Appendix VII. 



REPORT OF THE EDITOR FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 



30, 1901. 



Sir: I have the honor to .submit the following report on the publications 

 of the Smithsonif.n Institution and its bureaus during the year ending June 

 30, 1901: 



I. SMITHSONIAN' CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE. 



A memoir on experiments with ionized air, by Dr. Carl Barns, has been 

 sent to the printer, but was not completed at the close of the fiscal year. 



II. MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS. 



1253. A Select Bibliograpliy of Chemistry, 1492-1897. By Henry 

 Carrington Bolton. Section VII, Academic Dissertations. Washington: 

 Published by the Smithsonian Institution, 1901. Octavo, pp. vi + 534. 



1258. On the Cheapest Form of Light. By S. P. Langley and F. W. 

 Very. Washington: Published by the Smithsonian Institution, 1901. 

 Octavo, pp. 20, with 3 plates. 



1259. List of Observatories. Washington: Published by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, 1901. Octavo, pp. 27. (Distributed as proof sheets, 

 for revi-sion.) 



1305, 1306. The Smithsonian Institution. Documents relative to its 

 origin and history. 1835-1899. Compiled and edited by William Jones 

 Rhees. In two volumes.. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1901. 

 Octavo. 



Vol. I, 1835 to 1887. Pages i-liii, 1-1044. 



Vol. II, 1887 to 1899. Pages 1045-1983. 



This work forms Volumes XLII and XLIII of .'Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 

 In his preface Jlr. Rhees thus describes the object and contents of the volumes: 



The present volume is undertaken in continuation of a volume bearing the title The 

 Smithsonian Institution: Documents Relative to its Origin and History, prepared by the 

 editor of the present volume, which, besides other matters, gives the legislative history 

 of the Smithsonian Institution to 1877. Prefixed to this will be found a selection of the 

 ddcuments which passed between the United States and the attorneys in England ante- 

 cedent to the actual reception of the bequest of .James Smithson, a British subject, who 

 gave his fortune to the United States of America "to found at Washington, under the 

 name of the Smith.sonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of 

 knowledge among men." 



This fact was communicated through the United Stales legation at London to the Sec- 

 retary of State, and was made the subject of a special message to Congress by President 

 Jackson on December 17, 183.5. The message was referred to committees, and it was at last 

 agreed that, although there was some doubt as to the propriety of accepting it, the 

 bequest should be obtained, if possible, and the Hon. Richard Rush was sent to England 

 in July, 1836, as a special agent of the United States, with power of attorney from tha 



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