JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 107 



science, by furnishing instruments and other facilities to the Chilian expedition, under 

 Lieutenant Gillis ; and by preparing and publishing an ephemeris of Neptune, which 

 has been adopted by all the astronomers of the world. 



" It has advanced geography, by providing the scientific traveler with annual lists 

 of the occultations of the principal stars, by the moon, for the determination of long- 

 itude ; by the preparation of tables for ascertaining heights with the barometer ; and 

 by the collection and publication of important facts relative to the topography of dif- 

 ferent parts of the country, particularly of the valley of the Mississippi. 



" It has established an extended system of meteorology, consisting of a corps of 

 several hundred intelligent observers, who are daily noting the phases of the weather 

 in every part of the continent of North America. It has imported standard instru- 

 ments, constructed hundreds of compared thermometers, barometers, and psych rom- 

 eters, and has furnished improved tables and directions for observing with these 

 instruments the various changes of the atmosphere, as to temperature, pressure, mois- 

 ture, &c. It has collected, and is collecting, from its observers, an extended series of 

 facts which are yielding deductions of great interest in regard to the climate of this 

 country and the meteorology of the globe. 



" The institution has advanced the science of geology, by its researches and original 

 publications. It has made a preliminary exploration of the remarkable region on the 

 Upper Missouri river, called the Bad Lands, and is now printing a descriptive memoir 

 on the extraordinary remains which abound in that locality. It has assisted in explo- 

 rations relative to the distribution in this country of the remains of microscopic ani- 

 mals found in immense quantities in different parts of the United States. 



" It has made important contributions to botany, by means of the published results 

 of explorations in Texas, New Mexico, and California ; and by the preparation and 

 publication of an extended memoir, illustrated with colored engravings, on the sea- 

 plants of the coast of North America. 



" It has published several important original papers on physiology, comparative 

 anatomy, zoology, and different branches of descriptive natural history ; and has 

 prepared and printed, for distribution to travelers, a series of directions for collecting 

 and preserving specimens. 



"It has advanced terrestrial magnetism, by furnishing instruments for determining 

 the elements of the magnetic force to various exploring expeditions ; and by publish- 

 ing the results of observations made under its direction at the expense of the Govern- 

 ment. 



" It has collected and published the statistics of the libraries of the United States ; 

 and perfected a plan of stereotyping catalogues, which will render effective, as a com- 

 bined whole, all the scattered libraries of the country. 



"The institution has also been instrumental in directing attention to American 

 antiquities, and has awakened such an interest in the subject as will tend to the col- 

 lection and study of all the facts which can be gathered relative to the ancient inhab- 

 itants of this continent. It has also rendered available, for the purposes of the eth- 

 nologist and philanthropist, the labors of our missionaries among the Dakotas, by 

 publishing a volume on the language of this tribe of Indians ; and has done good 

 service to comparative philology by the distribution of directions for collecting Indian 

 vocabularies. 



" It has established an extended system of literary and scientific exchanges, both 

 foreign and domestic, and annually transmits, between the most distant societies and 

 individuals, hundreds of packages of valuable works. It has presented its own pub- 

 lications, free of expense, to all the first-class libraries of the world, and thus rendered 

 them accessible, as far as possible, to all persons who are interested in their study. 

 No restriction of copyright has been placed on their republication ; and the truths 

 which they contain are daily finding their way to the general public, through the 

 labors of popular writers and teachers. The distribution of its publications and its 

 system of exchanges has served not only to advance and diffuse knowledge, but also 

 to increase the reputation, and consequently the influence, of our country ; to pro- 

 mote a kindly and sympathetic feeling between the New World and the Old — alike 

 grateful to the philosopher and the philanthropist. 



" These are the fruits of what is called the system of active operations of the insti- 

 tution, and its power to produce other and continuous results is only limited by the 

 Amount of the income which can be appropriated to it, since each succeeding year has 

 presented new and important fields for its cultivation. All the anticipations indulged 

 with regard to it have been fully realized ; and, after an experience of six years, 

 there can now be no doubt of the true policy of the Eegents in regard to it." 



Reports of a more popular character have been published, or are in preparation, 



