50 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



sachusetts, in Newfoundland, and in California; and now that atten- 

 tion has been specially directed to the subject, tbey will probably 

 be found and examined in various parts of this continent. 



The occurrence of the Danish shell-heaps, whose history is merged 

 in the twilight of civilization, and those of a similar character in 

 America, show that the early condition of man is everywhere essen- 

 tially the same, w^hile the rude implements which are obtained 

 from them indicate a similarity of wants and an identity of mental 

 characteristics by which these wants are supplied. 



The Institution has given special attention to the collection of 

 specimens to illustrate the archaeology of this country, and now pos- 

 sesses, with those procured by the Exploring Expedition under Cap- 

 tain Wilkes, those obtained from the various expeditions under the 

 auspices of the Institution, and from the Hudson's Bay Company, a 

 more valuable series than any to be found elsewhere in the United 

 States. An effort Avill be made during the present year to properly 

 arrange and fully display them for study. The comparison of the 

 early savage implements in different countries is full of interest. We 

 see from this that what is called the stone age is not a period of 

 absolute time, but a stage of civilization, long past in one portion of 

 the earth, while existing at present in another. 



Meteorology. — It has been aptly said that man is a meteorologist by 

 nature. He is placed in such a state of dependence upon the atmo- 

 spheric elements, that to watch their vicissitudes and to endeavor to 

 anticipate their changes become objects of paramount importance. 

 Indeed the interest in this subject is so absolute that the common 

 salutation among civilized nations is a meteorological wish, and the 

 first introduction to conversation among strangers is a meteorological 

 remark. Yet there is no circumstance which is remembered 

 with so little exactness as the previous condition of the wea- 

 ther, even from week to week. In order that its fluctuations 

 may be preserved as facts of experience, it is necessary that they 

 should be continuously and accurately registered. Again, there is, 

 perhaps, no branch of science relative to which so many obser- 

 vations have been made and so many records accumulated, and 

 yet from which so few general principles have been deduced. This 

 has arisen, first, from the real complexity of the phenomena, or, in 

 other words, from the number of separate causes influencing the pro- 

 duction of the ordinary results; second, from the improper methods 

 which have been pursued in the investigation of the subject, and the 

 amount of labor required in the reduction and discussion of the ob- 



