The United States National Museum 365 



limitations, which are soon felt. Few institutions carry large 

 quantities of surplus material, and none, of course, dispose 

 of their most precious possessions. Exchange, therefore, 

 takes the place of purchase only to a limited extent. 



The Smithsonian Institution has carried on the distribution 

 of surplus specimens from its own collections as a part of its 

 regular activities, having for their object the diffusion of 

 knowledge. The government has shown its acquiescence in 

 this policy, so far as the national collections are concerned, 

 by several enactments making appropriations for the work, 

 and in other ways. 



In 1878 the Museum began the publication of a scientific 

 journal, which has become well known to the world of science 

 under the name of " Proceedings of the United States 

 National Museum." The object of this journal, as indicated 

 in the "advertisement" inserted in the volumes, is "the 

 prompt publication of freshly acquired facts relating to 

 biology, anthropology, and geology ; descriptions of re- 

 stricted groups of animals and plants ; the settlement of par- 

 ticular questions relative to the synonymy of species, and the 

 diaries of minor expeditions." Eighteen volumes had been 

 published to the close of 1895, containing in all no fewer than 

 uoo papers, comprising 12,056 printed pages. All the 

 papers relate directly or indirectly to the collections of the 

 Museum and serve to make them known to specialists. The 

 volumes include * a large share of the scientific publications 

 of the curators of the Museum, whose investigations have 

 very naturally been based for the most part on the collections 

 under their care. The "Proceedings" is a great store- 

 house of facts relating to natural history, and especially in 



1 With the " Bulletins " to be mentioned presently. 

 24* 



