22 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



income in excess of moneys appropriated by Congress, two-thirds of 

 which at least was directly due to the expense of forwarding Govern- 

 ment publications, and which has never been reimbursed to the Insti- 

 tution. The benefit derived by the Government from the exchange 

 system has not been confined to the direct contributions of foreign 

 governments, but the accumulations of the Smithsonian Institution 

 have been systematically deposited with the Library of Congress, 

 known as the " Smithsonian Deposit," and at the close of this fiscal 

 year the publications thus deposited have reached the great number of 

 350,000. 



By reference to the report, in the Appendix, of the acting curator of 

 exchanges, it will be noticed that the expenditures of the year have 

 amounted to $20,568.14. Of this amount $17,000 were appropriated by 

 Congress, $2,727.43 were paid by Government bureaus, $271 by State 

 institutions, aud $461.29 by other contributors. This amount was insuf- 

 >ficient to meet outstanding obligations, and the Institution advanced 

 the sum of $98.42. 



The number of correspondents of the Exchange Bureau, both foreign 

 and domestic, has noticeably increased during the past year, and the 

 total now amounts to 24,914, of which 18,900 are foreign, some of them 

 being in the most remote parts of civilization. 



I have before suggested the advisability of adopting some means by 

 which to increase the store of parliamentary publications for the Library 

 of Congress as a more adequate return for the large number of publi- 

 cations of this Government sent to foreign countries, and as the new 

 Library building will in a few months be ready for cataloguing the books 

 uow on hand, aud as ample space will be available for accessions, it 

 seems most desirable that action should at once be taken to accomplish 

 this end. Correspondence can do much, but personal solicitation can 

 do more, and to attain the desired results a special representative in 

 the joint interest of the Institution and the Library of Congress should 

 be commissioned to visit the leading countries of the world. 



THE NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 



In former reports I have called attention to the general policy of 

 the Institution with reference to the National Zoological Park and the 

 embarrassments that have arisen in carrying it out. Some of these 

 embarrassments still remain, especially the absence of authority for 

 the purchase of animals in the appropriation act. Because of this the 

 proper growth of the collection is much retarded and many of the rarer 

 native animals now fast disappearing are not yet represented. It is not 

 likely that such animals will often be presented to the park, as they are 

 rarely obtained and are always readily sold. For several years past 

 I have recommended to Congress the removal of this restriction by 

 restoring to the annual appropriation act an item for the purchase of 

 animals. 



