181 [ 23 ] 



pensed with. It has been supposed, from the adoption of this proposition, 

 that we are disposed to iindervahie abstract speculations: on the contrary' 

 we know that all the advances in true science— namely, a knowledge of the' 

 laws of phenomena— are made by provisionally adopting well-con^ditioned 

 hypotheses, the product of the imagination, and subsequently verifying* 

 them by an appeal to experiment and observation. Every new hypothesis 

 of scientific value must not only furnish an exact explanation of known 

 facts, but must also enable us to predict, in kind and quantity, the pjie- 

 nomena which will be exfiibited under any given combination of cir- 

 cumstances. Thus, in the case of the undulatory hypothesis of light, it 

 was inferred, as a logical consequence, that if the supposition were true 

 that light consisted of waves of an ethereal medium, then two rays of light, 

 like two waves of water under certain conditions, should annihilate each 

 other, and darkness be produced. The experiment was tried, and the 

 anticipated result was obtained. It is this exact agreement of the deduc- 

 tion with the actual result of experience that constitutes the verification of 

 an hypothesis, and which alone entitles it to the name of a theory, and to 

 a place in the Transactions of a scientific institution. It must be recollected 

 that it is much easier to speculate than to investigate, and that very few 

 of all the hypotheses imagined are capable of standing the test of scientific 

 verification. 



For the practical working of the plan for obtaining the character of a 

 memoir, and the precaution taken before it is accepted for publication, I 

 would refer to the correspondence, given in a subsequent part of this report, 

 relative to the memoir now in process of publication by the institution. 

 As it is not our intention to interfere with the proceedings of other insti- 

 tutions, but to co-operate with them, so far as our respective operafions are 

 compatible, communications may be referred to learned societies for inspec- 

 tion, as in the case of the above mentioned memoir, and abstracts of them 

 given to the world through the bulletins of these societies, while the details 

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

 umes 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 prm- 

 ciples is comparatively small; like the poet, 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, 

 and of facilitating his progress. The institution, however, need not depend 

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

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

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

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



