20 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



tion. constituting the first volume of the " Smithsonian Contributions 

 to Knowledge," was the work of Squier and Davis on the ancient 

 monuments of the Mississippi Valley ; and to this the inquiries of the 

 past third of a century into the early history of man in the Northwest 

 owe their chief impetus. The book is a universal guide, and is even now 

 a standard. The edition at the command of the Institution has long 

 since been exhausted, and it has been proposed to republish it to meet 

 the urgent calls of the public. Unfortunately, the destruction of the 

 wood-cuts by the fire of 1865 would render the cost of reproducing them 

 so great as to make it doubtful whether it would not be better to use the 

 money that would be needed for it in the preparation of a more ex- 

 tended work on the same subject, which has been in contemplation by 

 the Institution for several years past. 



In the list of publications of the year is mentioned an archaeological 

 circular, prepared by Professor Mason, and distributed in very large 

 numbers. The object of this has been to secure information of the 

 minutest details in reference to the construction of mounds, earthworks, 

 and other traces of aboriginal engineering, as well as of articles of every 

 desertion and character found in the mounds, in the graves, and in 

 the superficial soil. 



The answers to this circular have been unexpectedly abundant and 

 varied, and a great mass of material is now in the possession of the In- 

 stitution and in process of elaboration. The papers in relation to the 

 mounds, earth-works, &c, are placed in the hands of Professor Mason, of 

 Columbian University, for critical investigation and examination ; and 

 under his editorship they will be arranged and ultimately printed, to- 

 gether with numerous illustrations which accompany them, A series 

 of maps will also be completed, containing information obtained from 

 these and other sources, so that we shall have some satisfactory idea of 

 their geographical distribution, extent, &c, throughout the country. 



The investigation of the aboriginal relics is in charge of Prof. Charles 

 Ran, the superintendent of the archaeological department of the National 

 Museum. As preliminary to a systematic work in this direction Prof. 

 Rau has lately completed the rearrangement of the archaeological col- 

 lections of the Museum, carefully eliminating the duplicates, but retain- 

 ing whatever may serve to illustrate the geographical distribution of 

 forms and material, or the variation in pattern. Under his direction, 

 also, numerous drawings have been made on wood and partially engraved. 



A detailed statement of the donations to the National Museum relat- 

 ing to tli is branch of science will be found in the list of Contributors to 

 the Museum, and also in the general account given subsequently, of 

 the several additions to the Museum. It may, however, be well to call 

 special attention to two northern collections in this department; one 

 received from Mr. E. \V. Nelson, a signal-station observer at Saint 

 Michaels, in Alaska; the other from Mr. L. Kumlien, the naturalist of 

 the Howgate expedition to Arctic America. These illustrate very fully 



