JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 185 



lacustrian habitations of Switzerland. Since then these researches have been prose- 

 cuted with success, and we are beginning to make discoveries of remains of the same 

 kind in Wales, Germany, Scotland, and elsewhere. Africa, Asia, and Oceanica pre- 

 sent similar constructions. The floating gardens of Mexico are referable to the same 

 usages, and it would appear to me that you must have in your own lakes remains 

 similar to those of Switzerland. It has seemed to me important that the discoveries 

 of this kind made in Europe should be grouped together in one work, with the histori- 

 cal results which may be deduced from them. You will readily perceive, at the same 

 time, that it is not the history of the race which is alone concerned in these inquiries, 

 but that the natural sciences have also an important interest in them. I would ven- 

 ture, then, to recommend to your favorable attention and to that of your honorable 

 colleagues a labor whose interest is by no means confined to the boundaries of Swit- 

 zerland. 



Be pleased, sir, to accept the assurance of my high esteem and entire consideration. 



FRED. TROYON. 



To the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



Lausanne, January 7, 1862. 



Sir : I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated July 18, 1861, and of 

 a copy of my paper on archaeology, which has appeared translated in the Institution's 

 report to Congress, printed in 1861. It is a great honor which has thus been conferred 

 on my little tract, and I hereby express my sincere thanks for the favor. The trans- 

 lation is, as you remark, rather literal, but it is wonderfully correct, as far as the 

 sense is concerned, and this is the capital point. In due course of time I hope to pub- 

 lish some more papers on the same subject, and I shall not fail to communicate them 

 to the institution. 



The United States are at present going through a crisis which, for the moment, can- 

 not be favorable to scientific pursuits. Let us hope that Providence will so lead 

 matters that the final result shall turn in favor of the great and noble cause of liberty 

 and of progress. Switzerland has seen sad times of intestine discord and of ferment 

 from 1830 to 1847, when a short but decisive civil war settled the question, and now 

 we are enjoying a state of prosperity such as we never knew before. May a similar 

 fate await your own country. 



As you mention that some more copies of my paper might be sent to me, I take the 

 liberty of letting you know that they would be very acceptable. 

 Believe me, sir, to be yours, very respectfully, 



A. MOELOT. 



The Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



St. Paul, Minnesota, August 13, 1861. 



Sir : A friend of mine, Mr. Byron M. Smith, tells me that on the occasion of a 

 short sojourn in Washington last winter he paid a visit to the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, and, amongst other things, understood that there was in preparation, under your 

 authority, a general map of the aboriginal or other earthworks of North America. 



As this is a subject in which I have always taken a great interest, I shall be pleased 

 to assist in the compilation of such a map. If I can be informed by the draughtsman 

 of the scale intended, I will forward a correct geographical outline of the country 

 between Lake Superior (west end of) and the Missouri river. On a map sent to-day 

 by mail, I have marked in red the localities of such groups of small mounds as exist 

 to my knowledge. Although these works are utterly insignificant when compared 

 with those of Ohio and Wisconsin, yet a knowledge of their exact localities may be 

 useful in connection with inquiries in reference to the movements and history of the 

 modern tribes. 



Respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, 



ALFRED J. HILL. 



Prof. Joseph Henry, Washington, D. C. 



Royal Academy of Moral and Political Science of Madrid, 



Madrid, July 16, 1861. 

 This Royal Academy, being impressed with the fact that nothing contributes more 

 efficiently to the advancement and propagation of moral and political science than a 

 frequent communication with persons devoted to its cultivation, has resolved to invite 



