144 ON A PHYSICAL OBSERVATORY. 



(' 



of the esiaWishment, and not, as is too frequently the case, from a priori 

 misconceptions of those who have no adequate idea of the uses to which 

 the structure is to be applied. It should be impressed upon the public 

 that huildings do not constitute an institution, and that reputation and 

 usefulness in science do not flow from visible and tangible manifesta- 

 tions, but are the immaterial fruit produced by the spirit of an organiza- 

 tion. I trust that millions of human beings yet unborn will be familiar 

 with the intellectual results of your observatory, although a single in- 

 quiry may never be made as to the style of the building in which these 

 results have been ijroduced. 



My advice, then, would be : first, if possible, that the right man be 

 procured for director; secondly, that the principal instruments be con- 

 structed under his supervision ; and, thirdly, that the operations be com- 

 menced in an inexpensive wooden building, which will be found better 

 in many respects for physical and astronomical observations than one 

 of stone and brick. The instruments could be insured, I should think, 

 at a small premium, and in that case, if destroyed by fire, might be re- 

 placed by others embracing the improvements which may have been 

 suggested in the mean time. 



As an illustration of what I have just said in regard to the building, 

 I may niention that in a visit to Mr. Lockyer I found him carrying on a 

 series of observations which have challenged the admiration of the world 

 in a temporary structure made of rough boards, nnplastered, and 

 scarcely including a space of fifteen feet square. 



As to the location of your observatory, you will infer from what I 

 have said that I think it important to connect it with some well-endowed 

 and well-established college or university. 



JOSEPH riENRY, 



Secretary Smithsonian Institntloii. 

 To . 



