REPORT ON EXClIANGBft. 



51 



selves of auy and all aunoyances and cost attending the printing and 

 l)ul)lisbing- of their various issues by giving tlie manuscript in com- 

 mission to some enterprising and reliable publishing house. Thus the 

 work is at once thrown in the book trade and represents a commercial 

 value, and copies can onlj' be supplied through the firm holding the 

 work ou commission. The department may receive probablj^ some 50 

 l)er cent, of the proceeds of the sales, which income greatly lessens the 

 cost of preparing the manuscript. The respective departments can 

 obtain copies only by purchase, and no legislation existing in those 

 countries like our Congressional act authorizing the exchange of ofiQcial 

 documents, the one bureau, having undertaken the collecting and pro- 

 viding for the exchange with other Governments, has a very difficult 

 task in obtaining from the other departments the works required for 

 the purpose. It has no right to demand, but it is always the suppli- 

 cant for a favor, since such only it can be considered. 



"Furthermore, the bureaus of exchange established (on the basis 

 adopted by the Paris convention in 1875) in a number of European 

 states aie greatly restricted in their modus operandi by well-defined 

 laws, which prescribe distinctly that the official i)ublications obtained 

 in the manner above described, and purchased from funds exclusively 

 allowed for the purpose, can be exchanged only for works of the same 

 (commercial) value. This, however, is a difficult matter in the case of 

 the United States publications, which represent no commercial value, 

 although they command very high figures in the book trade. I beg leave 

 here to quote from an Englisli catalogue the i)rices of some of the more 

 important United States publications — the figures reduced to American 

 currency : 



Publications. 



Prices. 



Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. 4 



Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. 5 



Annual Rejjorts, Bureau of Ethnology per volume.. 



ir. S. Fish Conuuission Reports, 8 vohnnes 



'i'cnth Census per volume, about.. 



Tenth Census, vol. 8 



Connuerciul Relations of the United States, 1880-1884 per set.. 



I ron and Steed, 2 volumes 



Auuual Rei)ort Secretary of War, 1880 per set.. 



Mineral Resources of the United States per volume.. 



Mines and Mining do 



Paris Exhibition per set.. 



Bhuk Hills of Dakota 



llayden Survey, 9 volumes, 4to 



I I ay den Survey, Annual Reports, 12 volumes 



i lay den Survey, Atlas of Colorado 



King Survey, Fortieth Parallel per set.-. 



II. vS. Geological Survey (Powell), Auuual Reports per volume.. 



U. S. Geological Survey, monograph, vol. 2 



U. S. Geological Survey, monograph, vol. 3 - . 



U. S. Geological Survey, monograph, vol. 4 



U. S. Geological Survey, monograph, vol. f) 



Wheeler, Surveys West of the lOUth Meridian per set.. 



Defenses of Washington 



$11 2.5 



10 50 



12 50 



45 00 



5 00 



15 75 



27 50 



10 50 



10 50 



7 50 



7 50 



10 50 

 18 75 

 75 00 

 (>3 00 

 15 75 



157 00 



7 50 



21 00 



21 00 



7 50 



14 25 



i;w 00 



11 25 



