REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 15 



only an aid to the Institution in passing upon the question of appoint- 

 ment, but tends directly to the personal adyantag-e of the student at 

 Naples, as a summary of such histor}^ is forwarded to Dr. J^ohrn with 

 each notice of appointment. 



EXPLORATIONS. 



While it has never been possible for the Institution to deyoie large 

 amounts from its income for carrying on explorations, it has neyer- 

 theless been able to promote such work in yarious ways, parti(;ularly 

 in connection with the bureaus of the Institution and in cooperation 

 with the Executiye Departments of the Goyernment. The explora- 

 tions haye in these directions had a yery wide range, and haye been 

 productive of a very great increase in the knowledge of the natural 

 history of the regions visited and of the ethnological conditions of 

 the people. 



During the past year the Institution has thus been more or less 

 directly concerned in explorations in various parts of the world, from 

 the arctic regions as far south as Patagonia, and in the distant posses- 

 sions in the Philippines, as well as in South Africa. 



In the pages devoted to the National Museum, the Bureau of Eth- 

 nology, and the Zoological Park the detailed results of explorations 

 are narrated and need not be repeated here- 



PUBLICATIONS. 



Through the publications of the Institution and its bureaus, nuich is 

 done each year in carrying out one of its fundamental objects, the 

 '' diffusion of knowledge." Works covering practicall}^ every branch 

 of human knowledge have been distributed throughout the world to 

 libi'aries and institutions where they may best be available to scholars 

 and to the reading public. 



The Institution itself publishes three established series — the Contri- 

 butions to Knowledge, the Miscellaneous Collections, and the Annual 

 Reports. In the first series, in quarto form, are published original 

 researches in yarious branches of science. The series of Miscellaneous 

 Collections, in the words of Secretary Henry (Smithsonian Report, 1861), 

 "includes works intended to facilitate the study of the various branches 

 of natural history, to give instruction as to the method of observing 

 natural phenomena, and a variety of other matter connected with the 

 l)rogress of science. Although the object of the Institution is not 

 educational, yet in carrying out the general plan it has been thought 

 important in some cases to publish elementary treatises, which will 

 not only furnish an introduction to special subjects to those who have 

 not access to expensive libraries, but also serve to point out the way 

 in which individuals by special studies can not only promote their own 

 enjoyment, but also cooperate with all others engaged in the same 



