66 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1920. 



proacherl concerning the exchange of publications as soon as condi- 

 tions in that country become more settled. 



Before the war shipments of international exchanges were made to 

 Finland through the Russian exchange commission at Petrograd. 

 Now, that Finland has become an independent State, consignments 

 are being forwarded directly to that country. 



The prompt dispatch of exchange consignments to foreign coun- 

 tries was greatly interfered with during the year owing to railroad 

 freight embargoes and marine strikes. Transportation of boxes to 

 New York was further interrupted owing to the severe winter. Dur- 

 ing the latter part of the year railroad freight became very much 

 congested, especially in the vicinity of New York, which necessitated 

 the placing of a general embargo on all freight. This required the 

 suspension of the Institution's shipments for over a month. The 

 official character of the work carried on by the Exchange Service was 

 brought to the attention of the railroad authorities with the request 

 that a permit be issued granting the Institution permission to for- 

 ward its material to New York for transmission abroad. When the 

 railroad began to exempt certain classes of freight from the embargo, 

 the Institution was given authority to send its consignments. 



The Institution has, in a few cases, rendered aid to various estab- 

 lishments in procuring publications relating to some particular sub- 

 ject in which especial interest was manifested. I may refer to one 

 instance in this connection : The counselor in charge of foreign rela- 

 tions of the municipality of Prague wrote to the American Legation 

 in that city that he wished to establish better cultural and intellectual 

 relations between the University of Prague and the various American 

 universities, and that with that end in view he was desirous of re- 

 ceiving catalogues giving the courses offered by those universities. 

 The counselor also expressed a desire to receive documents concerning 

 the functioning of the governments of American municipalities and 

 their methods of solving economic, social, and political problems. 

 The matter was brought to the attention of the more important 

 American universities and of the governments of the larger cities in 

 this country, from whom considerable material bearing on the subject 

 was received and forwarded to Prague. 



In March, 1920, a letter was received from Dr. S. G. de Vries, 

 director of the Bureau Scientifique Central Neerlandais, Bibliotheque 

 de I'Universite, Leyden, stating that on account of the condition of 

 his health he was unable to retain the management of the Dutch 

 Central Scientific Bureau (the Netherlands Exchange Agency), and 

 that Dr. H. H. E. Roelofs Heyermans, director of the Bibliotheque 

 de 1' Academic Technique, Delft, had succeeded him in the manage- 

 ment of the Dutch bureau. Shipments for the Netherlands are 

 therefore now forwarded to Delft. Dr. de Vries had been head of 



