The table in itself is interesting as indicating the relative attention given to literature and science at the present day in the different coun tries of the world. During the past year 4,326 packages, each containing several articles, have been received from abroad for distribution to institutions and individuals in this country. One hundred and forty-one boxes, averaging 7 cubic feet each, with a total weight of 29,600 pounds, were sent abroad by the Institution during the year, viz: To Germany, 40; England, 30; Sweden, 5; Norway, 3; Denmark and Iceland, 4; France, 11; Russia, 7; Holland, 5; Belgium, 5; Australia, 11; Italy, 3; Cuba, 2; Brazil, 3; Liberia, 1; Egypt, 1; Canada, 10. The total number of separate parcels contained in these boxes was about 10,000. To facilitate the business of the exchanges, the following rules have been adopted: 1. Every package, without exception, must be enveloped in strong paper, and secured so as to bear separate transportation by express or otherwise. 2. The address of the institution or individual, for whom the package is intended, must be written legibly on the cover, and the name of the sender on one corner of the same. 3. No single package must exceed the half of a cubic foot in bulk. 4. A detailed list of addresses of all the parcels sent, with their contents, must accompany them. 5. No letter or other communication can be allowed in the parcel, excepting such as relates exclusively to the contents of the package. 6. All packages must be delivered in Washington free of freight and other expenses. 7. Every parcel should contain a blank acknowledgment, to be sigued and returned, either through the agent of the Institution, or, what is still better, through the mail, to the sender. Should exchanges be desired for what is sent, the fact should be explicitly stated on the list of the contents of the package. Much disappointment is frequently expressed at the absence of any return in kind for transmissions; but un less these are specifically asked for they will fail in many instances to be made. It will facilitate the labors of the Institution very greatly if the number corresponding to the several addresses in the Smithsonian printed catalogue* be marked on the face of each parcel; and for this purpose a copy of the catalogue will be forwarded to all who apply for it. Specimens of natural history will not be received for transmission unless with a previous understanding as to their character and bulk. 8. Unless all these conditions are complied with the parcels will not be forwarded from the Institution; and, on the failure to comply with the first and second conditions, will be returned to the sender for correction. The operations of the system of exchange have increased from year to year, and notwithstanding the liberal assistance received from transportation companies, it now absorbs nearly a seventh part of the entire income of the establishment. In order to improve its efficiency and the frequency of transmission of packages, a larger proportion of the income will be required. In view of these facts, the Secretary at the last session of the Board of Regents was authorized to receive aid from societies and individuals in defraying the heavy expense of this part of the oper ations of the Institution. Miss Jane Turner, sister of the late Prof. W. W. Turner, the wellknown philologist, continues to have charge of receiving and cataloguing the exchanges intended for the library of the Institution, and of distributing those for other parties. The receiving, packing, and shipping of the packages from different parts of the United States intended for foreign countries, is under the charge of Mr. H. Diebitsch. LIBRARY. In 1866, the library of the Institution was incorporated with that of Congress. This arrangement is still continued, and is beneficial to both establishments. The Smithson fund is relieved from the maintenance of a separate library, while at the same time the Institution has the use not only of its own books but of those of the Library of Congress. On the other hand, the Library of Congress is enriched by an entire department, that of books relating to modern science. The following is a statement of the books, maps, and charts received by exchange in 1874: Among the principal donations received in 1874, are the following: From the Company of Public Works of the Mediterranean: "Bassins de Radoub de Marseille. Notice sur l'exécution des travaux," with an atlas of 40 plates, (2 copies.) From the Argentine Confederation: "Description géographique et statistique de la Confédération Argentine, par V. de Moussy," vols. i-iii, with folio atlas. From the National Hungarian Museum, Buda-Pesth: "Monuments épigraphiques du Musée National Hongrois, dessinés par Ernest Desjardins," 1 vol., folio, Buda-Pesth, 1873. From the Imperial Archæological Commission, St. Petersburg: "Compte-rendu de la Commission Impériale Archéologique," for 1870 and 1871, with folio atlas. From the Icelandic Literary Society, "Reykjavik Skirnir," 1874: "Skyrsla um Forngripasafu Islands i Reykjavik," vols. i, ii, 1863-1870. Copenhagen, 1868, 1874. "Fyettir fra Islandi," 1873. Reykjavik, 1874, 8vo. From the Universities of Berlin, Bonn, Erlangen, Freiberg, Göttingen, Greifswald, Halle, Jena, Leipzig, Marburg, Rostock, Würzburg, Basel, Bern, and Zurich: Inaugural Dissertations for 1873. From the Hydrographic Department of the Ministry of Marine, St. Petersburg; 23 charts, 10 volumes, and 6 pamphlets. From the Veterinary School, Dorpat, 48 pamphlets. From the British Museum, London, "Catalogue of Greek Coins, Italy," 1873, 8vo.; "Catalogue of Roman Coins in the British Museum, Roman Medallions," 1874, 4to.; "Catalogue of Prints and Drawings," Division I. "Political and Political Satires," vol. ii., 1869-1873, 8vo.; "Fac-similes of Ancient Characters," 1873, folio; "Catalogue of Birds," vol. i, 1874, Svo.; "Hand-List of Seals, Morses, Sea-Lions, etc.," 1874, Svo.; "Hemiptera, Heteroptera," vol. viii, 1873, Svo.; and various guidebooks. From the Board of Admiralty, London, 28 charts published by the Hydrographic Office, from January, 1873, to January, 1874; "The China Sea Directory," vol. iv; "The Mediterranean Pilot," vol. i; "Red Sea Pilot," 1873; "Tide-Tables," 1874; "Nautical Almanac for 1878;" and 10 lists of lights. From the Overijssel Society for the Promotion of Provincial Welfare, Zwolle, 8 volumes, 8 parts, and 5 pamphlets. From the Royal Statistical Bureau, Copenhagen, "Statistisk Tabelvoerk," vols. xx-xxvi, (2 copies ;) "Sammendrug," etc., 10 parts. From Messrs. Robert and Alexander Stuart, New York, " Anti-Nicene Christian Library; Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A. D. 325," 24 volumes. From the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce, Rome, 10 volumes and three pamphlets published by the department. From the Central Bureau of Statistics, Stockholm, "Bidrug till sver iges officiela Statistik," 22 parts. From the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Modena, 27 medical pamphlets. From the Norwegian Government, "Norges Officiela Statistik," 1873, 13 parts, 4to; and 4 volumes on Norwegian Statistics. From the State library of Virginia, 9 volumes of State documents. In addition to the books which have been received, we are indebted to Major-General J. H. Lefroy, governor of Bermuda, a special friend of the Institution, for a series of manuscripts procured by him during a late visit to England, and presented through him by his relative, Mrs. Dundas, of Canon Hall, Larbert, N. B. The following is a report on these manuscripts by Mr. Spofford, Librarian of Congress : "These original records form a collection of the highest interest and value as materials of personal and political history at a period which must ever remain the most important era in the annals of the United States. One of the volumes contains twelve reports submitted to the lords of Her Majesty's treasury, by John Wilmot, Colonel Dundas, and the other commissioners, upon the losses and services of the claimants. who were loyal to the British crown during the revolutionary war, and who were afterward indemnified by act of Parliament. Six reports in addition, signed by Colonel Dundas and Mr. J. Pemberton, commissioners, and extending from A. D. 1784 to 1789, are also embraced. Thirtyfour of the manuscript volumes contain a large amount and variety of facts and testimony regarding the landed possessions and personal property of hundreds of British subjects in the New England States, as well as in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, etc. As most of these papers have never been published, they are the more valuable and original and unique repositories of information regarding the persons to whom they relate, the descendants of many of whom still survive among the people of the United States." The edition of the volume of the catalogue of Transactions of Learned Societies, originally prepared by the Institution, containing a list of the works of this branch of bibliography, deposited in the Library of Congress, having been exhausted, Mr. Spofford is about to publish a new edition containing all the late additions which have been made to the collection. It will also contain, in an appendix, a catalogue of scientific periodicals, with the date of publication of each volume, compiled under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, by Dr. H. Carrington Bolton, of the Columbia College School of Mines, New York. TELEGRAPHIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES. The important arrangement which was concluded between the Smithsonian Institution and the Atlantic cable companies in 1873, by which free telegraphic transmission of astronomical discoveries was granted between Europe and America, has been continued during the past year. The number of announcements, however, has not been as great as during the previous year. The following list comprises the asteroids discovered in 1874: No. 123456 J. C. Watson Eight comets have been detected during the past year. Winnecke, at Strasburg.. Discoverer. Date. February 18, 1874. Date. February 20, 1874. Winnecke, at Strasburg.. Coggia, at Marseilles... Borelly, at Marseilles. These comets, except No. 3, were strictly telescopic. The number of amateur astronomers in the United States who are provided with telescopes of sufficient power to detect minute heavenly bodies is every year increasing, and the discovery of new comets and asteroids offers an interesting field for their cultivation. The plan adopted by Professor Watson, of Ann Arbor, furnishes a definite means for the discovery of asteroids. It consists in studying with great minuteness a narrow band in the heavens, of two or three degrees in width, extending at right angles to the ecliptic, twenty degrees or more on each side. At some time in the revolution of an asteroid around the sun it must pass through this band, and, if each fixed star in this circumscribed space be accurately mapped and its relative place be made familiar to the observer, any new object which presents itself within this area may be readily detected. |