80 TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OP 



ing the authority for the Institution to receive funds or legacies, and 

 for power to sue and he sued. 



Tlie Secretary presented the subject of the removal of the collection 

 of objects of natural history, now in the Patent Office, to the Smith- 

 sonian building. 



The Secretary presented to the Board a manuscript work on bibli- 

 ography by Mr. Ludewig, which had originally been oifered to the 

 Smithsonian Institution, but which Mr. Trubner, a liberal and intel- 

 ligent publisher in London, had now undertaken to present to the 

 world at his own expense. 



The following letter from Mr. Stone, of Washington, was read: 



Mount Pleasant, 

 Washington City, February 13, 1856. 



Dear Sir : Some time since I spoke to you of the propriety and ad- 

 vantage of procuring from Europe copies in plaster of the best antique 

 and modern statues and bas-reliefs. Having since reflected on the 

 importance of cultivating a taste for the fine arts in our country, I now 

 communicate to you my views, knowing that the object will find in 

 you a zealous friend and advocate, 



I am aware, to undertake what is required will subject you to some 

 trouble and opposition, owing to the absence of that knowledge, to 

 procure which your exertions are solicited. 



As the country advances in science, the elegancies of life are in de- 

 mand ; decorations, ornaments, &c,, in every fabric, find purchasers, 

 and the higher the state of refinement, the more is art required. To 

 meet this demand, it is requisite that we should have the advantage 

 of seeing what has already been done in sculpture to serve as a basis. 

 Thus, we may not only cultivate the talent of the artist, but the taste 

 of the consumer, and thus the arts will meet with proper encourage- 

 ment. 



It is not expected that all who study from the models will acquire 

 equal eminence ; still all who work with zeal will be improved and 

 find employment in the various branches of trade that require culti- 

 vated talent, as in works of design, including the various factories for 

 using the loom for wool, cotton, or silk, potteries, including porcelain 

 ware, foundries, &c. Painters, architects, and sculptors are usually 

 thought to be those only benefited by schools of art ; but it is not so : 

 they are a few among the thousands who will be prepared to give 

 beauty and elegance to every fabric of manufacture known in the 

 mechanic arts. 



On examination it will bo found that the cultivation of the art of 

 design will thus be of immense value to the country. On application 

 being made by our minister in Rome, casts would be permitted to be 

 taken from the moulds in the possession of the government, the cost of 

 which would be trifling. The statues would decorate the Smithsonian 

 building, and many could be so placed as to appear as accessories to it. 



If a school of design is formed, it may be independent of the Institu- 

 tion. But should the Smithsonian Institution deem it of sufficient 

 importance, and consider it as one of the means of difi'usion of useful 



