60 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



By these remarks I do not intend to disparage the value of public 

 museums; so far from this, I can freely say that I consider them of 

 great importance as a means of intellectual improvement, of rational 

 enjoyment, and as receptacles of interesting materials for the use of 

 the student in any branch of learning. By the foregoing remarks I 

 merely wish to urge the fact that an establishment of this kind, 

 worthy of the seat of government of the United States, can only be 

 supported by appropriations from Congress, and to express the 

 opinion that so large an expenditure in the imperfect attempt to 

 found a museum by means of the Smithson bequest will in time be 

 abandoned, and the whole of the income devoted to the more cosmo- 

 politan objects of the Institution. 



In the last report a general account is given of what has been 

 done by the Institution towards forming such collections, and 

 during the past year this portion of the general operations has been 

 carried on with unabated success. Although it might appear that 

 the older settled portions of the country had been thoroughly laid 

 under contribution, yet new questions are continually arising, and 

 attention is devoted to less obvious features, as the subject of natural 

 history is more minutely pursued. But still there are vast portions 

 even of the United States which remain in a considerable degree un- 

 explored. In the eastern portion the explorations in 1865, under 

 the auspices of the Institution, have been chiefly confined to the col- 

 lection of materials for the illustration of the work on North Amer- 

 ican Oology, in preparation by Dr. Brewer. In the west, the labors 

 interrupted by the death of the lamented Captain Feilner have been 

 resumed, under the direction of General Sully, in the neighborhood 

 of Devil' s lake, Dakota. From Idaho, collections made by Dr.Hitz have 

 been received, and from Arizona the valuable series collected by As- 

 sistant Surgeon Coues. The latter consist of mammals, birds, rep- 

 tiles, insects, and plants. Doctor Coues has also made miuute notes 

 on the habits and peculiarities of the animals of the region explored, 

 and is now engaged upon a report of the results of his labors. 



It has been frequently stated in previous reports that the Institu- 

 tion has entered into friendly relations with the officers of the Hud- 

 son's Bay Company, and, from the active co-operation which has taken 

 place, large collections of interesting specimens relative to the nat- 

 ural history of the country, valuable meteorological observations, and 

 ethnological records have been derived. 



In March last the Institution received upwards of thirty large cases 

 from this source, containing immense numbers of specimens illustra- 



