TJic (rciicsis of the United States Natioiial .}Tuse2iiu. 109 



The nioveiiiciit had received its deathljlow, however. The faihire of 

 the tretneiidous effort of April, 1844, dislieartencd all its friends. At the 

 next annnal meeting- Mr. Poinsett declined reelection to tlie presidency. 

 The societ3''s publications were discontinued, and even the annual address 

 of Senator W'oodbur}-, solicited for publication by the society, seems to 

 have remained in manuscript un])rinted. 



No more meetings were held, no more bulletins printed, the magnifi- 

 cent list of 350 resident and 1,250 corresponding memljers began to grow 

 .shorter. An effort was made to revive it in 1.S47, and a meager report 

 was made once afterward by the corresponding secretary. In 1855 it was 

 brought into existence for a time as a local scientific .society, and issued 

 a new series of proceedings.' Its glory departed, however, with the first 

 annual meeting in 1844, and the attention of Congress was directed toward 

 the organization of the vSmithsoniaii Institution. 



The influence of the National In.stitute upon the liistor}' of .science in 

 the United States, and particularly in educating public opinion and the 

 judgment of Congress to an application of the proper means of disposing 

 of the Smithsonian legacy, can not well be overestimated. 



If the Smithsonian had been organized before the National Institute 

 had exerted its influences, it would have been a school, an ob.servatory, 

 or an agricultural experiment .station. 



In 1846, however, the countr}- was prepared to expect it to l)e a general 

 agency for the advancement of .scientific interests of all kind.s — as catho- 

 lic, as unselfish, as universal as the National Institute. 



The National Institute, after nearl}' five years of activity, suddenly 

 ceased to be a center of i)ublic interest. The struggle over the Smith- 

 .sonian be(|uest, however, still continued. During the Twent3'-.seventli 

 Congress, 1841-1843, the vSenate did nothing. The Hou.se of Represent- 

 atives appointed a .select committee on the subject, and Mr. Adams as 

 its chairman reported a new bill, providing still more thorouglil>- for 

 the erection of an observatory and the publication of a nautical almanac 

 to be called the Smithsonian Almanac. Petitions continued to come 

 in, some urging action and asking for the establishment of prizes for 

 scientific essays, another for the establishment of an agricultural school 

 and farm in the District of Columbia. The National Institute had 

 perhaps fallen somewhat into disfavor with Congress— or, it may be, had 

 become so prominent as to awaken feelings of opposition. 



The Twenty-eighth Congress (1843-1845) brought their deliberations 

 more nearly to an issue. 



The a.stronomical observatory bill (H. R. 418, Twenty-eighth Congress) 

 was again presented by Mr.« Adams, but not acted upon. In the vSenate, 

 both in the first and .second .sessions, a bill for the Smithsonian Institu- 



' Profes.sor Henry was for a time an officer [vice president], and endeavored to have 

 its name changed to Metropolitan Institute. 



