THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 183 



3. Memoir on the Explosiveness of Nitre ; by Dr. Robert Hare. 



4. On the Aboriginal Monuments of the State of New York; by E. 

 G. Squier. 



5. Memoir on the Reciprocal Action of two Galvanic Currents ; by 

 A. Secchi, of Georgetown College. 



6. On the Classification of Insects, from Embryological Data ; by 

 Professor Louis Agassiz. 



7. Monograph of Mosasaurus and the allied Genera ; by Dr. R. W. 

 Gibbes. 



Besides these, several other papers not described in my last report 

 have been printed, and are ready for separate distribution. The first 

 of these I shall mention is by Professor Lieber, of the College of South 

 Carolina, on the vocal sounds of Laura Bridgman, the blind and deaf 

 mute, whose mind, apparently forever consigned to darkness, has been 

 almost miraculously enlightened, by the sagacity, ingenuity, and perse- 

 verance of Dr. Howe. 



There is, perhaps, at this time, no living human being who offers to 

 the psychologist so attractive an object of study as this individual ; and 

 hence every observation relative to her peculiar habits is of great interest. 

 Dr. Lieber has, from year to year, during his summer vacations, been 

 in the habit of visiting Laura Bridgman, and on one occasion spent 

 three months in her immediate neighborhood for the purpose of study- 

 ing the sounds which she : utters as indicative of ideas. These sounds 

 consist principally of such as she voluntarily adopted to designate dif- 

 ferent individuals. The results of the observations given in this paper 

 are accompanied by a series of philosophical deductions and sugges- 

 tions which cannot fail to interest the psychologist and physiologist. 

 This memoir is illustrated by an engraved fac simile of a letter from 

 Laura Bridgman's own hand. 



The next paper is by Professor Bailey of West Point. This gentle- 

 man has rendered himself favorably known to the world of science by 

 his researches on minute animals and plants, which, though mostly un- 

 seen by the naked eye, are found as widely distributed, and as perma- 

 nent and definite in character, as the largest organized objects in nature. 

 This paper gives the results of a series of microscopic observations 

 which the author made during his sojourn in the southern part of the 

 United States, whither he was ordered last winter on account of his 

 health. It designates numerous localities of microscopic animals and 

 plants, and furnishes lists of the species found in each. It also con- 

 tains a series of tables presenting a number of species with the differ- 

 ent localities where each was found. The species so classed include 

 those of the Desmidiae, Diatomaceae, Infusoria?, and Algae. Following 

 these is a description of numerous other species, most of which are rep- 

 resented by lithographic figures. 



Among the interesting facts arrived at by the author, are the discovery 

 of an extensive stratum of fossil infusoriae near Tampa Bay, Florida; 

 the existence of infusoriae in the rice fields of the south; and the demon- 

 stration of the cosmopolite character of many microscopic objects 

 hitherto believed to exist only in Europe. 



Another paper by the same author, but presented to the Institution by 

 Professor Bache, Superintendent of the U. S. Coast Survey, has refer- 



