THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 135 



gifted with the necessary power, and diffusing a kind of knowledge, 

 now only accessible to the few, among all those who are willing to 

 receive it. In this country, though many excel in the application of 

 science to the practical arts of life, few devote themselves to the con- 

 tinued labor and patient thought necessary to the discovery and devel- 

 opement of new truths. The principal cause of this want of attention ' 

 to original research is the w^ant, not of proper means, but of proper 

 encouragement. The publication of original memoirs and periodical 

 reports, as contemplated by the programme, will act as a powerful 

 stimulus on the latent talent of our country, by placing in bold rehef the 

 real laborers in the field of original research, while it will afford the best 

 materials for the use of those engaged in the diffusion of knowledge. 



The advantages which will accrue from the plan of pubhshing the 

 volumes of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge are various. 

 In the first place, it will serve to render the name of the founder favor- 

 ably known wherever literature and science are cultivated, and to keep 

 it in continual remembrance with each succeeding volume, as long as 

 knowledge is valued. A single new truth, first given to the world 

 through these volumes, will forever stamp their character as a work of 

 reference. The Contributions will thus form the most befitting monu- 

 ment to perpetuate the name of one whose life was devoted to the 

 increase of knowledge, and whose ruhng passion, strong in death, 

 prompted the noble bequest intended to facilitate the labors of others 

 in the same pursuit. 



Again, the publication of a series of volumes of original memoirs 

 will afford to the Institution the most ready means of entering into 

 friendly relations and correspondence with all the learned societies in 

 the world, and of enriching its hbrary with their current transactions 

 and proceedings. But perhaps the most important effL^ct of the plan 

 will be that of giving to the world many valuable memoirs, which, on 

 account of the expense of the illustrations, could not be otherwise pub- 

 lished. Every one who adds new and important truths to the existing 

 stock of knowledge, must be, of necessity, to a certain degree, in ad- 

 vance of his age. Hence the number of readers and purchasers of a 

 work is often in the inverse ratio of its intrinsic value ; and conse- 

 quently, authors of the highest rank of merit are frequently deterred 

 from giving their productions to the world on account of the pecuniary 

 loss to which the publication would subject them. When our lamented 

 countryman, Bowditch, contemplated pubhshing his commentary on La 

 Place, he assembled his family and informed them that the execution 

 of this design would sacrifice one third of his fortune, and that it was 

 proper his heirs should be consulted on a subject which so nearly con- 

 cerned them. The answer was worthy of the children of such a father: 

 "We value," said they, " your reputation more than your money." 

 Fortunately, in this instance, the means of making such a, sacrifice ex- 

 isted ; otherwise one of the proudest monuments of American science 

 could not have been given to the world. In the majority of cases, how- 

 ever, those who are most capable of extending human knowledge are 

 least able to incur the expense of the publication. Wilson, the Ameri- 

 can ornithologist, states, in a letter to Michaux, that he has sacrificed 

 everything to publish his work : " I have issued," , he says, " six vol- 



