220 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



the condition of its funds has again enabled it to take the field, and 

 to direct its attention to the remarkable antiquities in the State of Wis- 

 consin. 



These anticjuities, it is well known, consist of representations, on a 

 gigantic scale, of birds, beasts, and fishes ; and though many ot" them 

 have been surveyed, and accounts of them given in the memoir of 

 Messrs. Squier and Davis, comparatively few of those which are said 

 to exist have been explored or delineated. For this reason, the coun- 

 cil of the society have engaged Mr. I. A. Lapham, an experienced 

 engineer, to make the explorations and surveys and drawings of these 

 mounds. He has been engaged in these operations for two seasons, 

 and is now employed in making up an account of his labors. 



To insure harmony of action in the cultivation of the wide field of 

 research offered in the investigations of the ancient monuments of this 

 country, the Antiquarian Society has agreed to present to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution the results of the explorations of Mr. Lapham for 

 publication, and to reserve its limited funds for further explorations. 

 The memoirs will be examined and revised by the society, and will be 

 published under its auspices in the Smithsonian Contributions. 



This arrangement is another pleasing evidence of the feeling with 

 which the efforts of this Institution are regarded, and the willingness 

 with which other institutions co-operate with it in the important work 

 of promoting original knowledge. 



Explorations, Researches, c^r. 



During the last 5^ear several mnior explorations have been made in 

 the line of natural history, partly at the expense of the Institution. The 

 sum of fifty dollars was appropriated to Professor C. B. Adams, of 

 Amherst College, to pay in part his expenses while making collections 

 in the West Indies and Panama. For the sum advanced, an ample 

 return has been made in new and rare specimens. Professor Baird 

 and Mr. Charles Girard have also made explorations which have added 

 to the collections of the Institution at a cost little beyond that of the 

 expense of transportation. 



In this connexion I may mention that Professor Baird has contri- 

 buted the report on the vertebrate animals collected by Captain Stans- 

 bury in his expedition to the Salt Lake region, and facilities have been 

 given at the Institution to a number of persons making scientific reports 

 to Congress. 



A series of experiments also have been made in our laboratory by a 

 commission appointed by government to examine the stone proposed for 

 the extension of th(5 Capitol. It is believed that the Institution may, 

 in the aid it aflE(:>rds the government in scientific operations, more than 

 repay all the obligation imposed by the acceptance of the Smithsonian 

 trust. 



It was mentioned in the last report that the specimens which were 

 procured by Mr. Culbertson from, the Upper Missouri, had been re- 

 ferred to Dr. Joseph Leidy, of Philadelphia, for examination. He 

 has since made a report giving a brief statement of the results 

 Df his investigation. From this report it appears that the speci- 



