and the disposition of the articles intended for public exhibition has been a subject requiring considerable thought and experiment. It was not only desirable to obtain the largest amount of space for the accommodation of the articles, but, also, to arrange the whole so as to harmonize with the architectural embellishment of the large hall and thus to produce a proper æsthetical effect.

For a particular account of the present condition of the museum, and for a detailed history of the several series of collections of which it is composed, I beg leave to refer to the report of Professor Baird, herewith annexed.

It is proper to add that the Institution continues to be under great obligations to the steamer line to California via Panama (consisting of the United States Mail Steamship Company, the Panama Railroad and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company,) for its most generous and liberal aid in carrying packages between New York and the Pacific coast free of all expense. The agents of the line, Mr. I. W. Raymond in New York, and Mr. A. B. Forbes in San Francisco, have also paid particular attention to the secure and certain transmission. of these parcels. When it is known that the aggregate amount transported for the Institution during the year has been not far from one hundred packages, embracing valuable Natural History material, and that merely the ordinary expenses of the transit would have been prohibitory of the reception of most of them, some idea may be gathered of the part taken by these companies in the development of the Natural History of the west coast of America. Nor must it be forgotten that the packages carried free of charge by them contain not only specimens of Natural History from the Pacific, but also large numbers of valuable books, presented by or through the Smithsonian Institution, to libraries in California, Oregon and Washington, thus adding greatly to the literary and scientific resources of the west. Hearty acknowledgments are also due for service of similar character to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, and to the Express Company of Messrs. Wells, Fargo & Co. Mr. Banning, the government freight contractor between Fort Tejon and Los Angelos, has also transported several boxes free of charge.

Gallery of Art.-A large number of portraits, formerly in the Patent Office, of Indian chiefs and a few females of the different tribes which have from time to time visited Washington, which were painted at the expense of government, has been added to the Gallery of Art. These, with the Stanley paintings, now form perhaps the most

valuable collection in existence of illustrations of the features, costumes, and habits of the aborigines of this country.

This gallery is an object of special interest to all visitors to the national metropolis, and to none more so than to the deputations of Indians frequently called to Washington to transact business with the government. A suggestion has been made that there be procured photographic likenesses of individuals of these deputations, with which to increase the number of portraits. It would be a matter regret were the collections ever to be separated, and it is hoped that Congress will in due time purchase the portraits belonging to Mr. Stanley, which will become more and more valuable in the progress of the gradual extinction of the race of which they are such faithful representations.

A number of busts of distinguished individuals, that formed a part of the objects of art at the Patent Office, have also been transferred to the Institution, and although these are not very choice illustrations of sculpture, they serve as a beginning of a collection in this line which may hereafter be worthy of the Institution.

Lectures.-Provision was made for the usual number of popular lectures during the present season, and thus far they have been attended by large audiences. This part of the operations of the Institution, though somewhat restricted in its effects to the city of Washington, has been of considerable importance in awakening a lively interest in the welfare and operations of the Institution on the part of a large number of intelligent and influential gentlemen, who have been invited to lecture, from different and distant sections of the United States. It has likewise been the means of presenting, through the annual report, summaries of particular branches of science interesting to the general reader and of value to the teacher of schools and academies.

It will be recollected that the rooms in the second story of the Smithsonian building are arranged for the accommodation of associations and conventions, of which the following have gladly availed themselves during the past year of the facilities thus offered, namely: The National Medical Association, the United States Agricultural Society, American Pharmaceutists' Association, the National Musical Convention, the Art Association, and the American Colonization Society. The Teachers' Association for the District of Columbia also continues its monthly meetings in one of the apartments.

The influence the Institution is having on the character and reputation of the city of Washington is by no means small. The free

lectures, it is evident, from the interest which they still continue to excite, must tend to promote the intelligence and morality of the citizens, and the various scientific operations which are carried on in connexion with the Institution diversify the objects of interest to the public generally in what pertains to the national metropolis. The following is a list of the lectures delivered at the Institution during the winter of 1858-'59:

Two lectures by Dr. JOHN RAE, of Canada, on "Arctic Explorations and the Probable Fate of Sir John Franklin.”

One lecture by J. G. SAXE, esq., of Vermont, on "Poetry and Poets."

One lecture by Professor G. W. GREENE, of New York, on "The Artistic Life of Thomas Crawford."

One lecture by Professor J. D. DANA, of Yale College, on "Coral Islands."

Two lectures by THOMAS CLEMSON, esq., of Maryland, on "Water" and "Nitrogen."

Two lectures by Professor P. A. CHADBOURNE, of Williams College, on "Natural History as related to Intellect, Taste, and Wealth."

Four lectures by Rev. H. J. COMINGO, of Ohio, on "Rome, its Historical Reminiscences; its Antiquities and Ruins; its Architectural Monuments; its Fine Arts."

Four lectures by Professor A. CASWELL, of Brown University, on "The Magnitude and Figure of the Earth;" "The Law of Gravitation;""The Dimensions of the Solar System, or the Extent of our Knowledge of Planetary Distances ;" and "Sidereal Astronomy."

Five lectures by Professor J. P. Cook, of Harvard College, on "Atmospheric Air," "Oxygen and Ozone," "Nitrogen," "Water," "Carbon," &c., &c.

The lectures of Professor Caswell will be inserted in the Appendix to this report, and, it is believed, will be found interesting to the teacher, as well as to the general reader, on account of the information given relative to many points not usually dwelt upon in popular works on the subject.

Respectfully submitted.

JOSEPH HENRY.

APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE SECRETARY.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, Washington, December 31, 1858.

SIR: I have the honor herewith to present a report, for 1858, of the operations you have entrusted to my charge, namely, those which relate to the printing, to the exchanges, and to the collections of natural history.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

SPENCER F. BAIRD,

Assistant Secretary Smithsonian Institution.

JOSEPH HENRY, L. L. D.,

Secretary Smithsonian Institution.

PUBLICATIONS.

The publications of the Institution during the year are as follows: Annual Report of the Board of Regents for 1857. One volume, 8 vo., pp. 438.

Catalogue of the Described Diptera of North America, prepared for the Smithsonian Institution by R. Osten Sacken. 8vo., pp. 112.

Map of the Solar Eclipse of March 15, 1858, by Rev. Thomas Hill, of Waltham, Massachusetts. 8vo., pp. 8.

Directions for Meterological Observations and the Registry of Periodical Phenomena. 8vo. pp. 70.

Tables, Meteorological and Physical, prepared for the Smithsonian Institution, by Arnold Guyot. 8vo. pp. 634.

Nereis Boreali Americana, or Contributions to a History of the Marine Algae of North America, by William Henry Harvey, M. D., M. R. I. A. Part III, Chlorospermeae. 4to, pp. 142, and fourteen plates.

Magnetical Observations in the Arctic Seas, by Elisha Kent Kane, M. D., United States navy, reduced and discussed by Charles A. Schott. 4to. pp. 72, and two plates.

A Grammar and Dictionary of the Yoruba Language, by the Rev. T. J. Bowen. 4to. pp. 232.

The following publications are in an advanced state and will be completed early in the year:

Catalogue of Transactions and Periodicals in the Library of the Smithsonian Institution. 8vo.

Catalogue of North American Birds, by S. F. Baird.

EXCHANGES.

The system of international exchanges organized by the Smithsonian Institution a few years ago continues to be highly successful, and is rapidly developing to an enormous magnitude. Every year witnesses a great increase in the amount of material transmitted abroad and received in return, and it is not too much to say that any abrupt termination of the undertaking on the part of the Institution would be felt as a great public calamity. Few, if any, American institutions of note, publishing transactions or reports, have any other medium of exchanging them with foreign correspondents.

The details of operations in this department will be found in the following tables, all of which exhibit a marked increase as compared with 1857: