THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 185 



branch of science in a new region. After completing his lectures he 

 made a collection of the marine plants of our coast, and offered to fur- 

 nish drawings of the genera and species, with detailed descriptions 

 free of all cost, provided the Institution would bear the expense of 

 publication. 



Upon the warm recommendation of some of the principal botanists 

 of the country, the liberal offer of Professor Harvey was accepted, and 

 he is now engaged in making, with his own hand, the drawings on stone. 

 The preparation of the work, besides the time expended in collecting the 

 specimens, will occupy two or three years. This voluntary contribu- 

 tion to knowledge from a man of science may surprise those whose 

 minds are not liberalized by philosophical pursuits, and who cannot 

 conceive any object in labor unconnected with pecuniary gain. 



To assist in defraying the heavy expense of the publication of this 

 work, it is proposed to color the plates of a part of the edition, and to 

 offer copies for, sale. The work will also be issued in parts, so as to 

 distribute the cost through several years. 



In addition to the foregoing, an appendix, added to Mr. Squier's pa- 

 per on the ancient monuments of New York, has been printed. Also, 

 there has been such an urgent demand for copies of Mr. Ellet's paper 

 on the physical geography of the Mississippi Valley, that it has been 

 thought advisable to reprint it, and distribute the whole of the first edi- 

 tion among all persons to whom a knowledge of its contents would be 

 of peculiar importance. 



The several papers which have been described in this and the pre- 

 ceding Report, will, when collected together, form the contents of the 

 second and part of the third volume. 



The plan adopted of printing each memoir with a separate title and 

 paging has been found to answer a good purpose. There is no delay 

 in printing one paper on account of the engraving of the plates of an- 

 other ; and long before a volume can be completed a separate memoir 

 may be widely circulated among those most interested in its perusal. 

 As an example of this I may mention that one of the papers which 

 forms part of the second volume of the Contributions has already been 

 reprinted in the London and Edinburg Journal, with due credit given 

 to the Institution. 



Reports on the Progress of Knowledge. 



The income of the Institution as yet has not been sufficient for fully 

 reducing to practice this part of the plan of organization. The prepa- 

 ration of these reports can only be entrusted to those who are familiar 

 with the subjects, and well skilled in the art of composition, and the 

 services of such persons cannot be obtained without an adequate remu- 

 neration. Of the several reports mentioned at the last meeting of the 

 Board but one has been published, viz : that on the discovery of the 

 planet Neptune, by Dr. B. A. Gould, of Cambridge, editor of the As- 

 tronomical Journal. It has been stereotyped, and copies distributed 

 amongst all our meteorological observers, and other persons in the 

 country known to us as being actively engaged in promoting the sci- 

 ence of astronomy. 



