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EDITORIAL. 
as  the  depository  of  a  great  National  Museum  and  Library,  whilst  others,  of 
which  Prof.  Henry  is  the  chief,  advocate  the  devotion  of  the  funds  to  the 
publication  of  original  memoirs,  to  the  institution  of  new  researches,  to  the 
encouragement  of  all  kintfs  of  laudable  scientific  explorations  and  investiga- 
tions, whether  done  specially  for  the  Institution  or  indirectly  by  others ;  in 
a  word,  to  make  the  Institution  a  great  central,  science-sustaining,  know- 
ledge-spreading power,  whose  influence  shall  be  felt  and  appreciated  where 
ever  and  by  whosoever  the  arts  and  sciences  are  cultivated.  The  fund  is 
deemed  too  limited  to  carry  out  the  ideas  of  those  who  wish  to  make  it  a 
National  Library  and  Museum  ;  and  unless  Congress  should  make  donations 
so  liberal  as  to  swallow  up  the  fund  of  Smithson  by  their  magnitude,  render- 
ing its  endowment  national  rather  than  individual,  it  could  not  be  enlarged 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  it  pre-eminently  important  to  men  of  science, 
and  effect  the  other  offices  properly  required  by  the  will  of  its  founder. 
One  of  the  most  useful  features  of  the  Institution  as  now  conducted,  is 
its  system  of  literary  exchanges  with  scientific  societies  and  public  libraries 
of  Europe,  which  wilt  do  more  for  the  dissemination  and  circulation  of 
scientific  literature  than  any  pre-existing  arrangement.  The  Institution 
has  agents  in  Europe  who  distribute  to  the  several  societies  &c,  1st,  its  own 
publications  •  2d,  the  transactions  and  other  publications  of  American  so- 
cieties, and  to  some  extent  the  productions  of  individuals  when  sent  as  do- 
nations to  societies  abroad.  The  same  agents  receive  in  return  the  similar 
publications  of  Europe,  and  forward  them  to  Washington,  from  whence 
they  are  distributed  to  the  scientific  bodies  here  free  of  all  expense,  except 
the  carriage  from  Washington,  the  duties  being  remitted  by  Congress  on  all 
publications  coming  through  this  medium.  Professor  Baird,  who  has  charge 
of  the  Exchange  department,  kindly  explained  to  us  the  details  of  the  sys- 
tem and  the  manner  in  which  the  exchanges  are  effected.  We  saw  in  the 
book  room  the  packages  that  were  about  being  forwarded  to  Europe,  those 
for  each  country  together ;  their  bulk,  amounting  to  many  hundred  weight, 
if  not  tons,  gave  a  forcible  illustration  of  the  extent  of  this  branch  of  the 
operations.  Among  other  labors  the  Institution  is  conducting  an  extended 
system  of  simultaneous  meteorological  observations,  by  near  400  observers, 
in  as  many  locations  over  the  surface  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  Nova 
Scotia,  the  West  Indies,  and  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  observations, 
which  are  recorded  in  blanks  prepared  by  the  Institution,  and  dis- 
tributed to  the  observers,  are  made  several  times  in  the  day  at  stated 
intervals,  and  it  is  hoped,  when  a  sufficient  number  of  these  have  accu- 
mulated at  Washington,  that  the  actual  condition  of  the  atmosphere,  over 
the  whole  country,  at  several  times  in  the  day,  and  for  consecutive  weeks 
and  months  as  thus  ascertained,  will  enable  the  scientific  corps  to  solve  the 
problem  of  American  storms,  and  many  other  phenomena  yet  but  little 
understood.  Already  Prof.  Henry  has  commenced  a  series  of  meteorologi- 
cal charts  drawn  on  outline  maps  of  the  United  States,  with  clear  weather, 
clouds,  fog,  rain,  snow,  and  hail  marked  on  them  by  colors,  each  map  re- 
