46 
Observations on the best means of propelling ships, by Alex¬ 
ander S. Byrne, of London, (dedicated to the National Insti¬ 
tution, four copies.) A model of Erickson’s propeller.— 
From Mr. Byrne. 
Catalogue of works on American history.—From D . B . War¬ 
den, Paris. 
A communication was received from B. S Roberts, Civil En¬ 
gineer, “ with several articles of edged instruments, said to 
be manufactured from the steel ore recently discovered in 
Franklin county, New York.” 
Specimens of natural history.— From the Rev. Dr. Thornton . 
Specimens of crystallised oxide of tin, Jackson, New Hamp¬ 
shire, have been received.— From C. T. Jackson , Surveyor 
of the State. 
Mr. Byrne’s communication on the “best means of propel¬ 
ling ships,” was referred to a committee. 
The following letter was received from the Hon. Virgil 
Maxcy, Charge d’Affaires of the United States to Belgium: 
Brussels, December 29 , 1840 . 
To the Hon. J. R. Poinsett, Secretary of War , and First Director of the Na¬ 
tional Institution for the Promotion of Science, established at Washington. 
Sir : I have given directions to the Agent of the Legations of the United 
States, London, to forward to you a Geological Map of England and Wales ; 
and, knowing the deep interest you must necessarily feel in the success of the 
National Institution, which already owes so much to your zeal and public spirit, 
I take the liberty of requesting you to present the Map in my behalf to the Socie¬ 
ty, with assurances of my earnest desire to advance its interests, so far as my pow’ 
er may extend. The Map, I am informed, has been prepared with much care and 
fidelity from the most authentic sources of information, especially from facts col¬ 
lected by the great trigonometrical and geological survey now in progress, and 
rapidly approaching to completion under the orders of the British Government. 
It affords me the highest gratification as an American citizen, and as the repre¬ 
sentative of our Republic to a foreign country, to learn that the National Institu¬ 
tion, recently founded at Washington, has been so favorably received by our men 
of science; and I cannot but indulge a hope that the public generally will lend 
it a generous confidence and cordial co-operation, and thus supply what has long 
been to us, who occupy so high a rank in the scale of civilization, no little re¬ 
proach ; the want of some Society or Institution which may compare with those 
of other nations, and sustain the reputation of our Republic in the great cause of 
scientific investigation, in which no country can feel a deeper and more abiding 
