THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 25 



Mlcroscopij. — Encouragement has been given to this branch of science, by im- 

 porting, as samples, simple forms of working microscopes, and also by stimulating 

 our native artists to greater exertion in the construction of this instrument, by 

 ordering the best that could be produced. Samples of microscopic organisms have 

 been collected and distributed to observers, and examinations and reports have been 

 made on a large number of this class of objects sent to the Institution. The pub- 

 lications in regard to this subject are a number of papers by Professor Bailey, of 

 West Point, and a very interesting Memoir, by Dr. Leidy, of Philadelphia, on a 

 Fauna and Flora within Living Animals. 



Physiologi/. — No experiments on this subject have been made under the imme- 

 diate direction of the Institution, although it has furnished the materials for inves- 

 tigation by other parties. The publications in regard to it are Chemical and 

 Physical Researches concerning North American Vertebrata, by Dr. J. Jones; 

 Researches upon the Venom of the Rattlesnake, with an investigation of the Ana- 

 tomy and Physiology of the Organs Concerned, by Dr. S. W. Mitchell; on the 

 Breathing Organs of Turtles, by Drs. Mitchell and Morehouse; on the Anatomy 

 of the Nervous System of Rana Pipieus, by Dr. J. Wyman; and on the Medulla 

 Oblongata, by Dr. John Dean. 



Ethnology and Pliihlogi/ — One of the earliest efforts on the part of the Insti- 

 tution, was directed to the advancement of the science of American Ethnology. 

 Its first publication, as well as introductory volume to the series of Smithsonian 

 Contributions to Knowledge, being the work of Squier and Davis, on the Ancient 

 Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, remains the standard treatise on this sub- 

 ject. This was followed by a similar work on the Antiquities of New York, by 

 Mr. Squier; and those of Wisconsin, by Mr. Lapham; of Ohio and of Lake 

 Superior, by IMr. Whittlesey; a Memoir on some Antiquities of Mexico, by Brantz 

 Mayer; and a general introduction to the whole subject of American Archaeology, 

 by Mr. Haven, besides many articles of less extent in one or another of the Smith- 

 sonian series. Several pamphlets of instructions for making observations and 

 collections in this science have also been issued. 



In the department of Philology, also, the Institution has evinced its zeal and 

 activity by the publication, among others, of the elaborate work on the Dakota 

 Language, by Mr. Riggs; that on the Yoruba Language, by Mr. Bowen; and that 

 on the Chinook Jargon, by Mr. Turner and Mr. Gribbs. To Mr. Shea, of New 

 York, who is engaged in the preparation of a library of American languages, 

 annual appropriations from the funds of the Institution have been made in further- 

 ance of the publication of linguistic memoirs furnished by its correspondents. 



Systematic efforts have been directed by the Institution to the collection of as 

 perfect a series as possible of the specimens of American antiquities, and of those 

 illustrative of the habits of the modern native tribes. Already an extensive col- 

 lection has been accumulated, and the preparation and distribution of a series of 

 colored casts of the more interesting specimens of aboriginal art have been com- 

 menced. 



