The Smithsonian Publications 495 



made. A summary of the contents of these memoirs is made 

 annually by the Secretary in his Report to Congress ; and an 

 "appreciation" of their importance for the advancement of 

 knowledge and of the new truths they contain is found in the 

 various chapters of the second part of this work. All of the 

 volumes of this series have been issued at the expense of 

 the Smithson bequest, without any assistance from Congress, 

 or from any other fund. 



The same statement applies to the third Smithsonian series, 

 which is an octavo series, known as the " Smithsonian Mis- 

 cellaneous Collections," now consisting of thirty-five com- 

 plete volumes with three others in course of publication, 

 making in all thirty-eight. This series, which "is intended to 

 embrace all the publications issued directly in octavo form," 

 was "designed to contain reports on the present state of our 

 knowledge of particular branches of science ; instructions for 

 collecting and digesting facts and materials for research ; 

 lists and synopses of species of the organic and inorganic 

 world ; museum catalogues ; reports of explorations ; aids to 

 bibliographical investigations, etc., generally prepared at the 

 express request of the Institution and at its expense." In the 

 " Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections," as well as in the 

 "Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," each article is 

 separately paged and indexed, and the actual date of its pub- 

 lication is given on the special title-page. 



A considerable proportion of this series is devoted to scien- 

 tific bibliography. When separate publications for the Mu- 

 seum were first established, it was the practice to reprint the 

 "Proceedings" and "Bulletin" in the "Smithsonian Miscellan- 

 eous Collections." It was also the custom, when the scientific 

 societies of Washington were in their infancy, for the Institution 

 to publish the proceedings of these societies, more especially 

 the Philosophical, Anthropological, and Biological, the estab- 

 lishment of all of which societies, it may be said, was directly 



