30 EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



and of its increasing- extent. As miglit naturally be expected, this is 

 now greater than ever before. 



During- the past year the number of letters received and sent out ex- 

 ceeded that for any previous corresiwnding- period in the history of the 

 establishment, the latter covering about 8,000 pages of press copy books. 

 This increase was largely due — 



(1) To renewed activity in the department of exchanges; 



(2) To the execution of a comi^rehensive plan for extending the archce- 

 ological cabinet of the Institution ; and 



(3) To the acknowledgment of letters of condolence on the death of 

 the late Secretary. 



As explanatory of the first of these sonrces of increase in the corres- 

 pondence it may be stated that some months since a systematic efibrt 

 was made looking to the early completion of as many as possible of the 

 series of publications of foreign societies in the Smithsonian library, 

 and, reciprocally, to sui)i)lying deficiencies in the numerens series of 

 Smithsonian publications held abroad. . To this end a communication 

 was addressed to each of the nearly 3,000 foreign establishments in cor- 

 respondence with this Institution, mentioning the volumes or parts of 

 their respective transactions not at the time in jDOSsession of the Insti- 

 tution, and requesting that these be sui^plied 5 one of the conditions of 

 a favorable response being a promise that the Smithsonian Institution 

 would, in turn, fill whatever gaps it could in its own series. The re- 

 sponses, as was exiiected, were very prompt and most gratifying. Ee- 

 sulting therefrom, the Smithsonian lilirary — now constituting the science 

 library of the government — has been enriched by the addition of hun- 

 dreds of valuable works of a character not usually obtained even by 

 purchase, w^ile the Institution itself has been brought into closer and 

 more active relations than ever with its foreign correspondents of both 

 hemispheres. 



Eegarding the second source of increase in the correspondence, it 

 may be remarked that more recently a wide-spread distribution has been 

 made of a circular relative to archaeology. Indeed, it is hardly too 

 much to say that this circular has been scattered broadcast over the 

 land. oSTot only was it distributed to organized establishments of a lit- 

 erary, educational, and scientific character, to newspapers, postmas- 

 ters, and, by generous permission of express companies, through their 

 agents to individuals who might be known to tliem as specially inter- 

 ested in the subject, but a copy was systematically mailed with each 

 icrittcn comuuTnication sent out by the Institution, no matter what the 

 subject. This circular has proved more prolific of correspondence than 

 was anticipated by its most sanguine friends. Inquiry soon followed 

 inquiry for more detailed information as to desiderata in the waj of 

 specimens and information; requests were continuous to know if this or 

 that article would be welcome ; offers to lend objects for copying were 

 numerous from individuals possessing unique and choice specimens, val- 



