EEPOET OF THE SECRETARY. 27 



uable to them only as heirlooms or curiosities, but who, while easily 

 convinced of the little value of isolated collections in comparison with 

 the importance to science of one grand, complete series, could not be 

 persuaded to part with their archaeological treasures ; now and then 

 private cabinets of more than ordinary character and extent have been 

 brought to light; and, finally, modern " manufactories " of relics have 

 been detected, and in this way forgeries, to some extent, driven from 

 the market. Thus an extra amount of correspondence has been en- 

 tailed that has proved no inconsiderable addition to the previous ardu- 

 ous labors of the officers of the Institution. 



As the result, the Institution has received hundreds of specimens from 

 all parts of North America as gifts, while by making copies in plaster or 

 metal it has added to its. cabinet many forms that would otherwise be 

 unknown and inaccessible to the student as well as to the public at large. 

 Many of these objects have proved of great archaeological interest, and 

 while not a few of them are almost indispensable for comparative study, 

 all are more or less valuable in the elucidation of questions relating to the 

 geographical distribution of aboriginal remains in the United States, and 

 for filling gaps in State series. Moreover, by soliciting illustrations and 

 descriptions of the rarer or more curious forms in private cabinets, the 

 Institution has been saved much expense for transportation, its archaeo- 

 logical experts rarely finding recourse to the original specimen necessary 

 in determining what is or is not a desideratum. 



As in previous years, the Institution was the recipient in 1878 of a 

 large number of communications, having as a principal object the over- 

 turning of theories established by Newton and others, which, founded 

 on experiment and observation, have long since been accepted as true 

 by the scientific world. These, as is usual with papers of this class, 

 while purporting to furnish the only rational explanation of the pheno- 

 mena to be accounted for, generally displayed a degree of assumption 

 entirely out of keeping with the spirit of true science; and while it 

 would not be a work of much moment to prove to the unprejudiced, 

 who may be acquainted with the subjects of such essays, that the pro- 

 positions enunciated are wholly at variance with the fundamental and 

 generally accepted principles of science, it is always exceedingly difficult 

 to convince the authors of these "new doctrines" that they are not in 

 accord with the scientific world. It would sometimes appear either that 

 they are incapable of receiving the truth, or that, convinced of the fal- 

 lacy of their reasoning, they prefer to cling to a false notion of original- 

 ity rather than confess their error. Such communications, never brief, 

 have, from time to time, been simply reiterations of previous expres- 

 sions. " Correspondence with this class" of writers, as ha& been most 

 truly observed by the late Secretary, is, indeed, "not only very onerous 

 but difficult to manage, inasmuch as the rejection of their propositions 

 is generally attributed to prejudice." 



Another class of communications of a more intelligent character was 



