REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 127 



York; Jena; Kiel; Leipzig; Liege; Lou vain; Lund; Marburg; Philadel- 

 phia, Pennsylvania; Rostock; Strasburg; Toulouse; Tubingen; Utrecht; 

 Wurzburg; and Zurich. 



A small but valuable collection is gradually being formed at the National 

 Zoological Park, and two sectional libraries are maintained in the Institu- 

 tion in addition to those already alluded to, Aerodromics and Law Refer- 

 ence. 



The circulating library established in 1898 for the employees of the Insti- 

 tution lias continued to be used, to the pleasure and profit of the staff, ami 

 now contains about 1,280 volumes. During the year 2,515 volumes were 

 borrowed by 105 persons. The rooms occupied by this small collection 

 have been rendered more attractive. 



In continuance of the policy of increasing the library by exchange and 

 tilling in incomplete sets, 919 letters were written for new exchanges and 

 for completing series already in the library; 293 new periodicals were 

 added to the list; 460 defective series were either completed or partly com- 

 pleted, according to the publishers' ability to supply the numbers requested. 

 About 1,500 letters were received, which are filed in jackets on which a 

 synopsis of the letters is given. A card catalogue of the correspondence 

 is kept for reference. Orders are issued for the Smithsonion publications 

 sent in exchange for the publications received; when single numbers are 

 reported as missing postal cards are forwarded requesting that they be sup- 

 plied; corresponding postal cards are sent as acknowledgments of receipts; 

 about 200 were asked for and 150 supplied. 



Lists and cards have been received from the Library of Congress since 

 November, 1900, indicating the volumes which are needed to complete the 

 sets in the Smithsonian deposit in the Library. These lists and cards are 

 copied and kept permanently, while the originals are returned with notes 

 stating what action has been taken. 



The items which have been acted on show a very satisfactory result; 

 the books in these cases which are received in compliance witli requests 

 are transmitted directly to the office of the Smithsonian deposit at the 

 Library of Congress, marked "To complete Smithsonian sets." 



The great activity of the large force at the Library of Congress in the 

 various departments that have directly to do with the Smithsonian deposit 

 has kept the Library force here exceedingly busy. Very great good is 

 resulting from this activity, but much better results could be had if addi- 

 tional assistance were at my disposal, specifically for attending to the 

 matters of mutual interest to the Library of Congress and the Institution. 



Numerous transfers have been made from the Smithsonian deposit to 

 the main collections of the Library and vice versa in the interest of com- 

 pletion of sets under a single ownership, such changes being made on the 

 general principle that the Institution's collection shall consist primarily of 

 periodicals and transactions of learned societies, whilst the Library of 

 Congress should possess as complete tiles as possible of all publications 

 issued by Government, whether Federal, State, or municipal, both 

 domestic and foreign. 



The third conference on the International Catalogue of Scientific Litera- 

 ture reached the conclusion that the Catalogue would be undertaken if 



