appendix: elephant pipes and inscribed tablets. ^^^ 



I heartily join with you in the expression of a regret that the dis- 

 cussion of these interesting scientific problems should have become 

 embarrassed by considerations of a /^rjrcwrt;/ nature, and doubtless you 

 would join with me in the further statement that by the introduction of 

 ordinary billingsgate into a serious scientific publication, Mr. Henshaw 

 had fairly exposed himself to the just censure and condemnation of all 

 earnest students of science. 



I read with pleasure and gratification your endorsement of our 

 Academy, and your expressions of confidence in the good faith and 

 integrity of its members, and as this of itself is a condemnation of 

 Mr. Henshaw's methods, it renders any further answer to my inquiries 

 unnecessary. 



Thanking you for your courteous attentions, and craving pardon 



for these tedious intrusions ujion your valuable time, I remain 



A'ery respectfully yours, 



„ r, „ -, Chas. E. Putnam. 



rROF. Spencer F. Baird. 



As no answer was received, this correspondence closed with the 

 above letter. The silence of the distinguished Secretary, it must be 

 acknowledged, is sufficiently significant; and, no doubt, it was unrea- 

 sonable in us, under the circumstances, to expect a more specific re- 

 s[)onse to our inquiry. It is, however, becoming uncomfortably evident 

 to the many friends and admirers of the Smithsonian Institution that 

 its connection with the so-called Bureau of Ethnology is a source of 

 embarrassment and a drag upon its progress; and, among its other re- 

 forms, the present American Congress could do no better work than 

 by promptly severing this entangling alliance, forced upon the Smith- 

 sonian Institution by a former administration. By so doing it would 

 save to the National Treasury an annual expenditure of $40,000.00: 

 it would protect from taint and injury our great scientific institution; it 

 would give greater freedom to archaeological research ; it would purify 

 the cause of science. 



[Pkoo. D. a. N. S., Vol. IV. | :\r [Marcli 12, 188'. 



