]0 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



was first prevalent in this countr}^ that Smithson left his money merely 

 to diffuse practical knowledge among the people of the United States. 

 On the contrary he intended this institution as a monument to his name 

 which should be known of all men, and prized by the student of every 

 branch of literature and science, which should not be restricted to merely 

 spreading abroad the knowledge which already exists, but, above all, 

 should be the means of enlarging the bounds of human thought. He 

 was also too much of a philosopher to confine his bequest to the pro- 

 motion of any one branch of hterature or science, and therefore left 

 the trust free to be applied to all. 



His will recognizes a well established and very important distinc- 

 tion with regard to knowledge, viz. its increase and its diffusion. 

 These, though li'equently confounded, are very difl!erent processes, and 

 each may exist independent of the other. While we rejoice that in our 

 country, above- all others, so much attention is paid to the diffusion of 

 knowledge, truth compels us to say that comparatively little encour- 

 agement is given to its increase. 



There is another division with regard to knowledge which vSmithson 

 does not embrace in his design, viz. the application of knowledge to 

 useful purposes in the arts ; and it was not necessary he should found an 

 institution for this purpose. There are already in every civilized 

 country establishments and patent laws for the encouragement of this 

 departmentof mental industry. As soon as any branch of science can 

 be brought to bear on the necessities, conveniences, or luxuries of life, 

 it meets with encouragement and reward. Not so with the discovery 

 of the incipient principles of science. Tiie investigations which lead to 

 these receive no fostering care from government, and are considered 

 by the superficial observer as trifles unworthy the attention of those 

 who place the supreme good in that which inunediately administers to 

 the physical necessities or luxuries of lite. 



' If physical well being were alone the object of existence, every ave- 

 nue of enjoyment should be explored to its utmost extent. But he 

 who loves truth for its own sake, feels that its highest claims are 

 lowered and its moral influence marred by being continually sum- 

 moned to the bar of immediate and palpable utility. Smithson himself 

 had no such narrow views. The prominent design of his bequest is 

 the promotion of abstract science. It leaves to the teacher and the 

 teeming press t,o diffuse popular knowledge, and to the Patent Oflfice 

 and the manufacturer to facilitate and reward the application of science 

 to the useful arts. In this respect the Institution holds an otherwise 

 unoccupied place in this country, and adopts two fundamental max- 

 ims in its policy: 1st, to do notliing with its funds which can be equally 

 well done by other means ; and, 2d, to produce results which, as far 

 as possible, will benefit mankind in general. Any deviations from 

 these maxims which the liistory of the Institution may exhibit, must 

 be referred to the original requirements of the law of Congress au- 

 thorizing its establishment, and not to the plan of active operations at 

 first proposed in the programme, and which has constantly been kept 

 in view from the beginning until the present time. 



A miscellaneous and general library, museum, and gallery of art, 

 though important in themselves, have from the first been considered by 



