Influence of the Smithsonian Institution 819 



that of Harvard College, with 84,200 volumes. In 1891 there 

 were 98 such libraries, and 30 of these had 100,000 volumes 

 and upward. 



To the growth of many of such libraries the Smithsonian 

 Institution has largely contributed directly by supplying them 

 with its own publications and with books obtained through its 

 system of international exchange, and indirectly through the 

 stimulus which it has given to bibliographical work and to 

 the publications of societies. 



When it undertook this work, the wisdom and foresight of 

 the organization was shown by the fact that many of the 

 library methods which have become prominent were fore- 

 shadowed in the first report of the Institution. 



Soon after the organization of the Institution it undertook 

 to create and maintain a system of international exchange be- 

 tween the scientific and literary societies of the United States 

 and those in other parts of the world. Prior to 1850 ex- 

 changes between such societies were made difficult, in part by 

 the ignorance of some of them with regard to the existence 

 and publications of others ; in part by the custom-house re- 

 quirements of different countries, which often caused great 

 delay and considerable expense ; and in part by the fact that 

 each society had to provide its own agents and the means of 

 transmitting its own documents and packages. Through the 

 influence of the Smithsonian Institution and its agents in 

 other countries most of the custom-house difficulties were 

 done away with. The need on the part of individual societies 

 of supplying agents disappeared, and by the publication of 

 lists of correspondents and lists of publications of learned 

 societies and of periodicals received, the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion furnished libraries and associations with information as 

 to their deficiencies, and with data as to the channels through 

 which desiderata might be obtained. 



