The International Exchange System 4 J 7 



from foreign countries and distributed to institutions and 

 individuals in the United States from 1886 to 1895 bor- 

 dered upon 344,078, being almost equivalent to the activity 

 of the previous forty years, and fully justifying the treaties 

 made by the United States and the expenditure incurred. 

 It should be noted, however, that the return to this coun- 

 try from foreign countries is by no means equivalent 

 to the quantity sent abroad, since during the same period 

 601,637 titles were sent by the government, by institutions, 

 and by individuals of the United States for foreign distribu- 

 tion. The list by States is most instructive. In the ship- 

 ment abroad the District of Columbia naturally leads, the 

 older States with many institutions heading the list. Massa- 

 chusetts stands first, New York second, Pennsylvania third, 

 and Connecticut fourth. It is a matter to be noted, and one 

 in every way commendable to the scientific activity of the 

 great State on the Pacific Coast, that California stands fifth 

 in this list, being closely followed by Illinois; Missouri fol- 

 lows, Maryland stands next, being followed successively by 

 Ohio and Wisconsin. The returns are even more instruct- 

 ive ; and, strangely enough, the order in returns does not 

 agree with the order in the amount of sending. In this 

 second list the District of Columbia, as before, leads, Penn- 

 sylvania following, succeeded by New York, Massachusetts, 

 California, Missouri, Minnesota, Maryland, Wisconsin, and 

 Connecticut. 



Without entering into the detail of the clerical work of the 

 office, it will be sufficient to say that a ledger account is kept 

 with each individual or institution from which a package is 

 received in the Exchange Office, or to which a package is 

 sent, the record identifying the sender as well as the receiver. 

 To facilitate this work and abbreviate the records, there was 

 compiled and published in 1862 a list of foreign addresses, 



