EEPOET OF THE SECEETAEY. 13 



These papers have all been described in previous reports, and, with 

 the exception of the last, that on Temperatures, have been distributed 

 separately to individuals and institutions especially interested in the 

 subjects to which they relate. 



The publication of the Antiquities of Tennessee, mentioned in pre- 

 vious reports, has been deferred in order to give the author an opportu- 

 nity of revising the work and abridging it by omitting a large amount 

 of bibliographical matter which could scarcely be published under the 

 title of contributions to knowledge, since it is already in print. The 

 illustrations, however, for the work have been engraved, and it will be 

 put to press as soon as the revision is completed. 



The engravings for the work on Lucernaria, by the late Prof. H. 

 J. Clark, have been completed, with the exception of one plate, which 

 was so badly executed that it was thought necessary to reject it. As 

 soon as this is satisfactorily engraved, the work will be put to press and 

 will form a part of the Contributions to Knowledge of the next year. 



In the report for 1872 is given an account of a series of investigations 

 then in progress in regard to the Tides. Beside the labor expended in 

 this work in the line of higher mathematics, it involved arithmetical 

 computations of a very laborious character, the expense of which was to 

 be defrayed by the Institution. This work has been found of so much 

 practical importance that it has been adopted as a part of the investi- 

 gations of the Coast Survey. In this case, as in many others, the Insti- 

 tution has inaugurated valuable investigations, which have subsequently 

 been carried on by other means. This is in accordance with the estab- 

 lished usages of the Institution, to do nothing with its funds which can 

 be equally well done through ether agencies. 



Of the octavo series or "Miscellaneous Collections," the Monograph of 

 American Wasps, prepared by Professor de Saussnre, of Geneva, Switz- 

 erland, has been completed and is nearly ready for distribution. A full 

 account of it has been given in previous reports. It forms an octavo of 

 408 pages, and will doubtless be considered a valuable addition to the 

 sources of knowledge of the natural history of this country. 



Another number of the series of Miscellaneous Collections, published 

 during the past year, is a Catalogue of the Fishes of the East Coast of 

 North America. By Br. Theodore Gill. It was prepared and pub- 

 ished at first as an appendix to the report of the United States Com- 

 missioner of Fish and Fisheries for 1871-'72j but, on account of the many 

 calls for it, and the fact that the work was prepared at the Institution, 

 and the copies of the Government edition having been exhausted, it was 

 thought advisable to strike off a new edition from the stereotype plates 

 and incorporate it in the series of Miscellaneous Collections. It forms 

 an octavo pamphlet of 54 pages. 



The Botanical Index, a work mentioned in previous reports, is still in 

 the course of preparation. It will be of much importance in enabling 

 the botanist to find, amid the various reports of surveys made under the 



