stitution simultaneously with or before the transmission. In this way we shall have no difficulty in looking after the box or boxes and in securing their arrival in Washington at the earliest possible moment. Of course, if you have an agency in New York, we shall be pleased to be placed in communication with it. But such agency is not necessary if you will send duplicate bills of shipment, as suggested. If it is more convenient to you to have all the charges from Paris to Washington paid here, and in the same way to receive the boxes from Washington and pay the expenses in Paris, it will be equally agreeable to us. May we not assume-which I trust is the case-that your bureau will receive, without any restriction whatever, everything sent by the Smithsonian Institution intended for public bureaus, learned societies, libraries, and men of the whole of France and its dependencies in Algeria, and that it will see to the further transmission of these packages from Paris? Should this trust be accepted, we will notify the consignee of each sending that a package has been forwarded through you, and instruct him or it to apply to you for the same. Of course, we accept an equally exhaustive mission on our part. If authorized, we will send a circular to each of our correspondents in France, instructing them to send all parcels to you instead of to M. Bossange, our present agent, who has recently failed in business. I greatly regret to state that the collection of books advised by you under date of July 22 has not yet come into our possession. I have written to M. Bossange, asking him for information on the subject. Is it certain that it was sent to that agent? The invoice of the 27th of September has been duly received, but all the works enumerated were not found. I beg to send herewith a list of what is still wanting. If I understand aright, the rules of the international bureau contemplate the placing of packages intended for a particular country in the hands of the resident minister of that country; or, in other words, that the parcels from the Smithsonian Institution for your country are to be turned over to the minister of France in Washington, and those for the United States to the American minister in Paris. It is quite immaterial to us which method is preferred, although, as a matter of business, we think the transmissiou can be made more direct by ourselves to New York, and by you to Havre. Please advise us on this head. Trusting that the length of this communication will be justified by the desire to put so important a transaction on a proper basis as that of the international exchange of the whole of America with the Republic of France, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant Baron R. DE VATTEVILLE, SPENCER F. BAIRD, Secretary Smithsonian Institution. Commissioner Des Echanges Internationaux, Paris, France. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 8, 1879. SIR: I inclose herewith for your information a copy of a letter addressed to this department by the principal librarian of the British Mu seum, conveying the thanks of its trustees for the present in continnation of former donations of certain public documents of the Government of the United States, which were received through the Smithsonian Institution. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Professor SPENCER F. BAIRD, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. F. W. SEWARD, [Inclosure.] Mr. Bond to the Secretary of State. JANUARY 25, 1879. SIR: I am directed by the trustees of the British Museum to acknowledge the receipt through the Smithsonian Institution of the present which the Government of the United States has been so good as to make to them, in continuation of former donations, of the series of the reports of the committees of the United States Senate, 1877'78, Washington, 1878, 8vo. together with a collection of reports and other State papers, referring to the administration of the Government in the United States, during the years 1877-78. I am requested that you will be pleased to cause the expression of the best thanks of the trustees of the British Museum to be conveyed to the Government of the United States for this present, which constitutes an addition of much interest to the national library of this country. I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, The SECRETARY OF STATE, EDWARD A. BOND, Government of the United States. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, SIR: I have to apologize for the temporary cessation of the corre spondence between yourself and the Smithsonian Institution in reference to the proposed system of international exchanges. The death, in May last, of my lamented predecessor, Professor Joseph Henry, has caused an interruption in the business of the Institution, from which it has only recently recovered; but I trust that the matters referred to will hereafter be prosecuted with due dispatch and accuracy. The Smithsonian Institution, as already explained to your honorable commission, has now in charge two distinct departments of international exchanges. The first is that carried on in behalf of the Government of the United States for the benefit of the national library at Washington. For this purpose the official printer is instructed to reserve fifty sets of the publications, not only of the Congress of the United States, but also of the several bureaus of the government, and to send forty-eight of these to the Smithsonian Institution, the other two being delivered to the national library. One complete series is sent to each government agreeing to make an equally complete and exhaustive return. Under this arrange ment there is absolutely no print issued, however small and insignificant, or however costly to the government, that is not included in the series; and a like return is expected, even though the aggregate amount be verymuch less. The second division is that prosecuted in behalf of learned societies, the various bureaus of the government, and the scientific and literary men of America. This embraces all publications of learned societies, scientific periodicals, monographs, and other works, but does not include specimens of natural history or of the fine arts, unless permission is especially obtained. An accompanying pa nphlet will fully explain the conditions under which this second division is prosecuted. These two forms of international exchange have hitherto been conducted entirely at the expense of the Smithsonian Institution. It has its own agents in Europe, several of whom receive a salary. It has paid the expenses of the delivery, as also that of the return of parcels sent through the same agent to institutions and persons in America, involving of late years a cost of about $10,000 annually to the Smithson fund. This expense has become very onerous, and the, proposition to divide it with foreign bureaus of exchange has been received with the greatest satisfaction. For many years Mr. Frederick Müller, of Amsterdam, has been, the Smithsonian agent for Belgium and the Netherlands, but the exchange bureau at Haarlem has now taken the matter out of his charge, so far as Holland is concerned; and we hail with great satisfaction the prospect of a cordial and efficient relation of a similar character with your own bureau, by which the services of Mr. Müller for Belgium may in the future be dispensed with. By a careful perusal of the rules herewith sent, you will observe that the Institution does not contemplate a miscellaneous exchange of unassigned or unaddressed books, but simply undertakes to maintain direct and intelligent relations between the different bodies and to deliver such parcels as bear an inscription of destination by the senders. In some instances it receives a number of copies of particular works unaddressed which it forwards at its own discretion to parties who appear to be suitable recipients. It is willing to transmit all such surplus copies intended for Belgium to your department for subsequent assignment. You can also in like manner send several copies of particular works for the same purpose; but we would prefer that all other matter be specifically and formally addressed. Your failure to receive an invoice of our previous sending is of less consequence, as a specific destination had been given the several packages. We do not propose to send a list of the contents of the packages, as these came to us already addressed. There will, however, be a list of the addresses themselves, and we shall forward a catalogue of the official publications contained in our transmissions to the Government of Belgium. We have already sent you a copy of the list of Belgian institutions referred to in your letter of March 18, 1878, and shall be pleased to have any suggestions for its improvement. In reply to your letter of the 29th of May, I beg to state that we are not yet in receipt of the box which you advised as sent to us on that date, and that unless we are informed of the route by which it was forwarded, and especially as to the port of departure and also the vessel on which it comes and its address in the United States, it will be impossible for us to obtain it. Hereafter all boxes intended for this Institution should be addressed, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, care of the Collector of Customs, New York, and duplicate bills of lading sent, one to the collector and one to the Smithsonian Institution. In this way there will be no delay and the boxes will reach us after the shortest possible time. We shall also thus be able to pay the expenses of freight from your shipping point in Europe to Washington. We will in return deliver our packages in New York free of expense and have them shipped to Belgium. Should you have any particular channel of communication which you prefer, please advise us; otherwise we shall forward by Antwerp steamers from New York. We will, with pleasure, act in behalf of the Belgian Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Botany, and endeavor to secure such exchanges as they may respectively desire. As the Smithsonian Institution is already in possession of quite a full series of transactions of Belgian scientific institutions, it will hardly be necessary for you to make any special effort to send this class of matter excepting in response to applications for desiderata. The library of the Smithsonian Institution, constituting as it does a portion of the National Library of the United States if Washington, we have the satisfaction of knowing that by the combination of the results of the exchanges with learned societies and with foreign gov ernments, we shall, in time, have under one roof, to a very important degree, that ideal public establishment referred to in your pamphlet, where the principal periodical and monographic works in science and literature are to be found. I regret to say that the introduction to the bibliography of Belgium for the years 1875 to 1878 is not in our possession. If it reached us it has been mislaid, and we should be glad to have another copy. Should the Numismatic Society of Belgium send its publication to the American Journal of Numismatics, in Philadelphia, through us, we would see that the desired return is made. Referring to your letter of the 24th of January, 1879, I beg to renew the statement that the box of Belgian publications, mentioned as sent on the 25th of May, 1878, has not yet come to hand. In the present communication you will find, I trust, the information previously asked for; and I hope that with the explanations herein made that the mutual relations of the Smithsonian Institution and of the Belgian Exchange Commission will be put on a satisfactory basis, and that hereafter there will be no interruption to a continued easy intercourse. If we have got heretofore formally expressed ourselves to this effect, we now beg to state that you are at liberty to address parcels through the Smithsonian Institution in Washington to the Government of the United States, and to learned societies, and to men in any part of America. We will charge ourselves with the prompt delivery of such packages addressed to Canada, Mexico, Chili, Cuba, Brazil, &c. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, SPENCER F. BAIRD, Secretary Smithsonian Institution. Monsieur L. ALVIN, President Belgian Commission of International Exchanges, Brussels, Belgium. CENTRAL BRAZILIAN COMMISSION OF INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR IMPERIAL AFFAIRS, RIO DE JANEIRO, May 16, 1880. MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND EXCELLENT SIR: Mr. Xavier Charmes, attaché of the ministry of public instruction and the fine arts of Frauce, and chief of the department of international exchanges, having sent me, on the 20th of April last, at my request, the list of correspondents appointed by the various governments to take charge of international exchanges, gives me the information that you are the correspondent designated by your government for the above-mentioned service in your country, and I presume he has also informed you that the government of his Majesty the Emperor, my august sovereign, has founded (established) in the capital of Rio de Janeiro a central commission of international exchanges, naming me its president, and as associates, Abackarel Jeronymo Bandeira de Mello, chief of section of the general directory of statistics, and Guilherme Candido Bellegarde, chief of section of the central directory of the ministry of agriculture, commerce, and public works, as stated in the articles printed in the accompanying pamphlet, of which I have the honor of sending you three copies. It remains, then, to inform you that the central Brazilian commission of international exchanges has been in operation since the 20th day of November last, and transacts its business in the third directory of the office of the secretary of state of imperial affairs, and that it will shortly send you the first remittance of our official publications, hoping that in return there will also be sent to it the official publication of your country. I wish to congratulate you on account of the happy resolution taken by our respective governments, in the interest of the sciences and of the development and progress of civilization, to establish as a permanent institution the service of international exchanges, and I (very) especially congratulate myself on the opportunity thus afforded of opening relations with a gentleman so distinguished and illustrious as yourself. Accept, eminent sir, the assurance of my highest esteem and consideration. The president of the commission, Dr. J. J. DE COMPOS DA COSTA DE MEDEIROS Y ALBUQUERQUE. To his excellency Mr. Dr. Prof. SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. [Inclosure.] Provisional instructions for the guidance of the central commission of international exchanges established this day. ARTICLE I. The central commission of international exchanges shall be installed in one of the rooms of the third department of the office of the secretary of the empire, and transact its business on such days and at such hours as will not interfere with the ordinary business of the office of the secretary. ART. II. The commission is charged 1. To correspond with the similar institutions established in other countries, with respect to all matters within its competency. 2. To collect and transmit all information, scientific, literary, or concerning the arts, which may be solicited of them. 3. To have made, on behalf of the commissioners of other countries, the necessary examinations in the libraries, archives, bookstores, and other public and private establishments of the empire. 4. To collect together the documents intended for exchanges, and perform this in the way that shall be most beneficial to the empire. 5. To receive and distribute those which may be sent by foreign commissions. 6. To give all possible aid to scientific missions, both Brazilian and foreign.. 7. To solicit from any authority or public department whatsoever everything that may be necessary for the fulfillment of the charge intrusted to it. 8. To appoint representatives (agents) in the provinces and give them the necessary instructions. |