REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 15 



different agricultural and other societies of the country ; and thirdly, 

 the necessity we were under, on account of the financial pressure, of 

 paying bills for publications which will appear during the present 

 and the next year. The funds of the Institution are, however, still 

 in a prosperous condition, but great care is required to prevent the 

 accumulation of small expenses, which, individually, by reason of 

 their insignificance, are allowed to occur, but which in the aggregate, 

 at the end of the year, are found to have swelled into amounts of 

 considerable magnitude. 



Publications. — The ninth annual quarto volume of Contributions to 

 Knowledge was completed and distributed during the first half of the 

 year. It is equal in size and importance to the preceding volumes, 

 and contains the following memoirs : 



1. On the relative intensity of the heat and light of the sun upon 

 different latitudes of the earth. By L. W. Meech. 



2. Illustrations of surface geology, by Edward Hitchcock, LL.D., 

 of Amherst College. 



Part 1. On surface geology,, especially that of the Connecticut 

 valley, in New England. 



Part 2. On the erosions of the earth's surface, especially by 

 rivers. 



Part 3. Traces of ancient glaciers in Massachusetts and Ver- 

 mont. 



3. Observations on Mexican history and archaeology, with a special 

 notice of Zapotec remains, as delineated in Mr. J. G. Sawkins' draw- 

 ings of Mitla, &c. By Brantz Mayer. 



4. Kesearches on the Ammonia Cobalt bases. By Professor Wol- 

 cott Gibbs and Professor F. A. Genth. 



5. New tables for determining the values of the co-efficients in the 

 perturbative functions of planetary motion, which depend upon the 

 ratio of the mean distances. By J. D. Runkle. 



6. Asteroid supplement to new tables for determining the values of 



h- and its derivatives. By J. D. Eunkle. 



It was stated in the last report that Mr. L. W. Meech proposed to 

 continue his interesting investigations relative to the heat and light 

 of the sun, provided the Smithsonian Institution would pay the ex- 

 pense of the arithmetical computations. Though most of his time is 

 necessarily occupied in other duties., he would cheerfully devote his 

 leisure hours to the investigation with a view of extending the bounds 



y 



