professor Henry decided to require 

 a deposit in money, or a certified check, far in advance of the value of 

 the object itself ; in the case of the loan of a volume of transactions the 

 money security called for representing the value of the entire series. 

 This condition has given offense in some cases, persons thinking that 

 the deposit should be simply of a money value equal to the value of the 

 article borrowed. This, however, would not answer the purpose, as, in 

 many cases, individuals would be glad to obtain a rare work at cost; 

 and as the Institution is not engaged in trade and needs its books and 

 apparatus for its own research, and that of its collaborators, the propri- 

 ety of the regulation has, I think, been fully vindicated. The required 

 deposit for books amounts, generally, to from $25 to $100, and of course 

 the borrower, whose money is in the hands of the Institution, does not 

 leave it there longer than is necessary. When the book is returned 

 the money is sent back and the transaction closed. This same regula- 

 tion has been extended to the loan to parties of other articles having a 

 definite money value. 



Loan of specimens. — As far as specimens of natural history are con- 

 cerned the regulations are arranged on a different footing ; and as a 

 further means of preserving the integrity of the Smithsonian collections, 

 the following form of "receipt" from naturalists who may borrow its 

 material, has been adopted by the Institution: 



[Locality Date ] 



" Eeceived from the Smithsonian Institution a collection of , 



corresponding to the accompanying list. I hereby accept them in trust 

 upon the following conditions: First. That they are to be used for pur* 



