1842 .] THE NATIONAL INSTITUTION. 161 
tively, firmly secured, but not otherwise well protected from mois¬ 
ture. 
Box No. 2, contained twelve boxes (six of paper and six of 
wood) of insects in good condition, mould excepted ; twenty-four 
boxes (two of paper and twenty-two of wood) of insects, in bad 
condition ; and a lot of plants. 
Box No. 4, contained ten boxes of insects (three of paper, and 
seven of wood) in good condition, mould excepted ; four boxes MSS., 
prints, &c., &c.; one box of shells; two boxes containing Histoire Na- 
turelle et Iconographie des Insectes Coleopteres; seventy-five boxes 
'of insects, in very bad order; and two cases of fishes, (skins stuffed.) 
Box No. 5, contained twenty boxes of insects in good order, 
mould excepted, and forty-eight boxes of insects, in bad order. 
Box No. 6, contained ninety-nine boxes of insects, in good order, 
mould excepted, and seventy-seven boxes of insects, in bad order. 
Making in all three hundred and sixty-five boxes of insects, con¬ 
taining probably upwards of sixty thousand specimens, four boxes 
manuscripts, prints, &c., two boxes books, two cases of fishes, one 
box of shells, and one lot of botanical specimens. Of the insects, 
one hundred and forty-one boxes were in tolerable order, except 
mouldiness, which was found to a greater or less extent in all; the 
two cases of fishes consisted of a few prepared skins; the manu¬ 
scripts, &c., &c., were chiefly private letters, catalogues, &c.; the 
shells were few and unimportant; the botanical collection had suf¬ 
fered from moisture, &c., &c. 
On motion of Colonel Abert, it was 
Resolved , That the Institution employ some person to examine 
and arrange the above collection, and to take the necessary measures 
for its preservation. 
Mr. Dayton, from the committee appointed to confer with Mr. 
Espy, on the subject of his theory of storms, &c., offered the follow¬ 
ing resolution: 
Resolved, That the committee appointed to correspond with the 
Departments of the Government, in relation to the objects of the In¬ 
stitution, be instructed to communicate with the Secretaries of War, 
and of the Navy, in reference to a more extended, systematic, and 
