REPORT 



or 



PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENRY 



SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 



To the Board of Regents : 



Gentlemen : The year 1870 may be considered almost an epoch in 

 the history of the Smithsonian Institution, since in this year Congress 

 commenced to recognize the propriety of making something lilie an ade- 

 quate appropriation to relieve the Smithson fund from at least a portion 

 of the burden to which it has from the first been subjected in the main- 

 tenance and care of the National Museum. During the last session of 

 Congress an appropriation of $10,000 was granted for the preservation 

 and exhibition of the national collection, and also $10,000 toward the 

 Ijreparation of the second story of the building for the better care and 

 display of the specimens, and an equal sum for each of these objects has 

 been asked at the i)resent session for the year 1871, and we are assured 

 by influential members of Congress that the request will be granted. It 

 cannot be otherwise than gratifying to the friends of science that Gov- 

 ernment has at length awakened to the importance of making provision 

 for the independent support of a National Museum, which we trust will 

 be worthy of the capital of the United States. The connection which 

 has heretofore existed between the National Museum and the Smithson- 

 ian Institution has been alike prejudicial to both, although more than 

 one-half of the income of the Smithsou fund has been expended in main- 

 tenance of the museum ; and notwithstanding that the Institution, in 

 the prosecution of its legitimate objects, has collected many thousands 

 of specimens illustrating the productions of the North American conti- 

 nent, the public museum has not yet, owing to the inadequacy of means, 

 been such as might be expected from the reputation of the Insti- 

 tution or the character of our Government. 



The National Museum was established previous to the acceptance by 

 the Government of the care of the Smithson bequest, and consisted at 

 first of the specimens of natural history and ethnology collected by the 

 United States exploring expedition under Admiral Wilkes. Unfortu- 

 nately, from a misconcejition of the terms of the will of Smithsou, as now 

 generally recognized, Congress directed the aj)propriation of the income 

 of the fund principally to a museum, a library, a gallery of art, and 

 other local objects, which, though important in themselves, did not 

 comport with the liberal spirit of the bequest, nor with the income of 



