8 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 



been enabled to produce results which have made it favorably known in every 

 part of the civilized world. 



As an evidence of the above assertion, the following facts are given in a late 

 report of the Eegents to Congress : 



" The Institution has promoted astronomy, by the aid furnished the researches 

 which led to the discovery of the true orbit of the new planet Neptune, and the 

 determination of the perturbations of this planet, and the other bodies of the 

 solar system, on account of their mutual attraction. It has also aided the same 

 branch of science by furnishing instruments and other facilities to the Chilian 

 Expedition, under Lieutenant Gilliss, and by preparing and publishing an ephe- 

 meris of Neptune, which has been adopted by all the astronomers of the world. 

 It has also published maps, and instructions for the observation of eclipses. It 

 has advanced geography, by providing the scientific traveler with the annual 

 lists of occultations of the principal stars by the moon, for the determination of 

 longitude ; by the preparation of tables for ascertaining heights with the barome- 

 ter; and by the collection and publication of important facts relative to the topo- 

 graphy of different parts of the country, particularly of the Valley of the Missis- 

 sippi. It has established an extended system of meteorology, consisting of a 

 corps of several hundred intelligent observers, who are daily noting the phases of 

 tt e weather in every part of the continent of North America. It has imported 

 standard instruments, constructed hundreds of compared thermometers, barometers, 

 and psychrometers, and has furnished improved tables and directions for observ- 

 ing, with their instruments, the various changes of the atmosphere, as to tempera- 

 ture, pressure, moisture, etc. It has collected, and is collecting, from its observers, 

 an extended series of facts, which are yielding deductions of great interest in regard 

 to the climate of this country, and the meteorology of the globe. 



" The Institution has advanced the science of geology, by its researches and 

 original publications. It has made a preliminary exploration of the remarkable 

 region of the Upper Missouri River called the " Bad Lands," and has published 

 a descriptive memoir on the extraordinary remains which abound in that locality. 

 It has assisted in explorations relative to the distribution in this country of the 

 remains of microscopic animals found in immense quantities in different parts of 

 the United States. It has made important contributions to Lotany, by means of 

 the published results of explorations in Texas, New Mexico, and California, and 

 by the preparation and publication of an extended memoir, illustrated with col- 

 ored engravings, on the sea-plants of the coast of North America. It has pub- 

 lished several important original papers on physiology, comparative anatomy, 

 zoology, and different branches of descriptive natural history ; and has prepared 

 and printed, for distribution to travelers and others, a series of directions for col- 

 lecting and preserving specimens. It has advanced terrestrial magnetism, by fur- 

 nishing instruments for determining the elements of the magnetic force, to 



