56 EEPOET OF THE SECEETAEY. 



can antiquities, and of those illustrative of the habits of the modern 

 native tribes. Already an extensive collection has been accumulated, 

 and the preparation and distribution of a series of colored casts of 

 the more interesting specimens of aboriginal art have been com- 

 menced. The former picture gallery had just been fitted up with 

 cases two hundred feet in leDgth, for the reception of these, when the 

 disastrous fire occurred, which destroyed the upper part of the centre 

 building; fortuuately, however, before any of these specimens had 

 been placed in the room. 



Correspondence. — The Institution has constantly received a large 

 number of communications, asking information on a variety of sub- 

 jects, particularly in regard to the solution of scientific questions, the 

 names and characters of objects of natural history, and the analysis 

 of soils, minerals, and other materials which pertain to the industrial 

 resources of the country. Answers have in all cases been given to 

 these inquiries, either directly by the officers of the Institution or by 

 reports from the Smithsonian collaborators. A considerable portion 

 of the correspondence burned in the office of the Secretary was of this 

 character. The loss in this case is to be regretted, not only on 

 account of the valuable information the letters and answers contained, 

 but also on account of the illustration they afforded of the influence 

 of the Institution, and the condition of the public mind at a given 

 time. Every subject connected with science which strongly attracts 

 popular attention never fails to call forth a large number of inquiries 

 and suggestions. 



International exchanges. — To facilitate the direct correspondence 

 between the learned institutions and scientific men of the two worlds, 

 and the free exchange of their publications, has, from the first, been 

 a special object of attainment with the Smithsonian Institution. Year 

 by year its plans for this purpose have been modified and improved, 

 until the system has become as nearly complete and satisfactory as 

 the funds and force at its disposal will allow. At the present day it 

 is the great medium of scientific intercommunication between the New 

 World and the Old; its benefits and services being recognized alike by 

 individuals, institutions, and governments. Its parcels pass all the 

 custom-houses without question or interference, while American and 

 foreign lines of transportation, with rare exceptions, vie with each 

 other in the extent of the privileges accorded it. To so great an 

 extent has its sphere of activity been enlarged, that it is no exaggera- 

 tion to say that a very large proportion of all international exchanges 

 of the kind referred to are now made through its instrumentality. 



