REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 25 



the preparation of a series of moulds from which casts are made for 

 distribution and exchange. In carrying on this work we have been 

 favored with a large collection of specimens of Mexican art, principally 

 images and masks, by the American Philosophical Society, of Phila- 

 delphia, from which moulds have been taken. The prosecution of 

 this work has been temporarily suspended, but will be resumed as soon 

 as facilities and means for its prosecution can be provided. In this 

 connexion we would renew the request which we have made in pre- 

 vious reports, that descriptions of all mounds or aboriginal earthworks 

 which may be discovered may be sent to the Institution for the pur- 

 pose of furnishing the materials for a work at some future time on the 

 distribution and migration of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. 

 In order to preserve and render generally accessible the information 

 which may be obtained in this way, it will be published in the ap- 

 pendix to the next succeeding annual report after its reception. 



Meteorology. — It has been mentioned in previous reports that the 

 second volume of the results of meteorological observations made under 

 the direction of the Smithsonian Institution and the Patent Office, from 

 the year 1854 to 1859, was in press, and that its completion was de- 

 layed by the unusual amount of printing required by the necessities 

 of the public service to be executed at the Government Printing 

 Office. It was thought best, therefore, to issue the portion already 

 printed, without waiting longer for the other material which it had 

 been intended to embrace in the volume. This portion, forming a 

 quarto volume of more than five hundred pages, was consequently 

 bound and distributed during the past year. It is divided into two 

 parts, each occupying about half the volume. The first relates to 

 the periodical phenomena of plants and animals from 1851 to 1859, 

 inclusivo, embracing observations upon the foliation of eighty-seven 

 species, the blossoming of ninety-two, the ripening of fruit of ten, 

 and the defoliation of eighteen species of plants, and upon the first 

 appearance of sixteen species of birds, one of reptiles, three of fishes, 

 and two of insects. These results have a direct application to me- 

 teorological science, by indicating the progress of the seasons in dif- 

 ferent localities, and their relative variability in different years. To 

 these have been added several tables of the opening and closing of 

 lakes, rivers, canals, and harbors, collected from various sources, 

 and tending to illustrate the same leading features of climate as the 

 records of organic phenomena. The materials were furnished chiefly 

 by the regular Smithsonian observers, and were arranged and pre- 

 pared for publication by Dr. Franklin B. Hough, of Albany, N. Y. 



