REPORT OF THE ACTING SECRETARY. 53 



supervision will lie kept over such sales in the hope of aiding offices and hurenus 

 of the Government whose puhlic-ations may sometimes go astray. 



It has been the practice of the International Exchanges to inclose in each 

 package forwarded through its service a cai-d. properly filled out, to be receipted 

 by the consignee and returned to the Institution. The proper preparation 

 and filing of these cards would require the entire time of one clerk, but on 

 account of the inadequate force it has not been possible to keep a clerk solely 

 engaged on these cards. After careful consideration the conclusion was 

 reached that these receipt cards were not absolutely essential to the records of 

 this office. Acknowledgments of consignments sent abroad are received 

 directly from the various exchange bureaus and agencies, which themselves 

 usually obtain some form of receipt on the delivery of packages to their final 

 destinations, while packages sent to domestic addresses are forwarded by 

 registered mail and an acknowledgment received therefor through the post- 

 office. As these acknowledgments were considered sufficient for the informa- 

 tion of this office, the practice of inclosing receipt cards in packages was, with 

 your approval, abolished on January 1, 1906. Since this change it has been 

 possible not only to keep abreast of the work in the record room, but one of the 

 clerks in that room has from time to time been assigned to duty in other 

 branches of the service. 



Some of the bureaus and others using the exchange service have occasionally 

 in the past included in their transmissions to the Smithsonian Institution 

 packages for addresses outside of the United States. While the Institution 

 has endeavored, in its desire to diffuse knowledge, to send to their destinations 

 all such publications, it was found that the burden was becoming too great 

 to permit of its being continued, and, with your approval, a circular letter 

 was sent out stating that on account of the great increase in the volume of 

 work the Institution would in the future be compelled to limit the use of the 

 exchange service by correspondents abroad solely to the forwarding of pack- 

 ages for addresses in the United States and territory subject to its jurisdiction. 

 While this change will reduce the total number of packages received from 

 abroad, it will not affect the retui'ns to correspondents in this country. 



The International Exchanges was established primarily for the forwarding 

 of books and other printed matter. It has, however, been the practice of the 

 Smithsonian Institution to occasionally gi*ant permission to correspondents 

 to send small packages of specimens for transmission thi-ough the service. 

 Requests for the transmission of specimens have of late become more and 

 more frequent, and, in view of the original intention in the establishment of 

 the Exchanges, it was thought that it would be necessary in order not to 

 divert the use of the moneys received for carrying on the service to refuse 

 altogether to send specimens. However, having in mind the damage likely to 

 occur to such valuable scientific material if transmitted through ordinary 

 channels, it was decided that the Smithsonian Institution, in the interests of 

 science, would continue to forward small packages of specimens, making, at 

 the same time, a charge for such transmissions at the rate of 8 cents per 

 pound for botanical specimens and 5 cents per pound for all others. 



While it is not expected that any appreciable revenue will be derived 

 from this source, the amounts received will refund the Institution for a part 

 of the expenses connected with such consignments. This charge, it should be 

 remarked, is to apply only to correspondents in the United States and ter- 

 ritory subject to its jurisdiction and in those countries where the Institution 

 has its own paid agents. Transmissions of specimens from the Institution 

 are distributed without question by the various exchange bureaus abroad, 



