TJic Beginnifigs of American Science. 457 



of American science was like balsam to the sensitive spirits of our coun- 

 trymen. 



John William Draper's versatile and original researches in physics 

 were also yielding weighty results, and as early as 1847 he had already 

 laid the foundations of the science of spectroscopy, which Kirchhoff so 

 boldly appropriated many years later. 



Most important of all, by reason of its breadth of scope, was the foun- 

 dation of the Smithsonian Institution, which was organized in 1846 Ijy 

 the election of Joseph Henry to its secretaryship. Who can attempt to 

 say what the conditions of science in the United States would be to-day 

 but for the bequest of vSmithson ? In the words of John Quincy Adams 

 ' ' Of all the foundations or establishments for pious or charitable uses 

 which ever signalized the spirit of the age or the comprehensive benefi- 

 cence of the founder, none can be named more deserving the approba- 

 tion of mankind. ' ' 



Among the leaders of this new enterprise and of the scientific activities 

 of the day may be named Silliman, Hare, Henry, Bache, Maury, Alex- 

 ander, lyocke, Mitchel, Peirce, Walker, Draper, Dana, Wyman, Agassiz, 

 Gray, Torrey, Haldeman, Morton, Holbrook, Gibbes, Gould, DeKay, 

 Storer, Hitchcock, Redfield, the brothers Rogers, Jackson, Hays, and 

 Owen. 



Among the rising men were Baird, Adams the conchologist, Burnett, 

 Harris the entomologist, and the LeConte brothers among zoologists; 

 L,apham, D. C. Katon, and Grant, among botanists; Sterry Hunt, Brush, 

 J. D. Whitney, Wolcott Gibbs, and Lesley, among chemists and geolo- 

 gists, as well as Schiel, of St. Louis, who had before 1842 discovered the 

 principle of chemical homology. 



I have not time to say what ought to be said of the coming of Agassiz 

 in 1846. He lives in the hearts of his adopted countrymen. He has a 

 colossal monument in the museum which he reared, and a still greater one 

 in the lives and works of pupils such as Agassiz, Allen, Burgess, Burnett, 

 Brooks, Clarke, Cooke, Faxon, Fewkes, Gorman, Hartt, Hyatt, Joseph 

 LeConte, Lyman, McCrady, Morse, Mills, Niles, Packard, Putnam, 

 Scudder, St. John, Shaler, Verrill, Wilder, and David A. Wells. 



XVII. 



They were glorious men who represented American science at the 

 middle of the century. We may well wonder whether the present decade 

 will make as good a showing forty years hence. 



The next decade was its continuation. The old leaders were nearly 

 all active, and to their ranks were added many more. 



An army of new men was rising up. 



It was a period of great explorations, for the frontier of the United 

 States was sweeping westward, and there was need of a better knowledge 

 of the public domain. 



