48 



REPORT ON EXCHANGES. 



The Record Division. — The duties of tliis office liave become so iinnier- 

 ous, that an additional assistant was this year allowed. The work of 

 this division now embraces all the records and card catalojijiies nniU'i- 

 the system adopted on the 1st of January, 1885. Under tliis system 

 all exchanges, whether incoming or outgoing, foreign or domestic, after 

 verifying the correctness of the sending, are entered on a blotter — this 

 work being done by the assistants in the foreign and domestic exchange 

 division, respectively ; these blotters are tlien transcribed by the clerks 

 of the record division in the day-book, from which the ledger, repre- 

 sented by a card catalogue, is posted. In addition to these duties, it 

 devolves on the clerks of this division to prepare the invoices for the 

 outgoing exchanges, and to credit on the ledger the acknowledgments 

 sent by reci[)ients of exchanges, and to record and file letters, bills of 

 lading, &c. 



The following statement exhibits the work done iii this division dur- 

 ing the first six months: 



Description. 



Foreign cards in use 



Domestic cards in use 



Domestic entries made 



Foreign entries made 



Invoices written 



Government packages received . 

 Miscellaneous packages received 

 Let ters entered 



Number. 



s(Ki 

 11,217 

 33, 651 

 I?,, 57(i 

 51,H00 

 14, 042 



433 



The Foj'cign Exchange Division. — Since January 1,1885, o'J,921 packages 

 have been received in this division and 383 boxes sent, including the 

 Government exchanges. A comparative statement of boxes sent dur- 

 ing corresponding periods of former years present the following results : 



The year 1884 exhibited an extraordinary increase in the transmis- 

 sions, which was hirgely due to an ariangenient for exchanges on the 

 part of the United States Patent Ofii(;e with foreign Governments by 

 which ()2 large cases were sent abroad through the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution in June of that year. But notwithstanding this unusual send- 

 ing, the last six months show an inert ase of 33 boxes over the simil,;r 

 period of 1884. A detailed list will be presented in the statistics of 

 exchanges. 



Owing to the large addition in the work required under the present 

 system of prepaiing blotters, &c., and in consideration of the regular 

 increase both in incoming and outgoing exchanges, two (temporary) 

 ^;Ssistaiits have been em^)loyed. 



