The Smithsonian's development of the national 

 collections did not occur until 1858 when the Na- 

 tional Cabinet of Curiosities was transferred from 

 the Patent Office. Some 20 years later, the Con- 

 gress first passed a bill establishing the "National 

 Museum." The Smithsonian's responsibility to the 

 public is not neglected in pursuit of research, but it 

 has used the solid foundation of facts developed 

 through research to develop its exhibits program. 



Throughout the years, the Smithsonian has been 

 among the pioneers of American science. The 

 work of early scientists like John Newberry, who 

 in 1858 navigated the largely unexplored Colorado 

 River, assisted the western expansion of the Unit- 

 ed States while making an immeasurable contribu- 

 tion to the geological sciences. Robert Kennicott's 

 journey in 1864 from the Yukon River to the Ber- 

 ing Strait provided the first elementary data on 

 what was then Russian America, now Alaska. In 

 1867, a young ex-Army Major, John Wesley Pow- 

 ell, began his long association with the Smithsoni- 

 an that developed into the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology, which did more to salvage the lan- 

 guages, legends, and customs of the American 

 Indian than did any other group in the United 

 States. 



The Bureau of American Ethnology was not the 

 first research project to be supported by the Gov- 

 ernment for the Smithsonian. In 1871, Secretary 

 Spencer Baird was asked to head a commission to 

 investigate the disastrous decline of Atlantic food 

 fish. This work developed into the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries, now called the National Mar- 

 ine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a part of the Na- 

 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of 

 the Department of Commerce. 



In aeronautics and astrophysics, the Smithsoni- 

 an, in 1860, assisted Thaddeus Lowe, whose use of 

 balloons aided the Union effort during the Civil 

 War. In 1896, Secretary Samuel Langley, after 

 working many years on the concept of "mechani- 

 cal flight," tested his aerodrome and, despite the 

 short distance involved, proved the feasibility of 

 flight via this mode. In 1899, the Smithsonian, on 

 the basis of its reputation in the field, received a 

 request for information from a young bicycle mak- 

 er named Orville Wright. Concurrent to this activi- 

 ty, Langley also studied how solar radiation might 

 affect the world's weather. The revolutionary na- 

 ture of this theory is only being recognized today. 

 Langley's interest in this field led to the develop- 

 ment in 1895 of the Smithsonian Astrophysical 

 Observatory. 



In 1916, the Smithsonian again by fortuitous cir- 

 cumstances began an association with another 

 remarkable scientist. Dr. Robert H. Goddard. 

 Through the assistance of the Smithsonian, God- 

 dard was able to nurture his work, which led to the 



development of modern rocketry. Along with 

 Goddard, another Smithsonian Secretary, Charles 

 Abbot, continued the work of Langley on solar 

 radiation as a key to weather. Abbot discovered 

 that the variation in the sun's radiation follows a 

 regular pattern of fluctuation. Work in this area 

 continues today through the Langley-Abbot pro- 

 gram at the Astrophysical Observatory and the 

 long-term monitoring of radiative sources by the 

 Radiation Biology Laboratory. 



Examples of Basic Research 



Among the many current research projects un- 

 dertaken by the research bureaus of the Smithsoni- 

 an, a number of projects stand out as leading to- 

 ward the solution of contemporary problems and 

 expanding the frontiers of known scientific knowl- 

 edge. Our scientists have recently discovered two 

 archeological sites in northeastern Colorado which 

 indicate that man has been in the New World near- 

 ly 20,000 years earlier than the previously accepted 

 dates of 11,500 B.P. Working near Wray, Colora- 

 do, this expedition unearthed the most complete 

 Pleistocene record yet discovered of man's cultural 

 history in the Americas. The localities, known as 

 the Dutton and Selby sites, contain evidence that 

 ice age hunters killed and butchered extinct mega- 

 fauna such as a mammoth, ground sloth, peccary, 

 giant bison, camel, horse, as well as deer and ante- 

 lope. These ancient hunters, with known anteced- 

 ents in Siberia using only bone tools, appear to be 

 considerably more sophisticated than previously 

 supposed. These finds will call for an entire reeval- 

 uation of archaeological theory for the New 

 World. 



Scientists at the National Museum of Natural 

 History have been using amphipods in crucial 

 monitoring programs to guard against marine 

 pollution in projected tanker ports and other coast- 

 al regions. By understanding the physiological tol- 

 erance of amphipods to oil pollution, scientists are 

 able to determine at just what level pollution will 

 tip the balance adversely to disrupt the entire mar- 

 ine ecosystem. Smithsonian scientists are able to 

 provide the "purity of culture" to these monitor- 

 ing programs by assuring proper identification of 

 specimens. Quite often, we have found environ- 

 mental managers using erroneous specimens in 

 developing antipollution plans. By utilizing our 

 standardized collections, managers are able to 

 develop antipollution plans based on correct toler- 

 ance levels, hence avoiding countless errors and 

 wasted dollars. 



At the Chesapeake Bay Center for Environmen- 

 tal Studies, scientists over the past three years 

 have been undertaking basic research on the effect 

 of land run-off on estuarine water quality. In this 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 227 



