REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 17 



the Laws of Atmospheric Circulation over the Surface of the Earth ; by 

 James Henry Coffin, LL.D., Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy 

 in Lafayette College, Pennsylvania. The tables of this volume were 

 completed after the author's decease, and the maps drawn by Selden 

 Jennings Coffin, professor of mathematics in the same institution. 

 There is added to the work a discussion and analysis of the tables and 

 charts, by Dr. Alexander Woeikof, late secretary of the meteorological 

 committee of the Imperial Geographical Society of Russia. This volume 

 consists of 781 quarto pages, 2 wood-cuts, and 26 plates or charts. We 

 consider it, perhaps, the most important contribution to knowledge 

 which the Institution has given to the world. It presents a rich mine 

 of information for the use of the meteorologist, the physical geographer, 

 and the mariner, thus combining materials of abstract scientific inter- 

 est with knowledge immediately applicable to the practical affairs of life. 

 The tiventy-first volume of Contributions to Knowledge consists of 

 the following articles, viz: 



1. Statement and Exposition of Certain Harmonies of the Solar Sys- 

 tem. By Stephen Alexander, LL. D., Professor of Astronomy in the 

 College of New Jersey. 104 pages, 20 wood-cuts. 



2. On the General Integrals of Planetary Motion. By Simon New- 

 comb, Professor of Mathematics, United States Navy. 40 pages. 



3. The Haidah Indians of Queen Charlotte's Island, British Colum- 

 bia ; with a brief description of their carvings, tattoo designs, &c. By 

 James G. Swan, Port Townsend, Washington Territory. 22 pages, 7 

 plates. 



4. Tables, Distribution, and Variations of the Atmospheric Temper- 

 ature in the United States, and some adjacent parts of America. Col- 

 lected by the Smithsonian Institution, and discussed under the direction 

 of Joseph Henry, Secretary. By Charles A. Schott, Assistant, United 

 States Coast Survey. 360 pages, 9 diagrams, 2 plates, 3 charts. The 

 whole volume consists of 543 pages, and 41 illustrations. 



The work on Temperature, as we have stated in previous reports, con- 

 sists of the results of the discussion of all the existing material which 

 could be collected of observations of temperature in the United States, 

 illustrated with large maps and a number of wood-cuts. It is published 

 separately and also as a part of the series of volumes of " Contributions." 

 The compilation of the materials and their discussion were intrusted 

 to Mr. Charles A. Schott, of the Coast Survey, assisted by a number of 

 computers at the expense of the Smithson fund. 



In previous reports mention has been made of an extensive publica- 

 tion in preparation for the Institution, on the Antiquities of Tennessee, 

 by Dr. Joseph Jones, of the medical department of the University of 

 Louisiana, at New Orleans. Some years ago a small appropriation was 

 made by the Institution to assist this gentleman in his exploration. He 

 pursued his investigations with great ardor and success. In presenting an 

 outline of his explorations he states that an effort was made to accomplish 

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