708 HISTORY OF THE SMITHSONIAN EXCHANGES. 



Yattemare's discretion. He transmitted the legislative documents to 

 the cliambers, elementary books of education, &c., to the ministers of 

 public instruction, &c. 



The cities of Boston, New York, Baltimore, and Washington had pre- 

 sented certain works and documents to the city of Paris. On December 

 21, 1842, it was resolved to address a letter of thanks to the former cities 

 and to send them books in exchange for those received from them. 



Mr. Vattemare received from the chambers, departments, and tliose 

 scientific institutions which had been included in his first distribution 

 a great number of important works. He also made an appeal to sa- 

 vans, authors, and artists, from whom he received some contributions. 



The sendings to the United States had been gradually growing larger 

 from the year 1842, and on the 1st of January, 1846, 6,000 volumes had 

 passed between France and the United States. The following year 

 their number reached 8,000. 



Mr. Vattemare concluded to personally deliver a large amount of ex- 

 changes, and he started on May 10, 1847, with sixty-one boxes. 



The custom-house charges at jSTew York being very heavy, he ad- 

 dressed the Secretary of the Treasury, explaining to him that the ex- 

 changes from the United States were allowed free entry in France, and 

 in reply the same privilege was granted for the French exchanges. 



On his second visit to the United States Mr. Vattemare was equally 

 successful; he forwarded in the course of the year 1848, forty-eight cases 

 to France. 



On the 26th of June of the same year Congress charged the Library 

 Committee with the nomination of an agent to conduct the operations 

 of the exchanges between France and the United States. The commit- 

 tee unanimously designated Mr. Vattemare, who entered upon his duties 

 July 25, 1848. It was also resolved that everything transmitted by this 

 agent should be admitted in this country free of duty. 



The French Government failing to give further support to the service 

 of international exchanges, notwithstanding the renewed efforts of Mr. 

 Vattemare, its operations ceased at his death, in 1864. 



Another movement in our country to effect a system of exchanges 

 (chiefly directed, however, to natural history specimens) was made by 

 the "National Institution" organized at Washington, D. C, in May, 

 1840. Early in 1841 the institution addressed a circular to the principal 

 scientific institutions of Europe, soliciting their correspondence. A let- 

 ter to the corresponding secretary from Dr. H. G. Brown, professor in 

 the University of Heidelberg, Germany, proposed, " if acceptable to you 

 I ofler an exchange of the petrifactions of your country for those of 

 Germany and the neighboring countries." In September, 1841, the 

 United States consul at Lima, Peru, offered to the institution his valu- 

 able entomological collections. Almost simultaneously M. Dufresnoy, 

 of the Royal School of mines at Paris, wrote that he had delivered to Mr. 

 D. B. Warden (formerly consul of the United States at Paris) a box of 



