HISTORY OF THE SMITHSONIAN EXCHANGES. 777 



serve to transmit the international scientific communications of learned 

 societies. 



Tliey shall serve as the intermediate ajjents for the procurement, on 

 the best possible terms, of books, maps, instruments, &c., X)ublished or 

 manufactured in each country, and desired by any of the contracting 

 countries. 



Each country shall transmit at least one copy of its national publica- 

 tions to the other contracting countries. 



In order to accomplish this project, the Baron de Vatteville, who was 

 charged by his colleagues with the formation, at Paris, of a central 

 commission of exchanges, convoked a meeting of those signers of the 

 convention of August 12, 1875, who reside at Paris, at the ministry of 

 public instruction. 



The commission thus formed, desirous of securing the exchange of 

 publications and official documents relating to the sciences which tend 

 to promote a knowledge of the globe, such as, first, astronomy, geodesy, 

 cartography, geography, topograj^hy, geologj', mineralogy, botany, an- 

 thropology, hj'gieue, zoology, entomology, explorations and travels, his- 

 tory, archceology, linguistics, numismatics, &c.; and, secondly, statisti- 

 cal information of all kinds, has prepared, discussed, and adopted the 

 regulations mentioned below, which its members will submit to their 

 respective governments for appi-oval. 



Section I. — General arrangements. 



Article 1. Each high contracting party shall designate in its country 

 a bureau as the center for international exchanges, and shall communi- 

 cate its exact title and address to the other governments. 



Art. 2. Each bureau shall prepare a bibliography of the oflicial works 

 published within late years and which they are inclined to exchange. 

 It shall transmit at least one copy of this list to the foreign bureaus, and 

 shall engage to notify these same bureaus of all new official publications 

 as they may appear. 



Art. 3. The bureau of each country may (subject to the ratification of 

 its government) make use of the opportunity to include in the list of pro- 

 l)0sed exchanges such publications as are not, strictly speaking, comprised 

 in the category of the sciences above mentioned. 



Section II. — Exclianges heticeen governments and departments. 



Art. 4. All official documents, that is to say, publications issued at the 

 expense of the state, shall be exchanged gratuitously. With regard to 

 these each high contracting party engages to transmit to the loreigu 

 bureaus at least one copy of each of its publications, excepting, however, 

 those which relate to the national defense. 



Art. 5. If auj- country shall desire for any purpose to ret^eive more 

 than one co])y of the official publications of any other country, the num- 

 ber thereof shall be fixed by a previous arrangement through means of 

 the bureaus of exchange, on the basis of an equitable reciprocity . 



Section III. — Exchanges between governments and learned societies. 

 Art. G. If any scientific society or institution, whether receiving a 

 subsidy from the state or not, shall desire to receive directly ollicial 

 publications from any foreign country, it shall address the biueau of its 



