38 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



father becomes his father, and the brother of his grandfather be- 

 comes also his grandfather. At first Mr. Morgan supposed this 

 peculiar system to be confined to the Iroquois, but subsequent inves- 

 tigation developed the fact that the same system in its complexity 

 and precision is common to all the Indian tribes of North America. 

 It therefore becomes an object of interest to inquire whether the 

 same system exists among the natives of any other country. It is 

 proper to remark that, at the request of the Institution, General 

 Cass, the Secretary of State, has given to this interesting inquiry 

 the official sanction of his Department, and in a letter appended to 

 our circular, has commended it to all the diplomatic agents of the gov- 

 ernment abroad. 



Laboratory. — During the last year the laboratory has been under 

 the direction of Dr. B. F. Craig, of this city, and, as in former years, 

 a considerable number of specimens of the products of different parts 

 of the country have been examined. The policy adopted from the 

 first in regard to examinations of this kind is to furnish a report free 

 of cost to the parties asking for the information, provided it is 

 of general interest and immediately connected with the advance of 

 science, and can be afforded at little expense to the Institution. If, 

 however, the examination is required principally to promote private 

 interests, a charge is made sufficient to cover the expense of the in- 

 vestigation. By the adoption of this policy, the laboratory is kept in 

 operation by means of a small appropriation for chemicals and ap- 

 paratus. 



It may be proper to mention that during the year Dr. Craig has 

 been engaged in investigations, on his own account, in the laboratory ? 

 and that Mr. J. H. Lane has made a series of experiments relative 

 to different points connected with the Atlantic telegraph. 



31agnetic Observatory. — The remaining instruments necessary to 

 complete the equipment of the magnetic observatory established at 

 the joint expense of the Institution and the Coast Survey were re- 

 ceived and put into operation in the early part of the year; but as it 

 has been found that the changes in the direction and intensity of the 

 elements of terrestrial magnetism at Toronto, Philadelphia, and 

 Washington are almost precisely the same, it has been considered 

 that more important service would be rendered to the inquiries now 

 being made in regard to this branch of physics, if the instruments Avere 



