140 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



seat of the general government, with funds not derived from the Smith- 

 sonian bequest. For the present, it should be the object of the Institu- 

 tion to confine the application of the fiinds, first, to such collections as 

 will tend to facilitate the study of the memoirs which maybe published 

 in the Contributions, and to establish their correctness ; secondly, to the 

 purchase of such objects as are not generally known in this country, 

 in the way of art, and the illustration of antiquities, such as models 

 of buildings, &c. ; and, thirdly, to the formation of a collection of in- 

 struments of physical research, which will be required both in the illustra- 

 tion of new physical truths, and in the scientific investigations under- 

 taken by the lustitution. 



Much popular interest may be awakened in favor of the Institution at 

 Washington, by throwing the rooms of the building open, on stated 

 evenings during the session of Congress, for literary and scientific assem- 

 blies, alter the manner of the weekly meetings of the Royal Institution in 

 London. At these meetings, without the formality of a regular lecture, 

 new truths in science may be illustrated, and new objects of art exhibited. 

 Besides these, courses of lectures may be given on particular subjects 

 by the officers of the lustitution, or by distinguished individuals invited 

 for the purpose. 



Commencement of tlie operations of the Instkutmi. 



I was authorized, in connexion with the Committee on Organization, 

 to commence the publication of the Smithsonian Contributions to 

 Knowledge, and to receiv^e any memoir which might be presented on 

 any subject, provided it was found, on examination, to furnish an inter- 

 esting addition to the sum of human knowledge, resting on original 

 research. The first memoir presented, and found to be of the character 

 prescribed by the resolution of the Board, was one on the remains of 

 the ancient inhabitants of the North American continent. Il contains 

 the result of several years' labor in the survey and exploration of the 

 mounds and eartliworks of the Mississippi valley, and will furnish a 

 highly interesting addition to the antiquities of our country, which could 

 not have been given to the world but for the timely aid extended to it 

 by this Institution. The memoir was referred to the American Ethno- 

 logical Society, with a request that a committee of its members might 

 be appointed to examine and report on its character, as to fitness for 

 publication in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. On the 

 favorable report of this committee, and on the lesponsibility of the 

 society, the memoir has been accepted for publication. The following 

 correspondence will serve to give an account of the work, and to illus- 

 trate the manner in which it is proposed to submit the papers which 

 may be presented for publication to a commission of competent judges. 



