64 EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY.. 



specimens which are sent to us for identification, particularly those 

 of a rare character, are forwarded for examination to persons at a 

 distance, During the past year the insects received, as usual, 

 have been placed in charge of the Entomological Society, of Phila- 

 delphia; the plants have been sent partly to Dr. Torrey, and partly 

 to Dr. Gray, for study and arrangement. The minerals have been trans- 

 mitted to the School of Mines of Columbia College, New York. In all 

 cases the specimens are to be assorted and labelled, the most perfect 

 suite to be returned to the Institution, and the reniainder properly 

 divided into sets for distribution. 



References have also been made during the past year of questions 

 in the line of natural history to Professor G. J. Brush, Isaac Lea, esq, , 

 Dr. Jos. Leidy, A. Agassiz, J. P. Lesley, Dr. Haldeman, Dr. Allen, 

 Thos. Bland, W. G. Binney, G. W. Tryon, jr.. Dr. W.Stimpson, Dr. 

 J. Le Conte, S. H. Scudder, P. R. Uhler, W. H. Edwards, Edw. 

 Norton, E. T. Cresson, and Dr. H. C. Wood, jr. 



It is gratifying to be able to state that in no case has a favor of 

 this kind been refused by any one qualified to render the desired ser- 

 vice ; indeed the time and labor bestowed on the affairs of the Insti- 

 tution by its collaborators might well be a matter of surprise to 

 those who are themselves scarcely influenced by other motives than 

 the pursuit of gain. In this respect the liberalizing tendency of sci- 

 entific studies is strikingly manifest. 



In the winter of 1859-'60 Mr. P. P. Carpenter, a well known con- 

 chologist, who had been requested by the British Association for the 

 Advance of Science to prepare a report on the shells of the northwest 

 coast of America, visited Washington, and was requested to arrange 

 and label the extensive collection of shells of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution, preparatory to the distribution of the duplicates. These con- 

 sisted of the specimens collected by the United States Exploring 

 Expedition, under Captain Wilkes, and other expeditions instituted 

 by government, together with those collected by individuals under 

 the direction of the Institution: 



The work, however, proved far too extensive to be completed by 

 Mr. Carpenter before his return home,and it was therefore concluded 

 to send tlie collection to him in England, where he Avould have an 

 opportunity of performing the work under the more favorable con- 

 dition of comparison with the great collections of that country. The 

 boxes were transported across the Atlantic gratuitously, through the 

 kindness of Sir E. Cunard, passed through the English custom-house 

 without search, and arrived safely at the Warrington Museum, of 



