REPORT OP THE SECRETARY. 7 



or by Congress to the people of the United States, but was desioned 

 for all men. ' The spreadinoabi-oad of the work don(> by scicMititic men 

 in this country, the l>rin,oiiio- to the knowledge of our own workers 

 the researches of men of othei- lands, the aidinj>- in international con- 

 uress(^s which take ))lace fi'om time to time in various countries, the 

 l)romotion, in short, of friendl}^ relations and useful cooperation 

 among- scientific men the world over, and the advice and support to 

 our Government in such relations wherever possible, may be counted 

 in no small measure among the important works Avhich the Institution 

 is carrying on. 



THK REMOVAL OF THE KEMAINS OB' JAMKS 8MITHSON. 



The remains of James Smithson, founder of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution, who died June 27, 1829, at Genoa, Italy, were deposited in the 

 little cemetery belonging to the English church, on the heights of San 

 Henigno, a solitary spot planted with cypress trees, and looking down 

 ui)on the Gulf of Genoa. In 1891 the Secretary of the Institution 

 visited the grave, and, with the approval of the regents, deposited with 

 the secretary of the English church fund a small sum to invest in Italian 

 5 per cent rents, for its perpetual care. It was visited on two later 

 occasions by the Secretary, who placed a bronze tablet containing a 

 bas-relief of Smithson, in the English church, and one also at the 

 toml), whence it was subsequently stolen. 



In previous reports mention has been made of the suggested removal 

 of the remains of Mr. Smithson to America, in view of the probability 

 that before many years the site of the cemetery might be required by 

 the Italian authorities. In accordance with the resolution of the 

 Regents adopted December 8, 1903 (see p. 3), appointing him a com- 

 mittee to take charge of the removal of the the remains from Genoa 

 to Washington, Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, accompanied by Mrs. 

 Bell, sailed on the 15th of December for the port of Cherbourg in 

 France, and going thence to Genoa, commenced at once the arrange- 

 ments for the transfer of the remains, arrangements which would have 

 occupied a quite indefinite time and incurred a corresponding delay 

 except for the aid given by the United States consul, Mr. William 

 Henry Bishop, which Dr. Bell gladly acknowledges. 



On opening the tomb in the presence of Dr. Bell, the United States 

 consul, Noel Lees, esq. (official representative of the British Burial 

 (h-ound Fund Association), and other witnesses, it was found that the 

 remains of Smithson, represented by the skeleton, wei-e in fair preser- 

 vation, although the wooden coffin in which they had been inclosed 

 had molded away. The remains were placed in a metal casket and 

 deposited in the mortuary chapel of the cemetery, where they rested 

 until January 2, when the casket was inclosed in a collin of strong 

 wood and covered with the American flag by Consul Bishop. On this 



