wishes for the prosperity of the Washington Institution, and the continued pros perity of your great and increasing nation.

I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,

Letter from Lieutenant Maury.

TO FRANCIS MARKOE, JR., Esq.,

ISAAC WELD.

Corresponding Secretary of the National Institution.

FREDERICKSBURG, (VA,) Dɛc. 5, 1840..

SIR: Be so good as to convey to the members of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, established at Washington, my acknowledgments of the honor of being elected a Corresponding Member of the Institution.

The favorable auspices under which this Institution has commenced, and the peculiar advantages which it possesses in the zeal and commanding influence of its Directors, and many of its members, give to Science the promise of an abundant and rich harvest from the sea as well as from the land.

To explore the bottom of the ocean along our own coasts, in search of submarine forests, beds of shell-fish, and other treasures of the deep, would be a magnificent undertaking. The field there presented, is rich and rare; and among the more obvious advantages for making collections, the facilities enjoyed for turning laborers into this field have doubtless not escaped the attention of the Institution. The officers of the West India squadron, and, I doubt not, those too of the revenue service, have willing hearts and ready hands. They have but to learni how, consistently with their duties, they may promote the objects of such an Institution. The fifteen or twenty revenue cutters along the seaboard, if furnished with "drags" to "troll" the bottom in light winds, would greatly promote the objects of the Institution.

Not many years ago, the late Admiral Sir ISAAC COFFIN, R. N. had it in contemplation to endow three Naval schools in Massachusetts. He actually made a Will to that effect. Each school was to be furnished with a vessel, in which the pupils were to cruise four months of every year, trolling from Maine to Long Island, in search of "unknown or hidden treasures of the deep." Though the Admiral was afterwards induced to annul this Will, the provision of it alluded to above shows the importance which that distinguished officer attached to exploring the bottom of the sea.

Any one who contemplates for the first time the marl beds of our tertiary formation is filled with amazement at the multitudinous remains of the animal kingdom which he there beholds. In wonder, he asks himself, when and where lived these vast quantities of animals? Yet were this observer familiar with the bottom of the sea for a few leagues along the Atlantic coast, his wonderment would be turned rather from the past to the present-for he would there find the bottom composed, for miles together, of shells, whose genera and species yet live, and inhabit the unexplored caverns of the sea. Many of the bars and shoals along the Southern coast are formed almost entirely by such shells. Yet so entirely unexplored are the habitations of their living types that even the fisherman is a stranger to them.

In 1825-'6, when Gen. RODIL was besieged in the castles of Callao, and the port was blockaded, the men-of-war that were there turned their attention, for the want of a market on shore, to the resources of the harbor itself. H. B. M. ship Briton resorted to the expedient of trolling the harbor for shell-fish, and discovered banks of them. One of the greatest delicacies to be found now in the excellent fish market of Lima are the Britones of Callao, (so called in honor of the vessel.) Although the fishermen of Callao and Lima had been almost in the daily habit of fishing over these banks for two or three hundred years, it was not known, except by a dead shell cast up here and there on the beach, that such a shell-fish was to be found in the waters of Peru. This fact is mentioned to show how little is known of the bottom of the sea, even at those points which are most frequented.

If those vessels which use the troll could be induced to keep a record of their labor, such records would, in the course of time, enable the Institution to construct a chart of the coast, showing the unproductive from the fruitful and habitable parts of the bottom of the ocean-a work which would have the merit of being both useful and new.

I have the honor to be, &c.

M. F. MAURY, U. S. N.

A letter to the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia was read, announcing officially the existence of the National Institution, and asking its correspondence; and the reply of the Society, accepting with pleasure the offered correspondence, and stating that directions had been issued to furnish the Institution with the printed proceedings of the Society, and its future Volumes and Transactions.

And a letter from J. W. Vandenbroek, Consul of the United States at Amsterdam, offering specimens of the Birds of Holland, for the Cabinet of the Institution.

Stated Meeting, January 1, 1841.

Present, thirty-one members.

Hon. JOEL R. POINSETT in the Chair.

The following donations were received:

Abridgment of the Transactions of the Royal Society of London from 1665 to 1744, in 6 vols., 4to.-From Thomas Gilpin, Philadelphia.

Fifty-five genera of recent and fossil shells, comprising 117 species. From Col. J. G. Totten.

Specimen of shelly concretion, used as building-stone at St. Augustine, Florida, and a portion of a Mastodon tooth from Glynn county, Georgia.—From the same.

Specimens of crystallised Sulphuret of Silver, and Carbonate of Lime, from Mexico.-From Don Velasquez de Leon, one of the Mexican Commissioners.

Boylston Prize Essays, by Dr. Parsons, of Providence, Rhode Island. From the Author.

Silicified wood; Galena, from Nashville, Tennessee; Quartz, from Tybee Island, Georgia.—From G. Gaither.

Splendid specimen of crystallised Carbonate of Lime, from Wyer's Cave, Virginia. Gold ore, from Spottsylvania county, Virginia. From his Excellency Martin Van Buren, President of the United States.

The First Director reported that, agreeably to the desire of the members, he had invited several literary and scientific gentlemen, in this and other cities, to deliver lectures before the National Institution.

General Macomb, from the committee appointed to make arrangements for the first annual meeting, reported that the Hon. Joel R. Poinsett had consented, at their request, to fur. nish for publication a copy of the Discourse pronounced by him on the 4th instant, the anniversary of the National Institution. From the Discourse the following extracts have been made:

Extracts from the Discourse of the Hon. J. R. Poinsett, First Director, on the objects and importance of the National Institution.

"The lovers of Science, Literature, and the Fine Arts, residing in this District, felt sensibly the absence of those resources which are found elsewhere, and are necessary for the attainment of knowledge. They were mortified to perceive that the great advantages possessed by the public authorities at Washington were neglected, and that, at the seat of Government of this great nation, there existed fewer means than in any other city of the Union of prosecuting those studies, which, while they impart dignity and enjoyment to existence, lead to the most useful practical results. They believed it to be their duty to arouse the attention of Government to these deficiencies, and, at all events, to address themselves to the task of supplying them, as far as could be done by their individual and combined

exertions. For these purposes they have formed an association, and applied themselves to collect specimens of Geology and Mineralogy, and other objects of natural history, and, for the short period of its existence, the efforts of the Institution have been eminently successful. They have entered into correspondence with other learned Societies, and have been encouraged to proceed by their approbation, and have profited by their generous co-operation. They have invited the assistance of their fellow-citizens in the most distant States and Territories, and hope, by their aid, to collect documents and facts illustrative of the early history of our country, specimens of its Geology and of its Mineral and Vegetable productions, and, if not to preserve the animals and plants themselves, which are passing away before the progress of settlement and cultivation, at least to perpetuate their forms, and the memory of their existence. They hope to be able to illustrate these subjects, and others connected with them, by a series of gratuitous lectures, and entertain a confident expectation that numbers, whose duties compel them annually to assemble here, will view with interest collections of the natural productions of America, drawn from every State and Territory in the Union, and, becoming sensible of their utility, will contribute on their return to swell their amount, and to spread throughout the country a taste for literary and scientific pursuits.

"The Institution for the Promotion of Science and the Useful Arts, will, as its name indicates, embrace every branch of knowledge; and its members, believing such a combination essential to its success, have divided themselves into eight scientific classes, namely: Astronomy, Geography, and Natural Philosophy; Natural History; Geology and Mineralogy; Chemistry; the application of Science to the Useful Arts; Agriculture; American History and Antiquities; and Literature and the Fine Arts."

"At no epoch of history has Astronomy, both theoretical and practical, counted among its votaries so many illustrious men, as since the commencement of the present century; at no period has the vault of heaven been explored with so much genius, profound knowledge, ability, and physical means, as at this day; and never has been commenced a monument to the glory of science and human intellect more sublime than that of which astronomy is now laying the foundation. Shall we not add one stone to this structure? Will we expose ourselves to be denied our just title of a moral, religious, intelligent, and enlightened people, by refusing to inscribe the United States of America among the names of the civilized nations of the earth which will be found engraved upon the columns of this magnificent temple? Are we not a Navigating and Commercial people? Does not our flag float on every sea, and visit every accessible region of the world? And shall we not have our National Observatory, our astronomical archives, and our celestial ephemeris? Shall we any longer leave our navigators exposed to the disgrace of acknowledging that, without the astronomical ephemerides published in Europe, they could not with safety navigate distant seas? I hope not. I believe it to be only necessary to point out to the intelligent people of this country the

usefulness, not to say the necessity of such an establishment, for them immediately to appreciate the object, and, so far as the powers of the Government extend, to furnish the means to carry it into effect. I am aware that this has already been ably done in a report on the proper application of the Smithsonian bequest, presented to Congress, at its last session, by a gentleman with whom I am happy to be associated in promoting the progress of science. His long continued efforts to establish a National Observatory will, I trust, be finally crowned with success, and I shall always reflect with satisfaction on having, on the first occasion that presented itself, seconded, however feebly, his liberal and enlightened views.

"Second to Astronomy in its importance to the wants and interests of Navigation, and essential to those of commerce, is Geography; a science which equally requires the fostering care of Government. In this respect it has been more fortunate than Astronomy. The expedition of Lewis and Clark, undertaken by direction of Mr. Jefferson, and destined to explore the route across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean; that of the brave and gallant Pike; and those under that enterprising officer and accomplished observer Long, still further to examine that portion of our territory; the coast survey which is now in progress under the learned and accurate Hassler; the exploration of the country lying between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers by that indefatigable and scientific traveller Nicollet; and the expedition under the command of Lieut. Wilkes, intended to explore /unknown seas, to discover new sources of commercial enterprise, and to point out the dangers which beset the path of the navigator, while it sweeps from the charts those islands and shoals which have no existence, save in the imagination of former hydrographers; have been fitted out and supported by the Government, and have attracted the favorable notice of scientific men throughout the world. The Geographical Society of France speaks, by its President, of that expedition in the following terms: 'In calling your attention to the voyages round the world, and to other maritime enterprises which have, in our time, so largely contributed to the establishment and progress of geography, I have to observe, that it is no longer from our old Europe alone that these great expeditions set forth. The new world now rivals the old. The Government of the United States of America-of that nation which, in less than half a century, has taken a prominent station among the maritime powers-sends out, in its turn, an exploring expedition towards the Antarctic pole.' There is every reason to hope that the results of this expedition will prove as useful and honorable to the nation as its conception was creditable to its authors. It is a remarkable fact, that three national expeditions on voyages of discovery and for purposes of science, were traversing the same ocean at the same period: the American and French squadrons being in sight of each other, in a stormy sea, on an unknown and ice-bound coast, and striving with each other for the honorable distinction of priority of discovery. We await with impatience the rich harvest of new scientific observation and physical facts which the return of our exploring squadron will bring us. Much, however, remains to be done for the advancement of geography in our country. The vast inland seas which form our northern boundary, covered as they are with vessels, and teeming with commerce, have