6 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



monts; by the discriininatioii with M'hich.the reports are distributed, 

 and by numerous evidences of interest and liberalit3\ 



The objects of the Institution were defined by the founder in the 

 t)roadest possibU^ terms, and interpreted by its first Secretary, Joseph 

 Henry, in the words "to assist men of science in making original 

 researches, to publish them in a series of volumes, and to give a copy 

 of them to ever}^ first-class librar}' on the face of the earth/' While 

 the lield has ))een of necessity narrowed from time to time, or diverted 

 in first one direction and then another, the breadth of scope has never 

 l)een narrowed. That many of the eft'orts have grown so large as to 

 re(iuire either direct support of the Government by the establishment 

 of independent bureaus, finally coming under the direction of the 

 Executive Departments, or aid to agencies which continue under the 

 direction of the Institution, though sustained by Congressional appro- 

 priation, is but a further evidence of the fact that the charter of the 

 Institution has been adhered to both in the spirit and in the letter. 

 The Tnited States Weather Bureau, the Geological Survey, the Fish 

 Commission, and the National Herbarium grew out of its earlier activi 

 ties, and the National Museum, the International Exchanges, the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology, the Zoological Park, and the Astro- 

 physical Observatory are still directed by it. It led the way in the 

 organization of lil)rary work in the United States; it took the initial 

 steps and continues to support schemes for international cataloguing, 

 and it maintains a benevolent relation with the American Historical 

 Association and the National Society of the Daughters of the Ameri- 

 can Revolution. 



Sixty 3^ears ago it was relatively the best endowed scientific institu- 

 tion in the United States and one of two or three of national scope. 

 The magnificent endowments in this time of so many universities and 

 colleges have changed this relationship to one of pecuniar}^ inferiority, 

 yet without changing the nature of the Institution's relations to these. 

 To the oi'ganizations aiding in the scientific advancement of the 

 country, which advancement has in large measure contributed to the 

 material W'elfare of the United States, the interests ])enefited thereby 

 have in return made large endowments for original research either 

 through the great universities and societies of the land or by the 

 establishment of new academies, institutions, and nmseums. To all 

 of these the Smithsonian Institution holds out a friendly cooperation, 

 its aim being, while continuing its own work upon its accepted lines 

 and adapting them to new needs as occasion arises, to continue along 

 the established policy of preventing ri\alries, promoting wise cooper- 

 ation, diminishing waste, and furthering the search for knowledge, 

 the recording of discovered truth, and its dissemination among the 

 people. 



It must at no time be forgotten, however, that the Institution, of 

 which the Government is trustee, was not limited either by the founder 



