27 [108] 



tlemen invited, as a general rule, have been men of high standing, and have 

 been chosen on account of their reputation and moral worLli, rather than 

 with reference to their proficiency in the art of rhetoric. It is not the aim 

 of the Institution in these lectures merely to please the ear, but to impart 

 important truths which may be vakied for their own sake. 



Many applications have been made for the use of the lecture-room of the 

 Institution for pay lectures and exhibitions of a private charactei", but these 

 have in all cases been refused. The use of the room has, however, on seve- 

 ral occasions been given to the faculty of Colund>ia College, and also for 

 the meetings of the Teacher's Association of tlu* District of Columbia. 

 The organization of this association took place in llie Smithsonian buibling 

 in 1850, and its meetings have been regularly held in the lecture-room from 

 that time to the jiresent. It is believed that the spirit of the will of Smith- 

 son is properly consulted, in giving encouragement anrl rendering facilities 

 to these meetings. The association has been kept up with much spirit, and 

 I am sure that much good has resulted from the organization. It has 

 served to cherish a feeling of harmony among the teachers, and to av.-aken 

 a spirit of improvement relative to education and general knowledge. 



The following is a list of the titles of lectures given before the institution 

 during the last session of Congress, with the names of the gentlemen by 

 whom they were delivered : 



A course of six lectures on History as a science, and a single one on Poclry, by Dr. 

 Samuel H. Cox, of Brooklyn, New York. 



Two lectures on Induction and Association, by Ur. Jolni Ludlow, Provoyt of tlie Univer- 

 sity of Pennsylvania. 



A course of five lectures on Entomology, and one uii tlie Alps, liy Ucv. Dr. .John G. 

 Morris, of Baltimore, Maryland. 



Two lectures on the History and the Forms of the English Language, by Professor Vv'. C 

 Fowler, of Amherst, Massachusetts. 



One lecture on the Architecture of tin; Middle Ages, by Dr. A. H. Vinton, ol Boston. 



Two lectures l)y Professor S. S. Haldeman, of Columbia, Pennsylvania, on the Mechanism 

 of Speech, and its bearing upon the natural history of the human r;ice. 



Two lectures on Geology, by Dr. Benjamin Silliman, Sr., of Yale College. New Haven. 



