The Smithsonian Publications 4 8 7 



As early as 1849, Professor Henry designed that the annual 

 Reports should "give an account of the progress of the differ- 

 ent branches of knowledge in every part of the world." He 

 called attention to the fact that the first reports of this 

 sort were due to the Emperor Napoleon, who directed the 

 French Academy "to present him with accounts of the pro- 

 gress of the different branches of knowledge." Reports on 

 special departments of science, which had already been pub- 

 lished abroad, were translated into English and printed under 

 this plan ; and reports on the state of knowledge in a few 

 fields were especially prepared for the Institution. 



The plan, however, of having annual reports especially 

 prepared for the Institution, covering nearly all the branches 

 of science, was not carried out until Professor Baird became 

 Secretary. He had edited for the firm of Harper & Brothers 

 "The Annual Record of Science and Industry," from 1871 to 

 1878; and in the Report for 1880 there was begun a series 

 entitled " Record of Scientific Progress." The object of the 

 general appendix was there stated to be "To furnish sum- 

 maries of scientific discovery in particular directions ; occa- 

 sional reports of the investigations made by collaborators of 

 the Institution ; memoirs of a general character, or on special 

 topics, whether original and prepared expressly for the pur- 

 pose, or selected from foreign journals and proceedings ; and 

 briefly to present (as fully as space will permit) such papers 

 not published in the 'Smithsonian Contributions' or in the 

 ' Miscellaneous Collections ' as may be supposed to be of 

 interest or value to the numerous correspondents of the 

 Institution." 



Under this plan, reports of the progress of science were 

 given in astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry, mineralogy, 

 botany, zoology, anthropology, meteorology, vulcanology, 

 seismology, North American invertebrate paleontology, and 



