THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 9 



been purchased, may be valued at not less than $40,000. A museum, 

 the most complete of any in existence in several branches of the natu- 

 ral history of the North American continent, has been collected, which 

 has been valued at $30,000. A valuable and extensive cabinet of ay- 

 paratus, consisting of instruments of illustration and research, has been 

 formed. A beginning has also been made of a gallery of art, consisting 

 of a choice collection of specimens of engravings by the old masters. 



Not only have the objects specified by Congress received due atten- 

 tion, but also by a series oi^ active operations the influence of the Institu- 

 tion has been extended to almost every part of our own and foreign 

 countries. The publications, the exchanges, and the researches which 

 have been instituted and prosecuted by the Institution, have indissolu- 

 bh^ connected the name of Smithson with the progress of knowledge 

 in our day. 



In accomplishing these objects the funds have not been exhausted, 

 nor have debts been incurred. On the contrary, by strict adherence 

 to a well devised S3'stem of finance, not only does the fund originally 

 bequeathed by Smithson remain undiminished in the Treasury of the 

 United States, but there is now on hand nearly SJ40,000 of unex- 

 pended income to be added to the principal. 



In other words, the funds and propert}" are now estimated at double 

 the amount of the original bequest. 



The plan of increasing and difliising knowledge by means of re- 

 searches and publications is in strict accordance with the will of Smith- 

 son. It embraces as a leading feature the design of interesting the 

 greatest number of individuals in the operations of the Institution, and 

 of extending its influence as widely as possible. It supplies a want 

 which has long been felt in this country, and offers a greater induce- 

 ment to profound study b}' rendering the products of original research 

 more available than any other plan heretofore proposed. Every one who 

 makes a discovery in any department of knowledge must of necessity 

 be somewhat in advance of the reading public, at least in the special 

 branch to which his discovery pertains ; and therefore the number^of 

 readers, and consequently of purchasers of a work giving an account of 

 these discoveries will be comparatively small. "I have frequently 

 congratulated myself," says one of our collaborators, "upon living at 

 a time when an Institution exists in our country which would publish 

 discoveries and original investigations or positive additions to know- 

 ledge, without expense to the author. What would not poor Morion 

 have done had he been able in this way to publish his researches, 

 vv'hereas his single work on Crania Americana was o-iven to the world 

 at the loss of several thousand dollars." 



The Institution does much more than ordinarv societies in the wav 

 of stimulating research. It not only gives to the world with the stamp 

 of" its approval the various papers which constitute its contributions to 

 knowledge, but in a large number of cases it furnishes materials and 

 pecuniary means for carrying on the investigations. The aid which it 

 affords in this wa}', though small in amount, is sufficient to determine 

 whether an investigation shall be prosecuted to a successful termina- 

 tion or abandoned almost at its very commencement. 



It was at first proposed to offer premiums for original memoirs on 



