AN ACCOUNT OF THE U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. 299 



species have already Ijecn dc^tected, although the examination of the entire collec- 

 tion has not yet been completed. 



( )f North American birds, the Institution possesses nearly all described by Audubon 

 aufF at least 150 additional species. 



Of reptiles, the North American species in the museum of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution amount to between 350 and 400. Of the 150 species described in Holbrook's 

 North American Herj)etology, the latest authority on the subject, it possesses every 

 genuine species, with one or two exceptions, and at least 200 additional ones. It 

 has about 130 species of North American serpents for the 49 described by Holbrook. 



Of the number of species of North American lishes it is impossible to form even 

 an approximate estimate, the increase having been so great. It will not, however, 

 be too much to say that the Institution has between 400 and 500 species either 

 entirely new or else described tirst from its shelves.' 



The scieutitic elaboration of the collectious resulted in the publica- 

 tion of a great number of monographs and preliminary papers in the 

 Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge and Miscellaneous Collec- 

 tions, in the reports of the Government surveys, and in the journals 

 of learned societies at home and abroad. Many of the more compre- 

 hensive of these works remained as standards for a quarter of a cen- 

 tury, and some have not been supplanted at the ])resent day. 



In this work no one labored with more enthusiasm or more success 

 than Professor Baird, who, while carrying the burden of caring for the 

 collections and planning for the exploration of new fields, prepared 

 and published a series of works on North American vertebrates which 

 commanded the admiration of naturalists throughout the world. 



Side by side with the activities resulting in the increase of knowl- 

 edge, the work of diffusing knowledge by the distribution of named 

 natural history specimens was carried forward on an extensive scale. 

 In the tirst twenty years of its history the Institution, according to 

 the estimate of Professor Baird,^ distributed more than one hundred 

 thousand specimens, of which the larger part were identified and 

 labeled. 



In 1861 the charter of the National Institute expired and the various 

 objects belonging to that organization became the property of the 

 Government and were transferred to the care of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



At this date, therefore, all the scientific and art collections belong- 

 ing to the Government and the collections made by the Institution 

 itself were assembled in the Smithsonian building. They comprised 

 many thousands of objects, and were administered by Professor Baird 

 as Assistant Secretary of the Institution. 



From the time the Government came into possession, in 1841, of the 

 collection made by the Wilkes Exploring Expedition Congress appro- 

 priated each year a small sum for the preservation of the objects 

 accumulated in tlie Patent Office, which money was disbursed at first 

 by the ISFational Institute, afterward by the Commissioner of Patents 

 or the Joint Library Committee of Congress. 



'Smithsonian Report, 1856, page 60. Ubid., 1865, page 85. 



