SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 129 



sketch by the author; North Carolina Precincts in 1729, after a map in 

 Hawk's History of North Carolina; A Map of ye most Improved Part of 

 Carolina, from Winsor's America, vol. v, p. 351. 



Professor Fiske's genius for the writing of history is apparent on every 

 page of his w^ork. His broad training in philosophy and his accurate 

 knowledge of modern science, along with his remarkable historic con- 

 sciousness, make him equally happy in tracing effects to causes, in viva- 

 cious narrative, or when dealing with stirring incidents and graphic details. 

 Nor does he omit upon occasion to draw lessons from the past for our pres- 

 ent guidance, and now and then to point a very opportune moral. His 

 next contribution to American history will be The Dutch and Quaker Colo- 

 nies, which are promised without much delay, and will be warmly wel- 

 comed by a host of readers. 



The purpose of the founder of the Smithsonian Institution, as stated in 

 his will, " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," has been 

 more fully achieved by the group of men who constituted its officers during 

 its first fifty years than even James Smithson himself could have expected. 

 His motto has been faithfully adhered to, and as a result its workers and 

 laboratories are probably more widely known among scientists than those 

 of any other American institution. Its close connection with the Govern- 

 ment has not been the least of its difficulties, and the consistency with 

 which anything savoring of politics has been avoided reflects great credit 

 on the officials. It is to these latter that whatever success the Smithsonian 

 has achieved belongs. The simple subsidizing of an institution is but a step 

 in its foundation. That the Smithsonian has been singularly favored in its 

 officials, its present position implies. Joseph Henry, Spencer F. Baird, and 

 Samuel Pierpont Langley, its three secretaries, are all names of high repute 

 in pure science; as also those of men combining in a most unusual way ex- 

 ecutive ability with the true scientific spirit. Its minor workers have been 

 equally efficient in their special departments and have also contributed 

 largely to the success of the institution. In fact, the Smithsonian is one of 

 the few scientific national enterprises of w^hich we can be entirely proud. 

 The present volume * is published in honor of its fiftieth anniversary, and 

 to commemorate its first fifty years' work. A brief preface by William 

 McKinley and a paragraph by the present secretary serve to introduce the 

 reader. The first chapter gives a history of the founder, James Smithson. 

 An account of the founding of the institution and the board of regents and 

 the work of the three secretaries occupies the next three chapters and is by 

 James Brown Goode, who was to have seen the volume through the press, 

 and whose untimely death not only much delayed the latter's issue, but 

 made a vacancy in the institution which it will be difficult to fill. The 

 benefactors of the Smithsonian and their bequests are next taken up by 

 Professor Langley. Since the original endowment, which was about $700,- 

 000, there has been received over a quarter of a million more ; $250,000 of 

 this latter amount was given by Thomas George Hodgson, whose curious 

 and eventful life is briefly sketched by Professor Langley. A number of 

 smaller bequests are also spoken of. The United States National Museum, 

 the Smithsonian Library, and the general buildiugs and equipment of the 



* The Smithsonian Institution. l'yC-1896. The History of its First Half Century. Edited by George 

 Brown Goode. City of Washington. 18S7. 



VOL. LUl. — 11 



