REPORT OP THE SECRETARY. oO 



tiie agent of the American government, tlirougli wliom tlie legacy was 

 procured. They were delivered by him to the Secretary of State, and 

 afterwards deposited in the museum of the Patent Office, where they 

 remained until the last year, when they were transferred to the Regents' 

 room in the Smithsonian building. They have been arranged for exhi- 

 bition in a large case of black walnut, and now form an interesting por- 

 tion of the collections of the Institution. They consist of a very ex- 

 tensive series of rare though minute specimens of mineralogy, of the 

 table service of plate of Smithson, and of the portable chemical and 

 mineralogical apparatus with which he made his investigations. 

 Besides the above mentioned articles, the Institution has had in its 

 possession for several years the library of Smithson, containing 115 

 volumes, and a collection of manuscripts, principally consisting of what 

 would appear to be the materials of a philosophical dictionary. The 

 whole collection taken together serves to exhibit the character of the 

 man, and clearly to indicate his intention as to the nature of the Insti- 

 tution to which he gave his name. It serves to strengthen the convic- 

 tion, if anything of this kind were needed, that the proper interpretation 

 of the will has been given by the Regents in adopting the plan which 

 makes active operations, the discovery of new truths, and a diffusion 

 of these among men, the prominent object of the establishment. 



In this connexion, it may be interesting to repeat a statement made 

 in a former report_, that the Institution is in possession of two like- 

 nesses of Smithson ; one, a portrait of him while a youth, in the cos- 

 tume of a student at Oxford, the other a medallion, from which a steel 

 engraving has been executed. The first was purchased from the widow 

 of John Fitall, the servant of Smithson, and the other was among his 

 effects, and identified by a paper attached to it, on which the w^ords 

 " my likeness" were written in Smithson's own hand. A list of the 

 papers published by Smithson^ and a record of all the facts which 

 could be gathered in relation to him, have been made, to serve here- 

 after for a more definite account of his life and labors than has yet 

 appeared. 



Gallery of Art. — During the past year this apartment of the Smith- 

 sonian building has been enriched by a faithful copy, in Carrara 

 marble, of the " Dying G-ladiator," one of the most celebrated statues 

 of antiquity. This copy, which is said to be the only one in marble 

 in existence, has been deposited here by its owner, F. W. Risque, 

 esq., of the District of Columbia, to whom the public of this country 

 is indebted for his liberality in the purchase and free exhibition of so 



