6 EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



ally the result of investigations to which the Institution has in some 

 way rendered assistance. The Miscellaneous Collections are chiefly 

 composed of works intended to facilitate the study of certain branches of 

 natural history or of meteorology, and are designed especially to induce 

 individuals to engage in studies as specialties, to which in leisure 

 moments their thoughts may recur, and by observations and collections 

 in relation to which they may not only contribute to their own pleasure 

 but, also, advance the cause of science. The Annual Reports are pub- 

 lished at the expense of the Government, with the exception of the 

 illustrations, which are furnished by the Institution. 



During the past year the sixteenth volume of the Smithsonian Con- 

 tributions to Knowledge has been published and distributed. It 

 contains 494 pages, and is illustrated with 73 wood-cuts and 19 

 plates. The several articles contained in this volume, which were also 

 published and distributed separately, are as follows: 



The Gray Substance of the Medulla Oblongata and Trapezium, by 

 John Dean, M. D. 4to, pp. 80. Sixteen plates, five wood-cuts. 



Results of Meteorological Observations made at Brunswick, Maine, 

 between 1801 and 1859, by Parker Cleaveland, LL.D. Reduced and 

 discussed at the expense of the Smithsonian Institution, by Charles A. 

 Schott. 4to, pp. GO. Eight wood-cuts. 



Eesults of Meteorological Observations made at Marietta, Ohio, be- 

 tween 1826 and 1859, inclusive, by S. P. Hildreth, M. D."; to which are 

 added Eesults of Observations taken at Marietta, by Mr. Joseph Wood, 

 between 1817 and 1823. Reduced and discussed by the Smithsouian 

 Institution, by Charles A. Schott. 4to, pp. 52. Fourteen wood-cuts. 



On the Glicldon Mummy Case in the Museum of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, by Charles Pickering. 4to, p. 6. One plate. 



The Orbit and Phenomena of a Meteoric Fire-Bali, seen July 20 

 I860, by Professor James H. Coffin, LL, D. 4to, p. 56. Two plates,' 

 two wood-cuts. 



On the Transatlantic Longitude, by Benjamin Apthorp Gould. 4to, 

 pp. 110. 



The Indians of Cape Flattery, at the entrance to the Strait of Fuca, 

 Washington Territory, by James G. Swan. 4to, pp. 118. Forty-four 

 wood-cuts. 



The Seventeenth volume of Smithsonian Contributions, that for the 

 year 1871, has also been printed, is in the hands of the binder, and will 

 soon be ready for distribution. It consists of a single memoir of G02 

 quarto pages, presenting the result of an elaborate original investigation 

 by Lewis LT. Morgan, esq., of Eochester, New r York, on the ''Systems of 

 Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family." 



This memoir, of which an account has been given in a previous report, 

 was first referred to a commission consisting of Professor J. H. Mcllvaine 

 and Professor William Henry Green, of Princeton, New Jersey, who re- 

 commended its publication, but advised certain changes in the method of 



