THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 33 



come of the Smithsonian Institution. Each memoir is printed separately, and 

 with a separate title and paging, so that it can be distributed to persons most in- 

 terested in its perusal as soon as it comes from the press, without waiting for the 

 completion of the volume to which it belongs. In this way the author is enabled 

 to present a full account of his discoveries to the world, with the least possible 

 delay ; while, by the rules of the Institution, he is allowed to publish an abstract 

 of his paper in the proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, or in those of any properly organized society. The number of copies 

 of the Smithsonian publications distributed is greater than that of the transactions 

 of any scientific or literary society ; and, therefore, the Institution offers the best 

 medium to be found for diffusing a knowledge of scientific discoveries. Every 

 memoir published is issued with the stamp of approval of a commission of compe- 

 tent judges ; and, in order to secure a cautious and candid opinion, the name of 

 the author, and those of the examiners are not made known to each other unless 

 a favorable report is given ; and in this case, the names of the commission are 

 printed, as vouchers for the character of the memoir, on the reverse of the title 

 page. This plan secures an untrammeled expression of opinion, while it induces 

 caution on account of the responsibility which it involves. 



RULES OF DISTRIBUTION. 

 The following rules have been adopted for the distribution of the quarto vol- 

 umes of the Smithsonian Institution : 



1. They are to be presented to all learned societies which publish transactions, 

 and give copies of these in exchange to the Institution. 



2. To all foreign libraries of the first class, provided they give in exchange their 

 catalogues or other publications, or an equivalent in their duplicate volumes. 



3. To all the colleges in actual operation in this country, provided they furnish 

 in return, meteorological observations, catalogues of their libraries and their stu- 

 dents, and all other publications issued by them relative to their organization and 

 history. 



4. To all States and Territories, provided there be given, in return, copies of 

 all documents published under their authority. 



5. To all incorporated public libraries in this country, not included in any of 

 the foregoing classes, containing more than 7000 volumes ; and to smaller libra- 

 ries, where a whole State or large district would be otherwise unsupplied. 



6. Separate memoirs are sometimes presented to minor institutions. 



6oiri^e,3poi]c)eif)ce. 



There is one part of the Smithsonian operations that attracts no public atten- 

 tion, though it is producing, it is believed, important results in the way of diffusing 

 knowledge, and is attended, perhaps, with more labor than any other part. This 

 is the scientific correspondence of the Institution. Scarcely a day passes in which 

 communications are not received from persons in different parts of the country, 

 containing accounts of discoveries, which are referred to the Institution, or asking 



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