THE

AMERICAN ALMANAC

AND

REPOSITORY

OF

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE,

FOR THE YEAR

1850.

BOSTON:

CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by

G. P. SANGER AND F. E. PARKER,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

PREFACE.

THE twenty-first volume of the American Almanac, being the first volume of the third series, is now offered to the public. Unwearied pains have been taken to collect full, authentic, and varied information concerning the complex affairs of the general and State governments; and a mass of official documents and private correspondence has been digested relating to the government, finances, legislation, public institutions, internal improvements, and resources of the United States. It is believed that the present volume is equal to its predecessors in fulness and accuracy, and that it will sustain the high character of the American Almanac as a trustworthy manual for reference, and a full repository of useful knowledge.

The Astronomical Department has been, as usual, under the direction of Professor Peirce, whose high reputation is a sufficient guaranty of the completeness and accuracy of the computations. The article upon "Melloni's Researches in Radiant Heat" is a treatise in itself, and will be useful and instructive to all classes of readers. The earlier volumes of the Almanac contained articles upon various scientific matters. Since that time, the achievements of science have been so numerous, as to require a new series of articles upon subjects of the same class. The series is commenced this year, and will be continued in future volumes. The Meteorological Information is full and general; new and carefully prepared tables are given. Some favors were received too late for publication.

In the Second Part of the volume, the chapters upon the several Departments will be found to be full and accurate, having been corrected at Washington to the latest dates possible for publication. New lists have been added of Pension Agents, Indian Agents, and of Registers, Receivers, &c. connected with the Land Office. Later changes in these and in the various other lists are noted in the "Additions and Corrections" at the end of the volume. The rates of postage under the present postal arrangements have been carefully compiled, and are believed to be as accurate and intelligible as any thing that has been published. The chapter upon Public Lands contains an abstract of the Land Commissioners' Report for 1848, and the valuable tables appended thereto, in which the condition of the public lands and the various donations and grants thereof, from the founda

tion of the federal government to the present time, and the present extent of the public domain, are shown. The connected description of the three great "Water-Works" in the country will be found interesting and convenient, and valuable for reference. The tabular view of all the railroads in this country is continued from the last volume; and the comparative view of the debts, property, and general financial condition of all the States, has been corrected with great care from the latest official returns. The titles of the public laws and joint resolutions are given as last year. The abstracts of the laws have been carefully prepared, and made more full than formerly. They are now sufficiently full for all but professional use. The information concerning the individual States is as full as in former years. Should any one note inaccuracies or deficiencies therein, he is urgently asked to correct them. The European part of the work has been thoroughly revised, and is believed to be accurate. The account of the population of the several dependencies of Austria, and the movements therein, is made interesting from the recent position of that government. The Chronicle of Events and the Obituary notices are more extended than in former years.

The thanks of the Editor are particularly due to the heads of Departments at Washington, and to his many contributors and correspondents, to whom the work is indebted for a great part of its value. A continuance of their favors is respectfully solicited. A work embracing such a multitude of facts must necessarily contain some errors; persons who detect any are earnestly requested to communicate them to the Editor. It is particularly desirable that these communications should not be anonymous. It is frequently a source of regret to the Editor that he cannot suitably acknowledge the valuable hints and assistance of anonymous correspondents. It is a matter of some public interest, that a periodical which circulates so widely, both in Europe and America, and which is so universally trusted as a manual for reference, should be rendered as accurate as possible; and this end can be obtained only by the coöperation of many individuals. Communications should be addressed to the "Editor of the American Almanac," Boston.

Boston, Mass., Sept. 30, 1849.