716 The Smithsonian Institution 



and among these were the ones subsequently modified to ap- 

 pear in the privately published volumes on the mammals and 

 birds. A like work was intended for the reptiles, and forty- 

 four plates appeared in the United States Pacific Railroad 

 Report, and forty-one in the United States and Mexican 

 Boundary Report, but the increasing duties devolved on Pro- 

 fessor Baird prevented its accomplishment. 



The expeditions thus referred to have been specifically 

 mentioned because they were the first provided for in ac- 

 cordance with a new policy, and through them the general 

 peculiarities of the countries traversed were first made known. 

 Innumerable minor expeditions were subsequently sent out, 

 but few were accompanied by naturalists or reported upon by 

 experts connected with the Institution. A noteworthy vol- 

 ume was Simpson's " Report of Explorations Across the 

 Great Basin of the Territory of Utah in 1859," but not 

 published till 1876. The various geological surveys may 

 also be referred to in this connection. 



After the civil war four independent geological surveys 

 were organized within a short time of each other, and 

 became for a time contemporaneous. These were (i) the 

 " United States Geological Survey of the Territories," ini- 

 tiated in 1867 through the efforts of Ferdinand V. Hayden ; 

 (2) the " Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel," 

 under the leadership of Clarence King (also legislated into 

 existence in 1867); (3) the second division of the "United 

 States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Terri- 

 tories," organized by John W. Powell in 1870; and (4) 

 the " United States Geographical Survey West of the One 

 Hundredth Meridian," conducted by George M. Wheeler 

 of the United States Engineers, established in 1871. The 

 heads of all these organizations interested themselves more or 

 less with zoological investigations, and cooperated with the 



