134 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



judges, the memoir shall be found to furnish a new and interesting addi- 

 tion to knowledge, resting on original research. The accompanying 

 memoir, entitled " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley" fyc, 

 having been presented for publication, I beg leave to refer the same, 

 through you, to the American Ethnological Society, with a request that 

 a committee of the members may be appointed to examine and report 

 on its character, in reference to the particulars above mentioned. If 

 the report of the committee is favorable, the memoir will be accepted 

 for publication ; full confidence being placed in the ability of the com- 

 mittee to judge of the character of the article, and in their caution in 

 making up their opinion. 



[ have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



JOSEPH HENRY, 

 Secretary Smithsonian Institution. 



Hon. Albert Gallatin, 



President American Ethnological Society. 



Extracts of a letter from the President of the American Ethnological Society 

 to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



New York, June 12, 1S47. 



" Dear Sir : I have the honor to enclose a copy of the proceedings 

 and resolutions of the New York Ethnological Society upon the MS. 

 work on American antiquities, by Messrs. E. G. Squier and E. H. 

 Davis, submitted with your letter of the 2d instant. 



" I approve entirely of the resolutions and recommendations of the 

 society. 



" Whatever maybe the intrinsic value of the remains of former times 

 which are found in the United States, it is necessary that they should 

 at least be correctly described, and that existing gross errors should be 

 corrected ; and I repeat my conviction that, though ardent, Messrs. 

 Squier and Davis are animated by that thorough love of truth which 

 renders their researches worthy of entire confidence. 



" I have the honor to be, &c, 



"ALBERT GALLATIN. 

 " Prof. J. Henry, 



" Secretary of Smithsonian Institution." 



At a regular meeting of the American Ethnological Society, held at 

 the house of the Hon. Albert Gallatin, on the evening of the 4th of 

 June, the president laid before the members a communication from 

 Professor J. Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, trans- 

 mitting, for the examination and opinion of the society, a MS. work on 

 the Ancient Aboriginal Monuments of the United States. On motion, 

 the letter and accompanying MS. were referred to a committee consist- 



