THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 237 



extended as to make it useful to geographers in general as well as to 

 those of the United States. This extension was rendered important on 

 account of the surveys undertaken by our government in other parts 

 of the. globe. Also, a table has been added, giving the correction of 

 the latitude due to the oblate spheroidal figure of the earth. 



When we consider the character and condition of the vast continent 

 of North America, which it belongs to us chiefly to reduce to a habit- 

 able andfcivilized state, we shall perceive that the practical scientific 

 explorerrias no higher duty than to settle the geography, the magnet- 

 ism, the natural history, and the climate, of these regions. 



Researches, 



At the session of the Regents in 1849, an appropriation was made 

 to supply Lieutenant Gilliss with a telescope lor his expedition to 

 Chili, to aid him in his observations for a new determination of the 

 distance of the inferior planets, and, consequently, of the actual 

 distances of the* several members of the solar system. A subsequent 

 appropriation was made for the purchase of an astronomical clock for 

 the same purpose. The first appropriation was repaid to the Institu- 

 tion by a grant from Congress to cover the expenses of the expedition, 

 and the second will also be reimbursed by the purchase of the clock 

 and all the other instruments by the Chilian government, for the per- 

 manent establishment of an observatory in that country. 



By these operations, the Institution has been the means of rendering 

 essential aid to science, without in the end diminishing the amount 

 of its income. Lieutenant Gilliss, after voluntarily exiling himself from 

 his family and his country for four years, has returned with a rich har- 

 vest of materials in astronomy, meteorology, magnetism, and natural 

 history, in the reduction, generalization, and description of which the 

 Institution may also furnish important aid. 



The sum of one hundred and fifty dollars has been advanced to 

 Professor C. B. Adams, of Amherst College, to defray in part the expense 

 of an exploration of the molluscs of the West Indies. This subject is 

 intimately connected with the geological changes which have taken 

 place on the surface of our globe ; and it was with particular refer- 

 ence to this point that Professor Adams undertook these researches. 

 This is his second expedition to the same regions ; and in both instances 

 the Smithsonian Institution has seconded his proposition, and warmly 

 recommended it to the favorable consideration of the trustees of Am- 

 herst College. A small sum appropriated in this way, though not 

 enough in itself to produce much effect, is still sufficient to complete the 

 amount to be raised, and thus serve to determine the commencement 

 of the enterprise. 



Meteorology. 



The general system of observations relative to the meteorology of 

 the continent of North America, described in the previous Reports, has 

 been continued and extended. It consists at present of the following 

 classes, viz : 



