1,211 Volumes. 51 Maps. 4 Cases of Minerals. 1 Herbal. Making a total amount of 4,749 objects exchanged through the Agency in the course of the past sixteen months between France and North America.--The Hon. _Secretary of war_, the states of _Maine_, _Massachusetts_, _New-York_, and _Indiana_ with the cities of _Baltimore_ and _New-York_, being the only respondents to my call, by transmitting important works and voting generous allocations to pay the necessory expenses. From these facts, all can see what the operations of the scheme have been, and judge what important results may be confidently relied upon, if the other states, corporations and institutions of the flourishing and happy Republic would but enter fully and seriously in this peaceful _Intellectual Union_ of the two Hemispheres. ALEXANDRE VATTEMARE. NOTA. It may perhaps be well to mention that the greater part of the books I have received here for the United States have been merely stitched, be cause no appropriations are made for binding public documents. The usefulness of the scheme of international exchanges is however becoming so apparent, that I hope generous appropriations will be made this year to enable several ministerial departments and the chambers to have their documents which are destined for exchange, properly bound and lettered. I would also express an hope that means may be provided to enable me to publish a quarterly account of the movements of the scheme, giving all the transactions effected, and also serving as an organ announcing all the superfluities of intellectual riches possessed by different countries and the Legislative, scientific and useful works published by their governments and scientific bodies, which could only be procured by exchange. Such a publication would be, and I may say is the only means of securing the permanency of the system of exchanges, and remove the apprehensions of those who see its existence limited by the perseverance of my efforts. INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BEST MODE OF COLLECTING, PRESERVING AND TRANSPORTING OBJECTS OF NATURAL HISTORY. It is the actual state of our collections and of our Knowledge of Natural History of which we are about to speak. But as this memoir, though specially destined for our Museum and for our countrymen, may be consulted by foreign naturalists for the sake of our collections as well as for their own, we would invite the attention of collectors to any point that may seem defective or capable of improvement, and we invite all travellers to make known to us the results of their experience that we, and the whole learned world, may profit by them.