54 , REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



minerals were arranged and labelled for the purpose by Professor 

 Egleston, the shells by Dr. P. P. Carpenter, the ethnological objects 

 by Dr. E. Foreman. As the collections generally become reduced to 

 order, identified, and duplicates eliminated, further distributions will 

 will take place. According to the account of Professor Baird, nearly 

 a quarter of a million of different specimens have thus been sent 

 away to places where they are likely to be of use. It should be 

 borne in mind that in nearly every instance these specimens had pre- 

 viously been identified and labelled by the highest authorities, and 

 in fact served as types or standards of special reference. 



The foregoing account of the disposition of the specimens collected 

 by the Institution will serve to illustrate the spirit and policy of the 

 establishment, as well as the working of the system of active opera- 

 tions in its relation to the advancement of natural history. The 

 same polic}^ but with more efficiency, would be continued, were Con- 

 gress to take charge of the museum, or make separate provision for 

 its maintenance. 



Besides the investigations in the line of natural history, several 

 others have been commenced, at the charge and under the direction 

 of the Institution and are still in progress. George Gibbs, esq., has 

 been engaged in collating and arranging for publication all the Indian 

 vocabularies which have been collected by the Institution. An 

 appropriation has been made for a systematic exploration of mounds 

 and ancient remains in certain localities, of which an account will be 

 given in the next report. As is seen under the head of meteorology, 

 the labors of Mr. Schott have been continued in the reduction and 

 discussion of observations. An appropriation has been made to assist 

 Prof. Wm. Ferrel in a series of investigations relative to the tides; 

 and another to Prof. Newcomb, of the National Observatory, to defray 

 the expense of numerical calculations for his discussion of the obser- 

 vations of the planet Neptune. The Secretary, in connection with 

 General Poe, of the Light-house Board, devoted a part of his summer 

 vacation to investigations in regard to the penetration of sound, in 

 its relation to fog-signals. The remainder of the same vacation, as 

 well as a considerable amount of other time, was devoted to the 

 examination of subjects referred to him by the government, as pre- 

 siding officer of the National Academy of Sciences. 



In addition to the collaborators in natural history already mentioned, 

 the Institution during the past year has been favored with the gratui- 

 tous services of a number of other gentlemen in reporting upon ques- 

 tions proposed for solution, in examining memoirs, and in the prepara- 

 tion of articles for the report. Among these may be mentioned Prof. 



