4 62 The Smithsonian Institution 



ever since been kept alive. In 1849, a few years after the 

 appearance of the first volume, the Institution evinced its con- 

 tinued interest in this subject by publishing a work by Squier 

 on the antiquities of New York, based on explorations made 

 at the joint expense of the Institution and the Historical 

 Society of New York. 



The same year the Institution lent its aid in the increase 

 of the knowledge of the physical geography of the United 

 States by publishing a treatise on the hydrography of the 

 Ohio River "from actual surveys," written by Charles Ellet, 

 the engineer of the first Niagara suspension-bridge. 



In the direction of botanical explorations, the first aid ren- 

 dered by the Institution took the form of a small appropri- 

 ation for the expense of an expedition to Texas, in 1849, by 

 Charles Wright, under the direction of Asa Gray. The re- 

 sults of this expedition were published in the " Contributions" 

 in 1852 and 1853. * 



Of the collections made at that time Professor Henry re- 

 marked : 



" Specimens of all the plants obtained by Mr. Wright be- 

 long to this Institution ; and these, with sets collected by 

 Fendler and Lindheimer, form the nucleus of an important 

 and authentic North American herbarium." 2 



The sixth volume of the " Contributions," published in 

 1854, contained a paper by Torrey on the botany of Cali- 

 fornia, based on the explorations of Fremont. 



At this early day the Institution also rendered aid to ex- 

 plorations of especial importance to paleontology. In the 

 Report for 1850, Professor Henry remarked: 



" The programme of organization contemplates the insti- 

 tution of researches in Natural History, Geology, etc.; and 



1 Gray, Asa, " Plantse Wrightianae Texano-Neo-Mexicanae." Part I, 1852; part 2, 1853. 

 2 "Smithsonian Report," 1851, page n. 



