794 The Smithsonian Institution 



melting-points, etc. This undertaking would require the 

 cooperation of a number of institutions, but it would neces- 

 sarily consist of many independent parts, any one of which 

 would be of immediate value. 



Recognizing the utility of this suggestion, the Institution 

 began to collect material on several of the topics embraced 

 in the general plan, under the direction of Professors John 

 and Joseph Le Conte, but the outbreak of the Civil War in- 

 terrupted the work. In 1873, however, Frank Wigglesworth 

 Clarke offered a series of "Tables of Specific Gravities, 

 Boiling-points and Melting-points of Bodies," compiled from 

 the best authorities, and this was issued as Part I of the 

 " Constants of Nature " in the same year. Three years later 

 (1876) the same industrious worker published "A Table of 

 Specific Heats for Solids and Liquids," forming Part II of 

 the series named. Other volumes of this valued collection 

 followed : 



Part III, "Table of Expansion by Heat for Solids and 

 Liquids," by F. W. Clarke, 1879. 



" First Supplement to Part I ; Specific Gravities, etc.," 

 1876. 



Part IV, "Atomic Weight Determinations," by George F. 

 Becker, 1880. 



Part V, "Recalculation of Atomic Weights," by F. W. 

 Clarke, 1882. 



Of Part I, a new edition was issued in 1888, and of Part 

 V, a new edition was issued in 1897. 



These works have become invaluable to all scholars and 

 investigators in the physical sciences. 



SMITHSONIAN TABLES 



In connection with the meteorolooical observations conducted 

 by the Institution, Professor Guyot compiled a volume of 



