EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 25 



5. Monograph of the Bats of North America, by Dr. H. Allen, 

 United States army. 



No. 1 of these works has been prepared to aid in arranging and 

 cataloguing the Smithsonian collection of minerals and the distribu- 

 tion of duplicate specimens, but it will also be of value in facilitating 

 the study of mineralogy by furnishing printed labels and check-lists 

 for exchanges. It presents a list of all the described species of min- 

 erals, with their chemical symbols and s} r stems of crystallization, indi- 

 cating those which are peculiar to the United States, the whole 

 arranged according to the method adopted by Professor Dana in the 

 last edition of his Manual of Mineralogy. For important additions 

 and corrections, this work is indebted to the principal mineralogists 

 of this country, to whom the proofs were submitted, and especially 

 to Professor Dana, Professor Brush, and Dr. Genth. This list is 

 completed, and will shortly be ready for distribution. 



No. 2 of these works was printed in the Smithsonian annual 

 report for 1861, but a large demand having arisen for it, it has been 

 reprinted with corrections and additions, and now includes instruc- 

 tions for philological observation, rules for recording sounds and vo- 

 cabularies, &c. In the latter part of the work Mr. Gibbs has received 

 important assistance from Professor W. D. Whitney, of Yale College. 



It includes directions for the collection of various specimens, hints 

 for special inquiry, &c. Among the former are the skulls of Ameri- 

 can Indians, which in some cases are difficult to obtain, on account 

 of the jealousy with which the natives guard the remains of their 

 dead. Numerous tribes, however, have become extinct, or have 

 removed from their former abodes. The remains of victims of war 

 are often left. where they fall, and the bones of slaves and of the 

 friendless are neglected. Relics of these can be obtained without 

 offence to the living. It is, however, of essential importance that 

 most positive information should be obtained as to the nation or tribe to 

 which a particular skull belongs. This may frequently be learned 

 from the history of the migrations of the tribe, or from the character 

 of the ornaments and utensils found with it. 



Among the specimens of art which are designated as desirable 

 are dresses, ornaments, bows and arrows, lances, saddles with their 

 furniture,. models of lodges, cradles, mats, baskets, gambling imple- 

 ments, models of canoes, paddles, fish-hooks, carvings in wood and 

 stone, tools, &c. 



American antiquities are especially indicated as objects of interest. 

 They include the tools found in the northern copper mines, articles 



