66 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



the United States and foreign countries. Many other requests of 

 similar nature have been received from correspondents in this country 

 and abroad. 



The Institution continues to assist the Library of Congress in com- 

 pleting its collections of foreign governmental documents. 



Mention Avas made last year of the fact that packages containing 

 scientific and literary publications received from establishments and 

 individuals in the United States for transmission through the Ex- 

 change Service to miscellaneous addresses in the various Provinces of 

 the Union of South Africa were forwarded to certain governmental 

 establishments in those Provinces for distribution, and that the Gov- 

 ernment of the Union had been approached with a view to having 

 only one agency for the entire Union. It is now gratifying to state 

 that this request has been complied with, the Government Printing 

 Works at Pretoria having been designated to carry on the exchange 

 work. Packages received in the future for addresses in any of the 

 Provinces of the Union will therefore be transmitted to the Govern- 

 ment Printing Works for distribution. This change will effect a 

 saving to the Institution in freight charges, and will also, I have no 

 doubt, improve the service with South Africa. If a similar arrange- 

 ment could be made with the Commonwealth of Australia it would 

 have decided advantages over the present method of forwarding con- 

 signments to six different addresses in that Commonwealth for dis- 

 tribution. The matter is now being considered by the Speaker of the 

 House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, who is 

 also chairman of the library committee. The Institution has brought 

 to the attention of that official the advantages to be derived from 

 having one central exchange agency in Australia and has urged him 

 to use his best endeavors to have the matter favorably considered by 

 his Government. 



The Egyptian Exchange Agency has been transferred from the 

 Egyptian Survey Department to the newly formed Government Pub- 

 lications Department, consignments for distribution in that country 

 now being forwarded in care of the Superintendent of the Govern- 

 ment Publications Office, Printing Department, Cairo. It should be 

 stated as a matter of record in this connection that the businesslike 

 basis upon which the exchange service between Egypt and the United 

 States has been placed during the Survey Department's five years' 

 connection therewith has resulted in the prompt delivery of packages 

 to correspondents in both countries. 



A circular was received during the year from the Republic of 

 Mexico, stating that a Service of Exchanges had been established in 

 the Department of Public Works. 



Of the 2,587 boxes used in forwarding exchanges to foreign bu- 

 reaus and agencies for distribution (an increase of 192 over 1912), 



