478 The Smithsonian Institution 



have cooperated extensively with the Institution in explor- 

 ing the national domain, and there is hardly a department or 

 a bureau of the government whose operations include field 

 work which has not at some time joined with the Institution 

 in investigations. The good offices of the State Department, 

 the Navy Department, the Weather Bureau, the Life-saving 

 Service, the Lighthouse Board, the Land Office, the Indian 

 Bureau, and the Bureau of Education, come at once to mind 

 in this connection. In 1864, Professor Henry wrote in his 

 Report : 



" In addition to the collections which have been received 

 from explorations organized under the direction of the Insti- 

 tution, large numbers of duplicate specimens have been pre- 

 sented by the meteorological observers and other Smithso- 

 nian collaborators, the whole forming a body of material for 

 the illustration and study of the products of the American 

 continent unequalled by any collection previously made. 

 The explorations, however, as might be inferred, have not 

 been confined to the collecting of specimens, but have also 

 furnished information relative to the topography, geology, 

 physical geography, ethnology, and the living fauna of the 

 regions visited." 1 



Though the explorations in which the Institution has in- 

 terested itself have centered chiefly in North America, its 

 influence has also extended to other parts of the world. As 

 an example may be cited the survey of Yucatan. This was 

 undertaken by Governor Salazar y Ilarregui in 1865, who, 

 upon the recommendation of the Institution, appointed 

 Doctor Arthur Schott to take charge of natural history 

 operations. 2 



The same year an exploration of British Honduras was 

 undertaken by Doctor H. Berendt, under the auspices of the 

 Institution. 



l " Smithsonian Report," 1864, page 50. ^Ibidem, 1865, page 62. 



