AN ACCOUNT OF THE U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM. 297 



ately for a natioual museum, of which the Smithsouian Institutiou would be the 

 mere curator, and the expense of maintaining which should he paid by the General 

 Government. 1 



"I can find no record in the minntes of the Regents," writes Dr. 

 Goode, " but have been informed by Mr. W. J. Rhees, of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, that an urgent request for the use of the hall was 

 made by t>he Commissioner of Patents and the Secretary of the Inte- 

 rior, and that the board decided to grant this request on the condition 

 that Congress should appropriate money for the construction of the 

 cases and the transfer of the collections, and that the Secretary of the 

 Interior should provide for the expenses of the care of the collections 

 after their transfer in the same manner as before."^ 



The collections were transferred to the Institution in 1858. Pro- 

 fessor Baird reported that year ^ that twelve separate collections were 

 received from the Patent Office, of which the most considerable was 

 the collection of the exploring expedition under Captain Wilkes. He 

 estimated that the Patent Office collections together constituted about 

 one-fifth of the objects in the Smithsonian museum. He i^ointed out 

 also that there were then in the museum twenty-three other Govern- 

 ment collections which had never been in the Patent Office. These 

 were chiefly assembled by the different field parties of the Pacific Rail- 

 road Survey, the Mexican Boundary Survey, and other Government 

 expeditions engaged in exploring the national domain. 



The policy relating to the treatment of the collections adopted by 

 the Institution was fully explained in the report of the Secretary for 

 1861, though in most of its essential features it was in operation as 

 early as 1857. Secretary Henry remarks : ^ 



The specimens may be divided into two classes — lirst, those which have been 

 described in the reports of Government expeditions or the transactions of the Smith- 

 sonian and other institutions; and, second, those which have not been described, 

 and which consequently are considered of much value by the naturalists who are 

 interested in extending the several branches of natural history. Of both classes 

 the Institution possesses a large number of duplicates, in the disposition of which 

 some general principles should be kept constantly in view. After due consultation 

 with naturalists, the following rules, which were presented in the last report, have 

 been adopted relative to the described specimens : 



First. To advance original science, the duplicate type specimens are to be dis- 

 tributed as widely as possible to scientific institutions in this country and abroad, 

 in order that tbey may be used in identifying the species and genera which have 

 been described. 



Second. To promote education, as full sets as possible of general duplicates, prop- 

 erly labeled, are to be presented to colleges and other institutions of learning that 

 profess to teach the principal branches of natural history. 



Third. It must be distinctly understood that due credit is to be given to the Insti- 

 tution in the labeling of the specimens, and in all accounts which may be published 



1 Smithsonian Report, 1856, page 22. 



* Goode. " Genesis of the United States National Museum," page 342. 



^Smithsonian Report, 1858, page 52. 



*Ibid., 1861, page 41. 



