2g 



relates to the immediate gratification of our physical wants, have o])jectedi 

 to the acceptance of this memoir as one of the first pubhcations of the 

 institution; but it must be recollected that the will of Smithson makes no 

 restriction in favor of any particular kind of knowledge, and that each 

 branch is, therefore, entitled to a share of his bequest. The Ethnological 

 memoir of Messrs. Squier and Davis was the first, of the proper character, 

 presented for publication, and hence it was entitled to the first place in the 

 series of Smithsonian Contributions. Besides this, it furnishes an addition 

 to a branch of knowledge which is at this time occupying the attention of 

 a large class of minds, and which cannot fail to be interesting to every 

 intelligent person who would learn something of the changes to which 

 man has been subjected. 



One of the volumes of the Contributions will contain a sketch of the life 

 of Smithson, by the Chancellor. The materials for this have been col- 

 lected from the several volumes of the Transactions of the Royal Society, 

 and the scientific journals of the beginning of the present, and the latter part 

 of the last century. The first volume will be published as soon as the 

 wood-cuts and plates, now in the course of preparation, are finished. 



Besides the memoirs before mentioned, a number of others have been 

 presented, some of which, though apparently of interest, and the product 

 of thought and labor, were not of the character required by the resolution 

 of the board, and these have either been returned to the authors, or are in 

 the possession of the Secretary. A number of others have also been pro- 

 visionally adopted, or are in the course of preparation. Some of these are 

 on the most abstruse parts of physical science, and all will do honor to the 

 intellectual character of our country. Though the number of original 

 memoirs which will be found worthy of a place in the Contributions will 

 probably not be large, yet it will, perhaps, be best to set apart a definite 

 portion of the income of the bequest — as, for example, at present three or 

 four thousand dollars annually — to defray the expense of this part of the 

 plan of increasing knowledge. A considerable portion, however^ of the 

 sum thus expended will be returned to the institution in the fomi of addi- 

 tions to its library. I may also suggest, in this place, the propriety of the 

 adoption, by the board, of a resolution inviting all engaged in original re- 

 search to send the results of their labors for publication in the Smithso- 

 nian Contributions. 



The board also directed me to commence the collection of apparatus, 

 and I accordingly sent orders to Euro})e, to the amount of twelve hundred 

 dollars, for the purchase of such articles as could not be procured in the 

 Lnited States. Most of the instruments have been received, and wiH 



