138 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



periment : the results obtained were highly important, and are to be 

 found favorably mentioned in every systematic work on the subject of 

 steam which has appeared, in any language, within the last few years. 

 New and important facts were established ; and, what was almost of 

 as much consequence, errors which had usurped the place of truth 

 were dethroned. 



In the progrnmme, ex;im])les are given of a few subjects of original 

 research to which the attention of the Institution may be turned. I will 

 mention one in this place, which, in connexion with the contents of our 

 first memoir, may deserve immediate attention. I allude to a small 

 appropriation made annually for researches with reference to the re- 

 mains of the ancient inhabitants of oiu' country. This is a highly inter- 

 esting field, and what is done in regard to it should be done quickly. 

 Every year the progress of civilization is obliterating the ancient 

 mounds, cities and villages are rising on the spots they have so long 

 occupied undisturbed, and the distinctive marks of these remains are 

 every year becoming less and less legible. 



In carrying out the spirit of the plan adopted, namely, that of affect- 

 ing men in general by the operations of the Institution, it is evident that 

 the principal means of diffusing knowledge must be the press. Though 

 lectures should be given in the city in which Smithson has seen fit to 

 direct the establishment of his Institution, yet, as a plan of general dif- 

 fusion of knowledge, the system of lectures would be entirely inade- 

 quate ; every village in our extended country would have a right to 

 demand a share of" the benefit, and the income of the Institution would 

 be insufficient to supply a thousandth part of the demand. It is also 

 evident that the knowledge diffused should, if possible, not only em- 

 brace all branches of general interest, so that each reader might find a 

 subject suited to his taste, but also that it should differ in kind and 

 quality fiom thnt which can be readily obtained through the cheap pub- 

 lications of the day. These requisites will be fully complied with in 

 the publications of the series of reports proposed in the progTamme. A 

 series of periodicals of this kind, posting up all the discoveries in science 

 from time to time, and giving a well digested account of all the im- 

 portant changes in the different branches of knowledge, is a desideratum 

 in the English language. The idea is borrowed from a partial plan of 

 this kind in operation in Sweden and Germany ; and for an example of 

 what the work should be, I would refer to the annual report to the 

 Swedish Academy of its perpetual secretary, Berzelius, on physical 

 science. The reports can be so prepared as to be highly interesting to the 

 general reader, and at the same time of great importance to the exclusive 

 cultivator of a particular branch of knowledge. Full references should 

 be given, in foot-notes, to the page, number, or volume of the work from 

 which the information was obtained, and where a more detailed account 

 can be found. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the preparation of 

 these reports should be entrusted only to persons profoundly acquainted 

 with the subjects to which they relate, namely : to those who are devoted 

 to paiticular branches, while they possess a knowledge of general princi- 

 ples. Sufficient explanations should be introduced to render the report 

 intelligible to the general reader, without destroying its scientific characr 

 ter. Occasionally reports may be obtained from abroad — as, for ex- 



