REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 9 



The eleventh volume of Miscellaneous Collections consists of 789 

 octavo pages, and contains the following articles : 



1. Arrangement of the Families of Mammals, with Analytical Tables. 

 Prepared for the Smithsonian Institution by Theodore Gill, M. D., Ph. D., 

 pp. 104. 



2. Arrangement of the Families of Fishes, or classes Pisces, Marsipo- 

 branchii, and Leptocardii. Prepared for the Smithsonian Institution by 

 Theodore Gill, M. D., Ph. D., pp. 96. 



3. Monographs of the Diptera of North America ; Part III, Ortalidse 

 Family. Prepared for the Smithsonian Institution by H. Loew ; four 

 plates, pp. 376. 



4. Directions for collecting and preserving Insects. Prepared for the 

 use of the Smithsonian Institution by A. S. Packard, jr., M. D., pp. 60. 



5. New Species of North American Coleoptera. Prepared for the 

 Smithsonian Institution by John L. LeConte, M. D. ; Part II, pp. 74. 



6. Classification of the Coleoptera of North America. Prepared for 

 the Smithsonian Institution by John L. LeConte, M. D., pp. 72. 



The twelfth volume of Miscellaneous Collections consists of 767 octavo 

 pages, and contains the following articles : 



1. Eeview of American Birds, in the Museum of the Smithsonian 

 Institution ; Part I. By S. F. Baird, 1864-1872, pp. 484. 



2. The Constants of Nature ; Part I. Specific Gravities ; Boiliug and 

 Melting Points ; and Chemical Formulae. Compiled by F. Wigglesworth 

 Clarke, S. B. December, 1873, pp. 272. 



3. Rules for the Telegraphic Announcements of Astronomical Discov- 

 eries. By Prof. Joseph Henry. April, 1873, pp. 4. 



Since the publication of the 19th volume of Smithsonian Contributions, 

 a memoir, of 32 quarto pages, has been printed and distributed, which 

 will form part of the 20th volume. This is by Prof. S. Newcomb, of the 

 National Observatory, Washington, on the " General Integrals of Plan- 

 etary Motion" — an abstruse mathematical work, of which the nature is 

 indicated in its title. It gives a series of suggestions and new investi- 

 gations relative to the methods of determining the motions of celestial 

 bodies as affected by interplanetary perturbations. It is in part an ex- 

 tension and generalization of two former papers by the same author, 

 the first published in Liouville's Journal, vol. XVI, 1871, and the second 

 in the Comptes-Rendus, vol. LXX V. It was submitted to Prof. H. A. 

 Newton, of Yale College, and Mr. G. W. Hill, of Nyack, N. Y., for criti- 

 cal examination, and received their unqualified approval for publication 

 in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 



Another paper, intended for the twentieth volume of Contributions, 

 which has been printed and distributed during the past year, is by 

 James G. Swan, on the Haidah Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands. 

 It consists of 18 quarto pages, and is illustrated with five pjain and two 

 colored plates, to represent the carved posts or pillars raised in front of 

 the houses of the chiefs, and various tattoo designs copied from the 



