REPORT OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 5 



greatly increased and weve made the basis of numerous important 

 memoirs upon tlie natural history and ethnology of America. The 

 public halls, with their arrangements for the exhibition of a portion of 

 the collection, also received a due share of attention, and a certain 

 amount of instruction and pleasure was aftbrded to visitors. The 

 appropriations, however, were meager, the space limited, and the staif 

 was so inadequate that little could be done except to keep the collec- 

 tions in good preservation. 



The broad jilan upon which the operations of the National Museum 

 are now conducted was anticipated as early as 1853, when Professor 

 Henry wrote: 



There cau he little doubt that in due time ample provision will be made for a 

 library and museum at the capital of this Union worthy of a Government whose 

 jierpetuity depends upon the virtue and intelligence of the people.' 



The difficulties atteiidiug the formation of such a museum were 

 appreciated by him, and in his report for 1849 he spoke with much 

 emphasis of the difficulties attending the assuming by the Institution 

 of the care of the national collections, and in the report of the Institu- 

 tion for 1870' he again carefully expressed his opinion as to the aims 

 l)roper to such a museum. 



There is [he wrote] scarcely any subject connected with science and 

 education to which more attention is given at the present day than 

 that of collections of objects of nature and art known under the gen- 

 eral denomination of museums. This arises from their growing impor- 

 tance as aids to scientific investigation and instruction. 



In the report for 1873^ allusion was made to the increase in the 

 national collections, even then very great, ''requiring the utmost exer- 

 tions of the limited force connected with the ISTational Museum for its 

 proper treatment.'' 



Although the appropriations for the Museum have of late years been 

 more liberal, it is certain that, on account of the immense annual 

 increase in the quantity of material received, quite as much caution as 

 ever is still needed in the development of its plans for the future. 



The Smithsonian Institution from its foundation fostered explora- 

 tions, and its museum was enriched by the numerous ethnological 

 and natural history objects brought home by the explorers. Many 

 gifts were received from i^rivate sources, and valuable objects were 

 deposited in its Museum for safe-keeping. The nucleus of its collec- 

 tions was a small but valuable cabinet of minerals formed by the 

 founder, James Smithson, who was himself a chemist and mineralogist 

 of high repute, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. 



At the time of the establishment of the Institution several naval 

 expeditions and surveys of the j)ublic domain were being organized bj- 



1 Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1853, p. 245. 

 -Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1S70, p. 31. 

 3 Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1873, p. 48. 



