THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 225 



arranged, and the means furnished by which its contents may be ascer- 

 tained, hterature and science will be overwhelmed by their own un- 

 wieldy bulk. The pile will begin to totter under its own weight, and 

 all the additions we may heap upon it will tend to add to the ex- 

 tension of the base, without increasing the elevation and dignity of the 

 edifice. 



One of the most important means of facilitating the use of libraries, 

 particularly with reference to science, is well digested indexes of sub- 

 jects, not merely referring to volumes or books, but to memoirs, papers, 

 and parts of scientific transactions and systematic works. As an exam- 

 ple of this, I would refer to the admirably arranged and valuable cata- 

 logue of books relating to Natural Philosophy and the Mechanical Arts, by 

 Dr. Young. " If my library were on fire," said a celebrated author, " antl 

 I could save but one scientific book, it would be Dr. Young's catalogue." 

 This work comes down to 1807 ; and I know of no richer gilt which could 

 be bestowed upon the science of our own day than tht; continuation of 

 this catalogue to the present time. E very one who is desirous of enlarging 

 the bounds of human knowledge should, in justice to himself, as well 

 as to the public, be acquainted with what has previous^ been done in 

 the same line, and this he will only be enabled to accomplish by the 

 use of indexes of the kind above-mentioned. 



The most important operation during the past year relative to the 

 hbrary, is the progress made by Professor Jewett in compk-ting his 

 plan of stereotyping catalogues with separate titles, described in the 

 last Report. 



To reduce this plan to practice, a series of original experimc^nts were 

 required, involving the expenditure of much time and labor. For this 

 purpose, in preference to the usual method of stereotyping, a new one, 

 invented by Mr. Josiah Warren, of Indiana, has been adopted on the 

 recommendation of a committee to whom it was referred for examina- 

 tion. It is a fact well known to inventors, that however snnple the 

 theoretical plan of effecting a desired object may appear, a series of 

 unforeseen difficulties must often be encountered in the details, before 

 the idea can be realized in actual results. These difficulties, in the present 

 case, it is believed, have been overcome ; and the plan is now ready to 

 be applied to the formation of a general and uniform catalogue ot" the 

 libraries of the country. The course proposed is first to proceed with 

 the catalogue of the library of the Institution, in accordance with the 

 rules recommended by the commission appointed to report on this sub- 

 ject. This, stereotyped by the new process, may be distributed as a 

 model for the other libraries M'hich may adopt the plan. After all parts 

 of the plan have thus been thoroughly tried, it will be desirable to 

 commence on some large collection. The late accident which has 

 happened to the Library of Congress will induce the necessity of a new 

 catalogue, and it is hoped that a liberal and enlightened policy will lead 

 to the adoption of the Smithsonian plan. This will not only enable 

 the government to issue, at a trifling expense, a new catalogue every 

 3^ear, with all the additions in their proper place, but also to assist in 

 giving to the country an improved system of cataloguing, and facilitate 

 the production of a general catalogue of all the libraries of the country. 



Since the publication of the account of Mr. Jewett's plan of forming 

 15 



