|_ lOS J 12 



■were made at the expense and under the direction of the United States Coast 

 Survey. Another portion was made in accordance with the direction of the 

 Hon. Robert J. Walker, late Secretary of the Treasury, as a part of the 

 investigations instituted for the exploration of the mineral lands belonging 

 to the general government. This paper has been examined by competent 

 judges, and recommended for publication in the Smithsonian Contributions, 

 as an important addition to knowledge. 



A paper has also been presenteil for publication by the executors of the 

 late Doctor Troostr, of Nashville. It consists of descriptions and drawings 

 of a very numerous family of extinct zoophytes, to which the organic re- 

 main called the stone lily belongs. The vicinity of Nashville appears to [)e 

 a remarkable locality for these remains, and the paper of Professor Troost 

 describes several hundred species, of which two only have Jiving represen- 

 tatives. 



The memoir, however, is not in a condition to be published without 

 revision, and additions to bring it up to the state of knowledge at the pre- 

 sent time. This labor has been gratuitously undertaken by Professor 

 Agassiz, of Cambridge, and Professor James Hall, of Albany. The collec- 

 tion of specimens, from which the drawings were made, is now in the pos- 

 session of these gentlemen, and the memoir will be published as soon as the 

 corrections and additions are made. 



The next memoir is on the winds of the northern hemisphere, by Profes- 

 sor James Coifm. The design of this communication, in the w^ords of the 

 author, is "(o ansv/er the following questions, viz : 



"1. What is the average direction in which the lower strata of the air 

 moves over diiferent regions of the northern hemisphere? 



"2. What is the rate of progress in the mean direction as compared 

 with the total distance travelled by the wind ? 



"o. Vvliat modifications do the mean direction and rate of progress 

 undergo in the different months of the year? 



"4. What is the direction of the deflecting forces that cause these 

 modifications? 



"0. What is the average relative force and velocity of winds from seve- 

 ral points of the compass? 



"6. How will the introduction or omission of the latter element affect 

 the answer of the preceding questions?" 



The data used in answering these questions have been collected with 

 great labor, and consist of observations made at no less than five hundred 

 and seventy-six different stations on land, and a large number taken during 

 numerous voyages at sea. The field of observation includes a zone which 

 extends from the equator to nearly the ])arallel of 85° of north latitude, and 

 occupies a period, taken in the aggregate, of 2,800 years. 



Several of the foregoin"; questions liave been answered approximately by 

 other writers, but never, it is believed, from as extensive an induction as is 

 presented in this memoir. 



This paper is illustrated by a number of maps and diagrams, which ren- 

 der its publication very expensive. It was presented to the Institution more 

 than a year ago, but the appropriation for printing was not sufficient to 

 allow of its publication at that time. 



The Institulion has also commenced the publication of an extended 

 memoir, consisting of a grammar and lexicon of the Dakota language, the 

 results of the joint labors, during eighteen years, of the Dakota mission, 



