354 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891. 



esting living plantt^, brought home also by the expeditoii, which has since received 

 several additions in retnru for seeds distributed from the same source; also a few 

 donations of other plants from various quarters. For their preservation a green- 

 house 50 feet long, and partitioned into two apartments, has bcM-n erected on the lot 

 behind the Patent Office. The number of species in culti\ ation amounts to 500, and, 

 with duplicates of the same, there are about 1,100 plants in pots, over and above 

 those now cdniing up from seeils. As it is expected that dimaticms will frequently 

 be made, aiitl as tlic plants we ni>w iiave will l»c increasing in size, the present house 

 by another year Avill hardly sulliee to contain them. The ])ro])riety also of liaving 

 a lot of ground fenced in where tliese plants ((.iilil lie s<-l out during the summer 

 months, and whic^h could also lit^ used for the raising of ornauu-utal trees, shrubs, 

 and other hanly plants, which may come into the ]M)sse8si()n of the Institute, is 

 strongly urged. The meagerness of our jjarterres and shruhlx-ricK e\ idently siiows 

 that additions are wanting for ornamental gardening. 



It would also be a receptacle for proving all samples of fruits, llowers, and escu- 

 lents that may from time to time be presented to the Institute, there being, so far as 

 I am aware, no public estal)lishment of the kind in existence in the Union. Officers 

 of our Navy and consuls residing in foreign countries might do a great deal in intro- 

 ducing fruits, vegetables, and dowers ; and whenever it is known that sucl. an estab- 

 lishment exists, there is every reason to anticipate donations, where the 3ountry in 

 "■eneral is to be benefited by such an enlightened and commendable scheme. A nu- 

 cleus once formed, with a gradiuil accumulation of stock and a steady iierserverance 

 in its support and furtherance, we nught, at some not \ev\ distant day, vie Avith the 

 most celebrated establishments of the same kind in Europe. The progress of the 

 benefit to be expected must be, like the undertaking, slow but sure, and the effects 

 will soon become evident to every enlightened citizen. 



The following is a list of plants, or number of species in the herbarium, collected 

 at the various ]>laces visited by the expedition : 



Madeira 300 Low Coral Islands ( in all) 27 



Cape de A'erde Islands 60 Sandwich Islands 883 



Brazil 989 Oregon country 1, 218 



Patagonia (Rio Negro) 150 California 519 



Terra del Fuego 220 i Manila 381 



Singapore 80 



Mindanao 102 



Tulu Islands 58 



Mangsi Islands 80 



Cape of Good 1 lope 330 



St. Helena 20 



Chile and Chilean Andes 442 



Peru and Peruvian Andes 820 



Tahiti 288 



Samoa, or Navigator Islands 457 



New Holland 789 



New Zealand 398 



Lord Atickland Island 50 



Tougatabu -36 'f t)tal number of six'cies 9, 674 



Fiji Islands 7SH 



The number of seeds brought and sent home by the expedition amounted to 684 

 species, the most of which have been sent all over the country. Several cases of live 

 plants were also sent home, of the existence of which there are no traces. The live 

 plants brought home by the Sipiadron amounted to 254 species, and these now form 

 part of the greenhouse collection. 



\Vm. 1). Hkackenkidgk. 



NOVEMHKl!. 1S42. 



RBPORT OF MR. DANA. 



The inadequacy of the space in the hall of the Patent Office at present allotted for 

 the departments of geology and mineralogy, beconu's daily more obvious, as the ex- 

 tent of our collections is better known. The spacious hall is a noble one for the 



