Nalioiial Scicnlific and Juhicalional Jiislihttioiis. 3 1 1 



National University, on tlic site now occupied b\' the National Observa- 

 tory, and stipulated that, should this site not be found availal)le, another 

 spot of <^round, appropriated on the early maps to a marine hospital, 

 might be substituted. The Columl)ian Institute, already referred to, 

 had l)eg'iui the formation of an arlx)retum as early as 1822, and in 1829 

 applied imsuccessfull}' to Congress for an appro])riation to reimburse it 

 for its expenditures. There was, however, no definite foundation until 

 1852, when the numerous living plants which had been brought back l^y 

 the Wilkes Exploring Kxpedition in the Pacific, and which had for 

 several years been kept in greenhouses adjoining the Patent Office, in 

 which the natural-history collections of the expedition were kept, were 

 removed to the present site of the Botanical Garden on the south side of 

 Penns^dvania avenue just west of the Capitol. This garden was first 

 under the direction of Mr. W. D. Brackenridge, who had been the horti- 

 culturist of the Wilkes P^xpedition. Mr. Brackenridge was succeeded by 

 ]\Ir. William R. Smith, a pupil of the Kew Botanical Garden, who has since 

 been in charge of the establishment, and through whose industry it has 

 ])een developed into a most creditable institution, which, it is lio])ed, 

 ma\- in time have an opportmiity to exhil)it its n:erits in a more suitable 

 and less crowded localit}'. 



Under Jackson, from 1829 to 1837, notwithstanding the remarkable 

 commercial prosperity and an almost etiual advance in literature, science 

 tlid not prosper, and of actual progress there is little to record. The 

 Coast Sur\'ey was reorganized inider its original vSuperintendent, Has.sler, 

 in 1832, and Peatlierstonehaugh, an Paiglish geologist, made, in 1834, 

 a reconnoissance in the elevated region between the INIissouri and the 

 Red River. 



Van Pjiu'cn's Administration, which l)egan in 1837 and ended in 1841, 

 presents more points of interest, for although the country was in a state 

 of financial depression, his Cabinet was composed of extremely lil^eral 

 and i)ublic-sj)iritedmen. Poinsett as vSecretaryof War, Kennedy as vSec- 

 retary of the Navy, and other public men did nuich to promote science. 



The United vStates ICxploring Ivxpedition was sent out under Ca])tain 

 Charles Wilkes, on a voyage of circunuiavigation. Although i)ul)lished 

 in an extremely limited edition, the magnificent volumes of its report 

 are among the classics of scientific exploration. 



The Wilkes Expedition was the first of the series of naval ex]^lora- 

 tions which have contributed largely to science — Eynch's Dead Sea 

 ICxpedition, Gilliss's Naval Astronomical ]vx])edition to Chile, Ilerndon 

 and Gibbons's Exploration of the Valley of the Amazons, Page's Para- 

 guay P^xpedition, the Cruise of the Dolphin, Perry's Japan Expedition, 

 Rogers's North Pacific P^xploring Expedition, and the various expedi- 

 tions made under the Hydrographic Office and the Coast vSurvey. 



In 1840 two important national societies were founded — the National 

 Institution for the Promotion of vScience, and the American vSociety of 

 Geologists and Naturalists — the (jue an association with a great mem- 



