10 



EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



authority of the board, a circular has been prepared and issued, making 

 one of the conditions of receipt the payment of five cents per pound on 

 the parcels. This is actually below the cost, as it includes the expense 

 of wrapping-, of boxing, of forwarding, and a share of the salary of em- 

 ployes and agents, and other incidentals. It is about the same rate as 

 is charged by the express companies for freight in bulk from Washing- 

 ton to Chicago. 



To facilitate the business connected with the system of the Smith- 

 sonian exchanges the following rules have been adopted : 



1. Transmissions through the Smithsonian Institution for foreign 

 countries to be confined exclusively to books, pamphlets, charts, and 

 other printed matter, sent as donations or exchanges, and not to in- 

 clude those procured by purchase. The Institution and its agents will 

 not receive for any address apparatus and instruments, philosophical, 

 medical, &c. (including microscopes), whether purchased or presented; 

 nor specimens of natural history, except where special permission from 

 the Institution has been obtained. 



2. The Departments or Bureaus of the United States Government to 

 pay the Smithsonian Institution five cents per pound on their packages, 

 which includes all expense of boxing, shipping, and transportation.. 



3. A list of the addresses and a statement of contents of each send- 

 ing to be mailed to the Smithsonian Institution at or before the time of 

 transmission. 



4. Packages to be legibly addressed and to be indorsed with the name 

 of the sender and their contents. 



5. Packages to be enveloped in stout paper, and securely pasted or 

 tied with strong twine — never sealed with wax. 



6. No package to a single address to exceed one-half of one cubic foot 

 in bulk. 



7. To have no inclosures of letters. 



8. To be delivered to the Smithsonian Institution or its agents free of 

 expense. 



9. To contain a blank acknowledgment, to be signed and returned by 

 the party addressed. 



10. Should returns be desired, the fact is to be explicitly stated on or 

 in the package. 



Unless these conditions are complied with, the parcels cannot be for- 

 warded by the Institution. 





Statistics of exchanges sent 



during 



the last ten years. 









1869. 



1870. 



1871. 



1872. 



1873. 



1874. 



1875. 



1876. 



1877. 



1878. 



Number of boxes . . 

 Bulk in cubic feet 

 Weight 



112 



1,033 



23, 376 



121 



1,189 



31, 383 



108 



772 



28, 950 



179 



954 



26, 850 



196 



1,476 



44,236 



131 

 933 



27, 990 



208 



1,503 



45, 300 



323 



2,261 



80, 750 



397 



2,779 



99, 250 



309 



2,160 

 69, 220 





The following table exhibits the number of foreign establishments 

 with which the Institution is at present in correspondence, or, in other 



