282 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
sheets of glass, presumably proof against air, and locked in a steel safe. I am 
unable to say, however, that, in spite of these precautions, observed for the past ten 
years, the text is not continuing to fade and the parchment to wrinkle and perhaps 
to break. 
“T am, sir, your obedient servant, 
“ JoHn Hay.” 
The President thereupon appointed C. F. Chandler, J. S. 
Billings and Ira Remsen to consider the question a second time. 
The report of this committee * is of such general interest that 
it seems desirable to quote it in full, together with the letter of 
acknowledgment written by the Secretary of State upon its 
receipt. 
“New York, April 24, 1903. 
“Hon. JoHN Hay, Secretary of State. 
“ Dear Sir: In response to a communication received from you, a committee 
was appointed by President Agassiz, of the National Academy of Sciences, to con- 
ter with you with regard to the present condition of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and to make such recommendations as should seem desirable to insure the 
preservation of this precious instrument. ‘The committee was also requested to 
send their report to you directly, in order to avoid the delay which might result 
from reporting in the usual manner to the officers of the Academy. The members 
of the committee are John S. Billings, Ira Remsen, and Charles F. Chandler. 
“ After conferring with you, the committee was given an opportunity to make a 
careful examination of the instrument, with the assistance of Mr. A. H. Allen, 
Chief of the Bureau of Rolls and Library, and with the assistance of Dr. Wilbur 
M. Grey, of the Army Medical Museum. 
“The instrument has suffered very seriously from the very harsh treatment to 
which it was exposed in the earlier years of the Republic. Folding and rolling 
have creased and broken the parchment. The wet press-copying operation, to 
which it was exposed about 1820, for the purpose of producing a facsimile copy, 
removed a large portion of the ink. Subsequent exposure to the action of light for 
more than thirty years, while the instrument was placed on exhibition, has resulted 
in the fading of the ink, particularly in the signatures. The present method of 
caring for the instrument seems to be the best that can be suggested. 
1 This report was reprinted by the Department of State in the form of a circular, and the 
following remarks were added to it: 
“The Secretary of State has directed that the recommendations of the committee as set 
forth in the foregoing report be observed. The Department of State has no copies of the 
Declaration of Independence in any form for distribution.” 
