THE SMI'THSONIAN INSTrTUTTON. 179 



\X?1iole subject should be prosecuted by the Institution, until nil ncces- 

 ible information has been collected. The Smithsonian Institution owes 

 this to the woi'ld. The work should be done quickh' ; for the plough, 

 as well as the elements, are every year rendering less visible the out- 

 lines and distinctive forms of these remnants of tlie arts and policy of 

 the ancient inhabitants of this continent. 



Bihliograjihia Amcricarm. 



In the last reporl an account is given of the preparation of a work 

 ■on the bibliography of America, by Henry Stevens, of Vermont. This 

 work, it will be recollected, is to contain a brief account of every book 

 published in, or relating to. North America, prior to 1700, with reter- 

 •ences to the differcKt libraries in this and other countries in which 

 these works are to be found. The Institution agreed to publish thi-s 

 work at its own expense, provided, on examination by a commission of 

 competent judges, it is found properly executed. Mr. Stevens is now 

 ena:ao;ed in the Britisli Museum cataloQuinc; all the works embraced 

 in this plan, and informs tne that he is making good progress in his 

 •enterprise. 



Mcports on tlie Progress of Kiimdedge. 



Of the reports on the progress of" knowledge proposed in th-e plan of 

 •organization, none have as yet been published, though several of those 

 ■mentioned in my report of last year have been completed, or arc very 

 •nearly ready for the press. The appropriations, however, for the last 

 year were not found sufficient for carrying out tiuther this part of the 

 plan. 



The most important report now in progress is that on the forest-Trees 

 •of North America, by Dr. Gray, Professor of Botany in Harvard Uni- 

 versity. It is intended in this work to give figures firom original draw- 

 ings of the flowers, leaves, fruit, &c., of each principal species in the 

 United States proper, for the most part of the size of nature, and so 

 executed as to furnish colored or uncolored copies- — the first being in- 

 tended to give an adequate idea of the species, and the second for 

 ^greater cheapness and more general diffusion. 



This work will be completed in -three parts, in octavo, with an atla<; 

 of quarto plates — the first part to be published next spring. A })ortion 

 t)f this will be occ-upied V\^ith an introductory dissertation giving the; 

 present state of our knowledge, divested as much as possible of all 

 'Unnecessary technical terms — of the anatomy, morphology, and physi- 

 ology of the tree — tracing its growth fi-om the embryo to its full deve- 

 lopment and reproduction in the formation of fj-uit and seed. This 

 will be illustrated by drawings from original dissections uuilcr the 

 microscope, and sketches made, in every instance, from nature. As 

 'the work will be adapted to general comprehension, it will be of inter- 

 |j est to the popular as well as the scientific reader. 



• Report on the history of the discovery of the planet Neptvne. — The first 

 I -part of a report on recent discoveries in astronomy has been completed, 

 : and is ready for the press. This is written by Dr. B. A. Gould, of 



