THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 23 



Alleghany Mountains, and to other persons for collecting observations on heights, 

 as determined in different parts of the country by the various canal and railway 

 surveys. 



The publications on these subjects, besides the papers of Professor Hitchcock 

 on surface geology, are as follows: A Memoir on Mosasaurus, by Dr. 11. W. Gibbs. 

 On the Extinct Species of the Fossil Ox and Sloth of North America, and on the 

 Ancient Fauna of Nebraska, by Dr. Leidy. On the Physical Geography of the 

 IMississippi Valley, by Charles Ellet. On the Law of Deposit of Flood Tide, by 

 Admiral Davis. On the Fluctuations of the Level of the great American Lakes, 

 by C. Whittlesey. On the Palaeontology of the Upper Missouri, and Check List 

 of Miocene Cretaceous and Jurassic Invertebrata, by F. B. Meek. A Memoir, by 

 Dr. Leidy, on the Extinct Reptiles of the Cretaceous period. 



The Institution has published a check list of minerals, with their symbols, pre- 

 pared by Mr. Egleston, with special reference to facilitating the labelling of the 

 Smithsonian minerals and the exchange of specimens, and it may be mentioned 

 that the Institution has made an extensive distribution of specimens of building 

 stone employed by the government. 



Botany. — This branch of general natural history has been advanced by the In- 

 stitution, not only by means of the publication of the papers of original memoirs, 

 but also by explorations and collections made at the expense of the Smithsoniaa 

 Fund. The most important work which has been published is a large quarto vo- 

 lume, illustrated by expensive colored plates, of the sea plants of the entire Ame- 

 rican coast. The work was written for the Institution by Dr. Harvey, of the 

 University of Dublin, and has been the means of rendering this family of the 

 vegetable kingdom more generally known. The Institution has also published 

 several papers on the plants of New Mexico and California, by Dr. Gray, of Cam- 

 bridge, and Dr. Torrey, of New York. 



Duplicates of the specimens described have been presented to institutions at 

 home and abroad. Considerable labor has also been expended in the preparation 

 of an original report on the forest trees of America, by Dr. Gray. 



General Zoology. — A large part of the collections made by the Institution 

 belong to the general class of zoology, intended to advance the study of animal 

 life upon the continent of America. 



The ornithology of America has always been a specialty of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, more efforts having been made to perfect its collection in this depart- 

 ment than any other. The Institution has published the first part of a work by 

 Dr. T. 31. Brewer, suitably illustrated, on the distribution and habits of North 

 American birds during the breeding season, with descriptions and figures of their 

 eggs, the materials being derived entirely from the collections of the Institution, 

 and mostly made at its special request. This is the first separate work on North 

 American zoology ever prepared. A catalogue of North American birds, prepared 

 by Professor S. F. Baird, has been extensively used at home and abroad in label- 

 ling collections. 



