THE NATIONAL INSTITUTION. 
137 
1842.] 
this Vattemare who has troubled them so much, tell them that your dear and beau¬ 
tiful country is ever the object of his sincere devotion, and the subject of his most 
sacred thoughts. 
Believe in the sentiments of respect and thanks with which I am, your servant 
and friend, ALEXANDRE VATTEMARE. 
To Dr. Linn, Senator of the United States. 
Copy of the letter of Mr. Dufresnoy. 
Royal School of Mines, Paris, September 18, 1841. 
Sir : The specimen of oxide of iron, taken from the mountains of Missouri, which 
Senator Linn, at your request, has sent to the School of Mines, arrived a few days 
since at Havre, and has already become the ornament of our collections. In the 
name of the council of the school, I thank you for this magnificent specimen. Not¬ 
withstanding its almost gigantic dimensions, (sixty-six millimetres in diameter,) it 
is complete in all its parts. From a careful examination of it, we are led to believe 
that the mountains of Missouri contain masses of iron which will compete with 
the most beautiful mines of Danimoura, in Sweden, which furnish the iron most 
esteemed in Europe. Besides its interest in a mineralogical point of view, the pre¬ 
sent of Mr. Linn is highly esteemed by us, because it commences the system of 
exchange which you have sought to establish between all the nations of the New 
and the Old Continents, and which alone can secure the completion of our collec¬ 
tions. Be assured, sir, that the professors of the School of Mines take great in¬ 
terest in the success of your enterprise, so useful to science, and will concur in 
it by transmitting to you specimens of mineralogy and geology, for the foreign 
museums that may wish to enter the field which you have opened with so much 
devotion. 
Even before we were apprised of the kind intentions of Mr. Linn, the School of 
Mines had delivered to Mr. D. B. Warden, former Consul General of the United 
States at Paris, and correspondent of the Academy of Science, at his request, a box 
of specimens of mineralogy, to be deposited in the cabinet of the National Institu¬ 
tion at Washington. The School of Mines will not, however, confine itself to their 
first transmission of specimens; and it hopes that, through your care, the exchanges 
will become more frequent. 
Be pleased, sir, to accept the assurances of my most distinguished consideration, 
(Signed) DUFRESNOY. 
Mons. Alexandre Vattemare. 
From Dr. E. Foreman, of Baltimore: Communicating a paper on 
the subject of exchanges of conchological specimens. 
From Rev. R. R. Gurley, Washington: Suggesting to the Na¬ 
tional Institution the advantage of purchasing the Indian Museum of 
the late Colonel Hook, U. S. Army. 
From T. Purrington, Washington. 
From W. Darlington, M. D., West-Chester, Pennsylvania. 
