THE INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE 

 SYSTEM 



BY WILLIAM CRAWFORD WINLOCK 



"diffusion of knowledge," which, next to 

 its " increase," was so prominently in the 

 mind of the founder of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, was provided for in the program of 

 organization, submitted by Professor Henry 

 to the Board of Regents in 1847, by a system of publica- 

 tions and their exchange 1 and distribution throughout the 

 world. 



In his report for 1851 Professor Henry describes the ex- 

 change system, organized for the purpose of distributing the 

 first volume of the Institution's publications, as an extension 

 of a system which had then been in operation, on a small 

 scale, for nearly half a century between the American Philo- 

 sophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and 

 Sciences on this side of the Atlantic, and several scientific 

 societies abroad. While the Smithsonian Institution ex- 

 changes had no direct connection with those established 



1 Reference should be made to a " History 

 of the Smithsonian Exchanges," by George 

 H. Boehmer, printed in the " Smithsonian Re- 

 port" for 1881. Mr. Boehmer had also pre- 

 pared the manuscript for a more complete 



26* 397 



history of the exchange service with copies 

 of official documents relating to its develop- 

 ment. This manuscript has been consulted 

 in the preparation of the following brief ac- 

 count of the exchanges. 



