S. Mis. 53. 47 



scierxlific exchanges of this country and of Europe now pass through the 

 Smithsonian Institution. The expense, which is borne by the Institu- 

 tion, though considerable, is trifling in proportion to the good accom- 

 plished in the diffusion of knowledge. The more minute statistics of 

 this branch of exchanges will be given in the tables below. 



In addition to the publications of societies, numerous copies of several 

 valuable Avorks have been given by individuals to the Institution for 

 distribution. In many cases it has been left to the Institution to select 

 the foreign recipients of presents both from societies and individuals. 



The amount of matter to be sent to Europe was very large. The 

 publications of the Institution, consisting of two quarto volumes and a 

 number of octavos, were double, in number, those of the last year. 

 The Senate ordered three hundred copies of Foster and Whitney's re- 

 port on Lake Superior, one hundred of Captain Stansbury's report of 

 the Exploration of Utah, and one hundred of Dr. Owen's report of the 

 geology of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The kindness of Mr. R. 

 P. Anderson, superintendent of the document-room, and of Mr. Dooley, 

 superintendent of the folding-room of the Senate, put the Institution in 

 possession of a large number of public documents of scientific interest. 

 The Indian Bureau sent one hundred and seventy-eight volumes of the 

 History of the Indian Tribes ; and the institutions of the country gen- 

 erall}'- forwarded large numbers of their Transactions. The labor of 

 arranging the details of the transmission was of course very great, the 

 titles being first entered in the order of reception, then posted up in a 

 ledger, in which a debit and credit account is kept with each corre- 

 spondent, and a minute invoice of the entries made out and a co-pj sent 

 by mail. Precisely the same system is adopted in regard to the parcels 

 received from Europe, being first entered in a day-book, then posted 

 up in a ledger, and finally transcribed a third time in the letter of 

 acknowledgment. Parcels for other institutions are likewise entered 

 in a special book, and a memorandum kept of the date and mode of 

 transmission. 



In the present case the number of letters with invoices, prepared 

 and sent, amounted nearly to six hundred, many of them containino- 

 upwards of fifty titles. 



The making up of the parcels occupitnl about a week, and tlie en- 

 tire foreign transmission left the Smithsonian Institution l^y the 21st of 

 June. The cases, as before, were sent to Dr. J. G. Fliigel, of Leip- 

 sic, to H. Bossange, Paris, and to Henry Stevens, bf London, all of 

 whom evinced the greatest energy and promptness in their distribu- 

 tion. Tliis distribution has been nearly completed, so that every for- 

 eign mail brings warm acknowledgments of the liberality ot the Insti- 

 tution. Notices of this transmission have appeared in many of the 

 foreign journals, and much admiration expressed of the extent and 

 completeness with which the institution is fulfilling its great mission. 



The following table presents the statistics of the sending of June, 

 1852. The names of tlie institutions themselves will be f()und in the 

 list given in the ajipendix. To some of these the full series of publi- 

 co tions are not sent, but only works on special subjects. The total 

 number, as will be seen, is 300, of which 207 receive the Smithsonian 

 Contributions in full. 



