REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 15 



of the volumes from the condition in which they were put together, 

 rather than assimilated or arranged, in the old crowded quarters, has 

 enabled an approximate estimate to be made on this point. To what 

 extent the Institution's collections have suffered from the crowded con- 

 dition which has been too publicly known, that I should have any hesi- 

 tation in thus referring to it, can not be definitely stated. It is believed 

 that about 100,000 volumes or their equivalent are all that can be con- 

 tributed to this stack. 



The accumulations of the Smithsonian deposit for the last ten years, 

 which had been unsorted in the old library, have been brought fairly 

 under control, though much remains to be done before these will be in 

 a satisfactory condition. The present wise organization of the Library 

 of Congress into departments has yet one omission to which I feel 

 compelled to call attention as it affects the interests of the Institution. 

 No special provision was made for the care of the Smithsonian deposit. 

 Naturally enough in the immense labor which has fallen upon the 

 Library of Congress, the more pressing needs of the other departments 

 have been first considered, but I have full confidence that this will soon 

 be fully attended to. 



The never-ending work of writing for exchanges and for the comple- 

 tion of incomplete sets, to which I have frequently referred, continues. 

 The time will come when all resources of exchange will fail and when 

 the deficiences in the important sets can only be provided by appropri- 

 ation from Congress. While I have had this matter in mind for several 

 years, I have been reluctant to bring it up for discussion at all until 

 the Library of Congress was in condition for an intelligent treatment 

 of the subject. 



It will be seen from the library activities, a few of which I have 

 enumerated, that in spite of the endeavor made by Secretary Henry 

 to relieve the Institution of all expense of library work in arranging 

 for the deposit of the Smithsonian library at the Library of Congress, 

 by degrees a certain amount of such work and with it a very consid- 

 erable attendant expense has grown up. This I trust will always be 

 kept at a minimum, and the strength of the Institution, both through 

 its library work and exchange service, employed for the increase of the 

 Library of Congress and the Smithsonian deposit at that Library. It is 

 nevertheless quite plain that no scientific establishment can exist and 

 perform its functions without at least a considerable working library. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



The present system of recording correspondence, which was fully 

 described in my report for 1890, has proved of great convenience in 

 handling the constantly increasing number of letters received from 

 correspondents in all parts of the world. Numerous letters continue 

 to be received seeking information on scientific and technical questions 

 as well as on political, economic, historical, and other matters, and, 



