EEPOET OF THE SECRETARY. 29 



From the government of Belgium : 16 volumes and 3 pamphlets, gov- 

 ernment publications. 



From the Societe de Geographie, Paris : Voyage d'Exploration in In- 

 do-Chine, 1866, 1867, 1868; vols. 1, 2; atlas 1, 2, 1873; folio, and "Bul- 

 letin " for 1873. 



From Mr. William Blackmore, London : Portfolio of photographs of 

 some of the principal objects in the British Museum. 



From Mr. Charles Harrison, London : Chaldean account of the deluge, 

 from terra-cotta tablets found at Nineveh and now in the British Mu- 

 seum. 



Among the donations of special interest during the past year is the pho- 

 tographic album of the museum at Boulaq, Egypt, containing forty folio 

 plates with an explanatory text by Auguste Mariette Bey, printed at 

 Cairo in 1871, and presented to the Institution by the Khedive of Egypt, 

 through the application of Gen. Stone. This museum is situated on 

 the borders of the Mle, near Cairo, and consists of a collection of all the 

 antiquities that have been discovered of late years in Egypt. 



After the immense number of antiquities which have been taken from 

 that country to enrich all the principal museums of the civilized world, 

 it is astonishing to observe how much remains, and how much by the 

 enlightened munificence of the present ruler of Egypt has been preserved. 



Ten of the plates of this album exhibit the statues of the Egyptian 

 gods, nearly four hundred in number. The next division, consisting of 

 seven plates, illustrates the funeral monuments. The next division is 

 that of tbe civil monuments ; these relate to their every-day life, their 

 manners, customs, and arts. The next illustrates the historical remains. 

 The last division is that of the Greek and Eoman monuments. 



Another work of great beauty and interest is that published by Mrs. 

 Caroline E. G. Peale, the widow of Franklin Peale, of Philadelphia, as a 

 memorial of her lamented husband. It consists of a series of beautiful 

 photograph illustrations of specimens of the stone age of the human race, 

 collected and arranged by Mr. Peale himself, with a catalogue and intro- 

 duction, and a reprint of the various communications made by him to 

 the American Philosophical Society. 



This work is a valuable contribution to the ethnology of the United 

 States. The photographs are among the best specimens of the art 

 which have been produced in this country, and exhibit the specimens 

 with such minuteness and fidelity as to serve to the student in archaeol- 

 ogy almost as a complete substitute for the specimens themselves. 

 This work is truly a refined and intellectual tribute by an affectionate 

 wife to the memory of her deceased husband — a tribute far more appro- 

 priate, and far more interesting to the public, than an unattesting mon- 

 ument of marble or of bronze. As human culture advances, the material 

 mementos which only address the eye are replaced by those which are 

 almost purely of an intellectual character. 



