"General Directions for Collecting and Preserving Objects of Natural History" by Spencer Baird

Spencer F. Baird (Class of 1840), the Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, publishes "General Directions for Collection and Preserving Objects of Natural History" in 1848. Baird, who is responsible for the Natural History Department, also includes an overview ("Special Desiderata") of specimens that the Smithsonian would like to add to its own collection. In addition, Baird copies a letter that describes how individuals can send specimens to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC at no cost.

"Where public wagons are returning empty, from the interior to the depots on the coast, and public vessels returning from Mexico or Texas, to New Orleans, or other ports in the United States, specimens can be transported and kept in public stores, as requested by Professor Baird, free of expense," as Quarter Master General Thomas S. Jesup explains to Colonel S. Churchill.