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work. The zoophytes and crustacea were described by Professor James D. Dana, in three quarto volumes of text and two folio atlases; the mollusks by A. A. Gould, in one volume of text, and one atlas; the geographical distribution of species by Charles Pickering, in one volume.

In his official Smithsonian report, for 1858, Professor Baird remarks regarding the Wilkes expedition that "The collections made by this naval expedition are supposed greatly to exceed those of any other of similar character ever fitted out by a foreign government, no published series of results comparing at all in magnitude with that issued under the direction of the Joint Library Committee of Congress."

The North Pacific Exploring Expedition was sent out for the purpose of

"prosecuting a survey and reconnaissance, for naval and commercial purposes, of such parts of Bering Straits, of the North Pacific Ocean and the China seas, as are frequented by American whale-ships, and by trading vessels in their routes between the United States and China."

The vessels, five in number, were furnished

with all the instruments required for making observations in astronomy, hydrography, magnetism, and meteorology, together with the most complete equipment of natural history apparatus which had ever been taken to sea up to that time. Captain C. Ringgold, who had formerly been connected with the United States exploring expedition under Captain Wilkes, was placed in command; but being recalled to the United States in 1854, he was superseded by Captain John Rodgers. The great value of [[strikethrough]] its [\strikethrough]] [[left margin]]the [[/left margin]] zoological results [[right margin]] of this cruise [[\right margin]] were due to the untiring zeal of is chief zoologist, Dr. William Stimpson, whose previous studies and explorations particularly fitted him for the position.

[[strikethrough]] This expedition was carried on under an appropriation from Congress in 1852, for [\strikethrough]]

The [[strikethrough]] vessels [\strikethrough]] expedition left Norfolk in June, 1853, and, after touching at the island of Madeira, proceeded to Hong-Kong, China, via the Cape of Good Hope. On this passage, the sloop "Vincennes" and the brig "Porpoise" passed by the way of Van Diemen's Land, through the Coral Seas, and by the Caroline, Ladrone, and Bashee islands; and the steamer "John Hancock," the store-ship, and the tender by the way of the straits of Sunda and Gaspar, the Carimata and Billeton passages, and the Sooloo Sea. The existence of a civil war in China at the time of the arrival of the expedition at Hong-Kong occasioned some delay in the progress of the exploring work, which was again resumed in the latter part of 1854. Subsequently the expedition proceeded northward, continuing the observations and collecting along the coasts of Japan, and Kamtschatka, in Bering Straits, on the coast of California, and at Tahiti, from which latter place it returned directly home by way of the Cape of Good Hope. The natural history results were of great magnitude, filling many boxes and barrels, and embracing very many new and rare species. The extent and value of the zoological collections may be judged from the following table of the number of species of each group obtained:

[[two columned table]]
|blank|Species|
|---|---| 
|Vertebrates|846|
|Insects|400|
|Crustacea|980|
|Annelids|220|
|Mollusks|2,359|
|Radiates|406|
|Total|5,211|

The plants in their original packages occupied a bulk of over 100 cubic feet. 

Soon after his return to the United States, Dr. William Stimpson became the director of the Chicago Academy of Science, to which place nearly all the marine invertebrates [[left margin]] collected by [\left margin]] [[strikethrough]] materials of [\strikethrough]] the expedition were transferred. Considerable progress had been made