474 The Smithsonian Institution 



tion and publication of its antiquities. It was at the expense 

 of this society that the original researches of Mr. Atwater, on 

 the mounds of the Ohio Valley, were first published; and 

 during the last two years the condition of its funds has again 

 enabled it to take the field, and to direct its attention to the 

 remarkable antiquities in the State of Wisconsin. 



"These antiquities, it is well known, consist of representa- 

 tions, on a gigantic scale, of birds, beasts, and fishes; and 

 though many of them have been surveyed, and accounts of 

 them given in the memoir of Messrs. Squier and Davis, com- 

 paratively few of those which are said to exist have been ex- 

 plored or delineated. For this reason, the council of the 

 society have engaged Mr. I. A. Lapham, an experienced en- 

 gineer, to make the explorations and surveys and drawings 

 of these mounds. He has been engaged in these operations 

 for two seasons, and is now employed in making up an 

 account of his labors. 



"To insure harmony of action in the cultivation of the wide 

 field of research offered in the investigations of the ancient 

 monuments of this country, the Antiquarian Society has 

 agreed to present to the Smithsonian Institution the results 

 of the explorations of Mr. Lapham for publication, and to re- 

 serve its limited funds for further explorations. The me- 

 moirs will be examined and revised by the society, and will 

 be published under its auspices in the Smithsonian Con- 

 tributions. 



"This arrangement is another pleasing evidence of the 

 feeling with which the efforts of this Institution are regarded, 

 and the willingness with which other Institutions cooperate 

 with it in the important work of promoting original know- 

 ledge." 



The results of this exploration were published in the 

 seventh volume of the " Contributions to Knowledge." 



The exploration of California by E. Samuels in 1855 is 

 another interesting example of friendly cooperation, not only 

 on the part of scientific organizations, but of private business 



