22 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



The results have been published by government, the Institution, or other parties. 

 The extent and importance of these publications may be seen in the volumes of 

 the reports of the Pacific Railroad and Mexican boundary surveys; of the United 

 States astronomical expedition to Chili, under the late lamented Captain Gilliss; 

 of Captain Stansbury's exploration of Utah; of Lieutenant Michler's of the Isthmus 

 of Darien, &c. &c ; in the volumes of the Smithsonian publications, and in the 

 transactions of nearly all the scientific institutions in the United States. 



In order to facilitate the operations of collectors, a series of directions and cir- 

 culars have been prepared and widely distributed, for collectrng, preserving, and 

 transporting specimens of natural history, and also special instructions as to the 

 collecting of nests, eggs, shells, insects, &c. 



Description and Distribution of Collections and Specimens. — The object of 

 making these collections, in conformity with the policy of the Institution, was not 

 merely to supply a large museum in Washington with permanent specimens or 

 duplicates for exchange, but to furnish the naturalists of the world with the mate- 

 rials for advancing the science of the natural history of North America, and of 

 facilitating the study of its various branches by supplying museums, both in the 

 United States and in Europe, with sets of type specimens. 



In pursuance of this object, full sets of the specimens collected have been sub- 

 mitted to a large number of naturalists, both in this country and abroad, for cri- 

 tical study and description, and it is not too much to say that scarcely a mono- 

 graphic investigation has been conducted for many years past in any branch of 

 American zoology which has not derived part or the whole of its material from the 

 Smithsonian collections. Duplicates of the specimens, when described, have been 

 made up into series for distribution, always accurately labelled, and are usually 

 types of some published investigation. The average of such distribution has, for 

 the last ten years, been at least ten thousand specimens annually, and the whole 

 number distributed over a quarter of a million. In this way all the older 

 museums in this country and Canada have been largely increased, and the 

 foundation for several new establishments of a similar kind has been furnished. 

 To all colleges and academies making special application, labelled specimens 

 have also been presented. 



This distribution of specimens is very different from the ordinary exchanges 

 conducted between institutions or individuals, which usually involve the return of 

 an equivalent. The question with the Smithsonian Institution is, not what can 

 be had in return, but where a particular specimen or series of specimens can be 

 placed so as best to advance the cause of science, by being most accessible to the 

 largest number of students engaged in original investigations. 



PalseontoJogy, Geology, Physical Geography, &c. — Appropriations have been 

 made for investigations of the surface formation of the Connecticut valley, by 

 Proftssor E. Hitchcock, and for the collection of materials for the illustration of the 

 geology and pa!a;ontology of particular regions. Appropriation has also been 

 made to Professor Guyot for a barometrical survey of the different parts of the 



