36 EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



might be at the disposal of the President of the United States, to- 

 gether with an officer of the Navy to act as naval secretary, and an 

 officer of the Corps of Engineers of the Armj^, as engineer secretary. 

 From the commencement of the board to the present time, the mem- 

 bers from civil life have been the Snperintendeut of the Coast Survey 

 and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. During the whole pe- 

 riod I have occupied the position of chairman of the committee on experi- 

 ments, and have, with the exception of the summer I was in Europe, 

 devoted my vacations to investigations relative to lighting-materials, 

 fog-signals, and other duties connected with tlie light-house service. In 

 October, 1871, on the retirement of Admiral Shubrick and the ordering 

 of Admiral Jenkins to the charge of the East India squadron, I, being the 

 oldest member, was elected chairman of the board. For the discharge 

 of the duties of this position, in addition to the time of my summer 

 vacation, I have made arrangements for devoting one day in each week. 

 It is proper to observe that my office as a member of the Light-House 

 Board, although one of much responsibility, and to which I have, during 

 the last eighteen years, devoted a large amount of labor, is accompanied 

 with no salary, the expense of traveling and subsistence being defrayed 

 by an allowance of ten cents per mile. 



The services which have been rendered to the Government by tlie 

 Institution from its commencement to the present time are deserving 

 of recognition. They include not only those connected with the 

 "N^ational Academy, the Light-House Board, investigations now being 

 carried on relative to fishes, the care of the Government collections, 

 the organization of the natural history portions of the various exploring 

 expeditions, the series of investigations made during the war, but also an- 

 swers to tlie constant applications from members of Congress for infor- 

 mation on special subjects. In no case has the Secretary or his assistants 

 received any remuneration for labors thus performed. 



In this connection I may mention that on the occasi<Mi of my visit to 

 Europe in the summer of 1S70 I was honored by the President of the 

 United States with an appointment to represent this country at a meet- 

 ing of an international commission, invited by the Lvte Emperor of 

 France, to consider the best means of multiplying copies for distribution 

 of the original meter preserved in the archives of the government at 

 Paris. Unfortunately, before the time of meeting arrived, in August, 

 the Franco German war commenced, preventing the attendance of a 

 number of commissioners who would otherwise have been present. 

 On this account it was resolved to permanently adopt no definite 

 proposition in regard to the meter, but merely to discuss the various 

 questions which might be connected with the general subject. The 

 commission remained in session from the 8th to the 1-lth of August, 

 and adjourned to meet again at a more favorable season. 



The Institution has taken much inti^rcst in the historical phenomenon 

 of the movement in Japan in regard to the adoption of western civilization. 



