THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 27 



simple one, which can be manufactured at a small expense, is easy of 

 application, and can be readily transported by mail, has been adopted. 

 Mr. Jas. Green, of New York, has continued to manufacture standard 

 instruments in accordance with the plan adopted by the Institution, 

 and to supply these at a reasonable price to observers. He preserves 

 an accurate record of the comparison of each instrument with the 

 standards furnished by the Institution, and in this way good service 

 is rendered to the advance of this branch of knowledge by the general 

 introduction of compared and reliable instruments. The system is 

 constantly improving in precision .and extent. 



Complaints have been made that but few of the materials collected 

 by the Institution have yet been published. The answer to these, 

 however, is readily given in the fact that so much of the income up to 

 this time has been devoted to the building, and so many demands 

 have been made upon the Smithsonian funds for objects requiring 

 more immediate attention, that little could be done in this line ; and ; 

 besides, it is more important that the information should be reliable 

 than that it should be quickly published. The value of observations 

 of this character increases in a higher ratio than the time of their con- 

 tinuance, and, therefore, what may be lost by delay is more than 

 compensated by the precision and value of the results. 



The reduction of the meteorological observations has been continued 

 by Professor Coffin during the past year. He has completed the dis- 

 cussion of all the records for 1854, and those of 1855 as far as they 

 have been sent in. The publication of these, however, in full, will 

 require a volume which, we trust, will be printed at the expense of 

 the general government, as an appendix to the Agricultural Report 

 of the Patent Office. 



Important additions have lately been made to the physical geogra- 

 phy of the western portions of the United States, under the direction 

 of the Secretary of War, by the officers of the army engaged in the 

 explorations of the several routes for a railway to the Pacific. A 

 series of exact barometrical sections has been measured from the Mis- 

 sissippi river to the Pacific ocean. The elevations of the extended 

 plain which constitutes the base of the Rocky mountains and of the 

 parallel ridges have been determined. Temporary meteorological ob- 

 servations have also been made, which afford approximate data rela- 

 tive to the climate of this region. 



The elevation and direction of the ridges which separate the valley 

 of the Mississippi from the Pacific ocean have a controlling influence 

 on the climate, particularly on the precipitation of the North Ameri- 

 can continent, and especially distinguish the storms of the Pacific 

 coast from those of the Atlantic States. 



The additions which have been made to the physical geography 

 and natural history of this continent under the enlightened policy of 

 the Secretary of War, will be received with great interest by the scien- 

 tific men of Europe. 



In studying the general physical phenomena of the globe, the west- 

 ern half of the North American continent, in comparison with other 

 parts of the world, has been almost a blank. It is hoped, however, 

 that the spirit of inquiry that has been awakened and the enterprises 



