34 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



authority of the board, a circular has been prepared and issued, making 

 one of the conditions of receipt the payment of five cents per pound on 

 the parcels. This is actually below the cost, as it includes the expense 

 of wrapping-, of boxing, of forwarding, and a share of the salary of em- 

 ployes and agents, and other incidentals. It is about the same rate as 

 is charged by the express companies for freight in bulk from Washing- 

 ton to Chicago. 



To facilitate the business connected with the system of the Smith- 

 sonian exchanges the following rules have been adopted : 



1. Transmissions through the Smithsonian Institution for foreign 

 countries to be confined exclusively to books, pamphlets, charts, and 

 other printed matter, sent as donations or exchanges, and not to in- 

 clude those procured by purchase. The Institution and its agents will 

 not receive for any address apparatus and instruments, philosophical, 

 medical, &c. (including microscopes), whether purchased or i^resented; 

 nor specimens of natural history, excei^t where special permission from 

 the Institution has been obtained. 



2. The Departments or Bureaus of the United States Government to 

 pay the Smithsonian Institution five cents per pound on their packages, 

 which includes all expense of boxing, shipping, and transportation. 



3. A list of the addresses and a statement of contents of each send- 

 ing to be mailed to the Smithsonian Institution at or before the time of 

 transmission. 



4. Packages to be legibly addressed and to be indorsed with the name 

 of the sender and their contents. 



5. Packages to be enveloped in stout paper, and securely pasted or 

 tied with strong twine — never sealed with wax. 



6. No package to a single address to exceed one-half of one cubic foot 

 in bulk. 



7. To have no inclosures of letters. 



8. To be delivered to the Smithsonian Institution or its agents free of 

 expense. 



9. To contain a blank acknowledgment, to be signed and returned by 

 the party addressed. 



10. Should returns be desired, the fact is to be explicitly stated on or 

 in the package. 



Unless these conditions are comi)lied with, the parcels cannot be for- 

 warded by the Institution. 



The following table exhibits the number of foreign establishments 

 with which the Institution is at present in correspondence, or, in other 



