15 



of the memoirs and their expensive illustrations are published in the vol- 

 nmes of the Smithsonian Contributions. The officers of several learned 

 societies in this country have expressed a willingness to co-operate in this 

 way. 



Since original research is the most direct way of increasing knowl- 

 edge, it can scarcely be doubted that a part of the income of the bequest 

 should be appropriated to this purpose^ provided suitable persons can 

 be found, and their labors be directed to proper objects. The num- 

 ber, however, of those who are capable of discovering scientific prin- 

 ciples is comparatively small; like the }X)et; they are "born, not 

 made," and, like him, must be left to choose their own subject, and 

 wait the fitting time of inspiration. In case a person of this class has 

 fallen on a vein of discovery, and is pursuing it with success^ the better 

 plan will be to grant him a small sum of money to carry on his investiga- 

 tions, provided they are considered worthy of assistance by competent 

 judges. This will have the double effect of encouraging him in the pursuit, 

 andof facilitating his progress. The institution, however, need not depend 

 upon cases of this kind, even if they were more numerous than they are, 

 for the application of its funds in the line of original research. There are 

 large fields of observation and experimentj the cultivation of which, though 

 it may afford no prospect of the discovery of a principle, can hardly fail 

 to produce results of importance both in a practical and a theoretic point of 

 view. As an illustration of this remark, I may mention the case of the in- 

 I'estigations made a few years ago by committees of the Franklin Institute, 

 of Philadelphia. The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States 

 placed at the disposal of this society a sum of money, for the purpose of 

 making experiments with reference to the cause of the explosion of steam- 

 boilers. A committee of the society was chosen for this purpose, which 

 adopted the ingenious plan of writing to all persons in the United States en- 

 gaged in the application of steam, and particularly to those who had observed 

 the explosion of a steam-boiler. In this way opinions and suggestions in 

 great variety, as to the cause of explosions, were obtained. The most 

 plausible of these were submitted to the test of experiment: the results ob- 

 tained were highly important, and are to be found favorably mentioned in 

 every systematic work on the subject of steam which has appeared, in any 

 language, within the last few years. New and important facts were es- 

 tablished; and, what was almost of as much consequence, errors Avhich had 

 usurped the place of truth were dethroned. 



In the programme, examples are given of a few subjects of original re- 

 search to which the attention of the institution may be turned. I will 



