Mis. No. 48. ' . 17 



fluids of another institution. In accordance with this, an arrangement has 

 been made with the Commissioner of i>atents that the two institutions mav 

 not interfere with each other; and as, at tlie request of Mr. Burke an ap- 

 propriation has been made by Congress for a series of experiments on the 

 above-mentioned subjects, the Smithsonian Institution will, therefore for 

 the present abandon tliis field of research for others less efTectuallv oc- 

 cupied. ■' 



I may also mention in this connexion, that the Smithsonian Institution 

 has been the means of starting an important literary enterprise, intended 



Mr. 

 agent 



-. , . n ■ ' ^» '>^s 



commenced the preparation of a bibliographical work, comprising a de- 

 scription of all books relative to, or published in America piior to the 

 year 1700, and indicating not only the contents and value of the books, 

 but also the principal libraries in this and other countries where they 

 are to be fonnd. The preparation of a work of this kind will be in ac- 

 cordance with that part of our plan Avhicli contemplates rendering the 

 Institution a centre of bibliographical knowledge, and will have a direct 

 influence in promoting the objects of the various historical societies which 

 are now established in almost every State of the Union, and in brino-inc^ 

 the Institution into friendly relations with them. A certificate has been 

 gi^en to Mr. Stevens to the effect that this work, if fl:)und, by a commis- 

 sion to whom it shall be referred, properly executed, will be accepted for 

 publication as part of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledf^e. 

 Assured by this certificate that the work will be properly executed, a 

 number of gentlemen and institutions, whose libraries will be examined and 

 referred to, have liberally subscribed to defray the necessary expense of its 

 preparation. With with this encouragement, Mr. Stevens has started for 

 Europe to commence investigations in foreign libraries. To satisfy our- 

 selves as to the importance of a work of this kind, a circular letter was ad- 

 dressed to a number of individuals distinguished for their knowledge of 

 such subjects, and the answer in nil cases was. highly favorable to the 

 scheme. Some of these answers I have given in the appendix, together 

 with the details of the plan of the work as proposed by Mr. Stevens. — (See 

 appendix A.) 



At the last session of Congress an appropriation of $5,000 was made, on 

 motion of Mr. Stanton, for a series of astronomical observations in the 

 southern hemisphere for the purpose of a new determination of the paral- 

 lax of the planets, and consequently of their distance from the sun by simul- 

 taneous observations on the planets A^enus and Mars, made at places 

 situated north and south of the equator. This appropriation has been 

 found -inadequate to furnish all the instruments required, and inasmuch as 

 the expedition should not be undertaken unless the observers are pro- 

 vided with all the aids which the latest improvements in modern science 

 can furnish, and since, to wait for an additional appropriation from Con- 

 gress would cause the delay of a whole year, Lieut. Gilliss has applied to 

 the Institution to purchase and lend to him an achromaticte lescope, which ^ 

 if not paid for by an additional appropriation from the government, Avill, 

 after its return from the south,.form part of the apparatus of the Institution. 

 'I'his instrument will cost about $2,000, to be paid at the end of three 

 years. The Executive Committee; to whom I applied for counsel on this 

 2 



