REPOK'I' OF THE .SECRETARY. 97 



DKT.VILS (W TirK IT.AX VOR DIKI'USING KXOWLEDGK. 



I. By the pvblicdtiitii of d licrica of rcportu {jiriixj an account of the new discoveries in 

 scicncf, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledye not strictly 

 professional. — 1. These reports will difl'iise a kind of knowledge generally interesting, 

 but wliieh, at jireseiit, is inaccessible to the public. Some of the reports may bo pub- 

 lished annually, others at longer intervals, as the inoorae of the Institution or the 

 changes in the branches of knowledge may indicate. 2. The reports arc to be prei)ared 

 by collaborators eminent in the different branches of knowledge. 3. Each collabo- 

 rator to be furnished with the journals and publications, doaiestic and foreign, nec- 

 essary to th(^ compilation of his report; to be paid a certain sum for his labors, and 

 to be named on the title-jtage of the report. 4. The reports to be published in sepa- 

 rate parts, so tliat persons interested in a particular branch can procure the parts 

 relating to it without purchasing the whole. 5. These reports may be presented to 

 Congress for partial distribution, the remaining copies to be given to literary and 

 scientific instituHons and sold to individuals fur a. moderate price.* 



II. By the puldicatiou of separate treatises on subjects of general interest. — 1. These 

 treatises nniy occasionally consist of valuable memoirs translated from foreign lan- 

 guages, itr of articles prepared under the direction of the Institution, or procured by 

 offering premiums for the best exposition of a given subject. 2. The treatises should, 

 in all cases, be submitted to a commission of competent judges previous to their pub- 

 lication. 3. As examples of these treatises, expositions may be obtained of the present 

 state of tJie scvtiral UriiUiibiis of knowledge mentioned iu the table of reports. 



Section II. 



Plan of organization, in a-c-ofrnlance with the terms of the resolutions of the Board 

 of Regents, providing for the two modes of increasing and diffusing knowledge. 



1. The act of Congress establishing the Institution contemplated the formation of a 

 library and a musiMim, and the Board of Regents, including these objects iu the plan 

 of organization, resolved to divide the income into two equal parts. 



2. One part to be approi)riated to increase and diffuse knowledge by means of pub- 

 lications and researches, agreeably to tlie scheme before given. The other part to be 

 appropriated to the formation of a library and a collection of objects of nature and 

 of art 



3. These two plans are not incompatible with one anotlu^r. 



4. To carry out the plan before described, a library will l»e re(iuired, consisting, 

 first, of a complete collection of the transactions and proceedings of all the learned 

 societies in the world ; second, of the more important current periodical publications 

 aud other works necessary in preparing the periodical reports. 



5. The Institution should make special collections, particularly of objects to illus- 

 trjite and verify its own imblicatious. 



C. Also, a collection of instruments of research in all branches of exi)erimental 



science. 



^* Thelbriowing are some of the subjects which may be embraced in the reports: 



I. Physical Class.— {I) Physics, including astronomy, natural philosophy, chemistry, 

 and met(M)rology. (2) Natural history, including botany, zoology, geology, etc. (3) 

 Agriculture. (4) Application of science to arts. 



II. Moral and Political Class.— i^) Ethnology, including particular history, com- 

 parative philology, antiquities, etc. (G) Statistics and political economy. (7) Mental 

 and moral philosophy. (H) A survey of the pcditical events of the world, penal re- 

 form, etp. 



III. Literature and the Fine Arts.^Cd) Modern literature. (10) The fine arts, and 

 their application to the useful arts, (II) Bibliognvphy. (12) Obituary notices of 

 distinguished individuals. 



n. Mis. 143 7 



