12 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



(lie Government, but should stand alone, free to the unobstructed 

 observation of the whole world, and keep in perpetual remembrance the 

 name of its generous founder. The functions of the Museum and of the 

 Institution are entirely different. The object of the former is the estab- 

 lishment of a collect ion of specimens of nature and of art which shall 

 exhibit the natural resources and industry of the country, or present at 

 one view the materials essential to a condition of high civilization which 

 exists in the different States of the American Uniou ; to show the various 

 processes of manufacture which have been adopted by us, as well as 

 those used in other countries; in short, to form a great educational estab- 

 lishment, by means of which the inhabitants of our own country as well as 

 those of foreign lands who visit our shores may be informed as to the 

 means which exist in the United States for the enjoyment of human life 

 in the present and their improvement in the future. The Smithsonian 

 Institution, on the other hand, does not offer the results of its opera- 

 tions to the physical eye, but presents them to the mind in the form of 

 new discoveries, derived from new investigations and an extended ex- 

 change of new ideas with all parts of the world. 



It is the design of the Museum to continually increase its collection 

 of material objects; of the Institution, to extend the bounds of human 

 knowledge. The latter collects nothing for preservation of a material 

 character. It is true it sends out explorers and makes large collections, 

 but these are for distribution to museums, colleges and academies, or to 

 all establishments in which they can be useful in the way of the extension 

 of science or the advancement of education. Every civilized govern- 

 ment of the world has its museum which it supports with a liberality 

 commensurate with its intelligence and financial ability, while there 

 is but one Smithsonian Institution — that is, an establishment having 

 expressly for its object "the increase and diffusion of knowledge 

 among men." The conception of such an institution — not a local estab- 

 lishment intended to improve the intellectual condition of any single 

 city or any single nation, but that of mankind in general — was worthy 

 of the mind of Smithson, and the intelligence and integrity of the 

 United States are both involved in the proper administration of the 

 trust, since the terms in which it was conveyed must be truly inter- 

 preted and the intention expressed rigidly carried out. 



It has been supposed that the Institution has derived much benefit 

 from its connection with the Museum in the way of adding to its popu- 

 larity, but it should be recollected that the Institution is not a popular 

 establishment and that it does not depend for its support upon public 

 patronage, but that it is an establishment founded on the bequest of an 

 individual, and that the very nature of its operations, involving study 

 and investigation, is in a considerable degree incompatible with con- 

 tinued interruption from large numbers of visitors. So far from the 

 Institution having derived advantage from the connection which has 

 existed between it and the Museum, the latter has proved a serious ob- 



