THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 253 



iig annually for the library, by exchange, a large number of valuable 

 books, which, in time, of themselves will form a rare and valuable 

 collection ; and even if the division of the income is to be continued, 

 a sum equal in amount to the price ot" these books ought to be charged 

 to the library, and an equal amount credited to the active operations. 



Though a large library connected with the Institution would be 

 valuable in itself, and convenient to those who are in the immediate 

 vicinity of the Smithsonian building, yet, as has been said before, it 

 is not essential to the active operations. It would be of comparatively 

 little importance to the greater number of the co-laborers of the Insti- 

 tution, who are found in every part of the United States, and are not 

 confined even within these limits. The author of the great work 

 on the American Alg«, now publishing in the Smithsonian Contribu- 

 tions, is a resident member of Trinity College, Dublin ; and very 

 few of the authors of the Smithsonian memoirs reside in Washington. 

 The libraries, therefore, of the whole country, and in some cases of 

 other countries, are at the service of the Institution, and employed for 

 its purposes. 



Similar remarks apply to the museum. It is not the intention 

 of tlie Institution to attempt to examine and describe within the 

 vralls of its own building all the objects which may be referred to it. 

 To accomplish this, a cor])S of naturalists, each learned in his own 

 branch, would be required, at an expense which the whole income 

 would be inadequate to meet. In the present state of knowledge, that 

 profound attainment necessary to advance science can be made by 

 an individual, however gifted, only in one or two narrow lines ; and 

 hence several members are required to complete a single class in any 

 of the learned academies of Europe : therefore the plan which was 

 once proposed, of establishing on the Smithsonian fund an academy 

 of associated members, was entirel}^ incompatible wntli the limited 

 income of the Institution. The more feasible and far less expen- 

 sive organization was adopted, of referring, for investigation, all sci- 

 entific questions of importance, as well as objects of natural history, 

 to persons of reputation and learning in different parts of the United 

 States, and perhaps, in some cases, in foreign countries. By the 

 operation of this plan, which has been found eminently practicable, 

 the collections, as well as the libraries of the whole country, are ren- 

 dered subservient to the use of the Institution. 



There can be but little doubt that, in due time, ample provision will 

 be made for a library and museum at the capital of this Union worthy 

 of a government whose perpetuity depends upon the virtue and intelli- 

 gonce of the people. It is, therefore, unwise to hamper the more im- 

 portant objects of this Institution, by attempting to anticipate results 

 which will be eventually produced without the expenditure of its 

 means. 



The prominent idea embraced in the Smithsonian organization, is 

 that of co-operation and concerted action with all institutions and indi- 

 viduals engaged in the promotion of knowledge. Its design is not to 

 monopolize any part of the wide fields of nature or of art, but to invite 

 all to partake in the pleasure and honor of their cultivation. It seeks 

 not to encroach upon ground occupied by other institutions, but to ex- 



