ADVERTISEMENT. 



In accordance with the instructions of the Board of Regents to the 

 Secretary to have prepared and to publish a history of the origin and pro- 

 gress of the Smithsonian Institution, the present volume has been compiled. 

 It s contains the Journal of Proceedings of the Board of Regents from its 

 first meeting, September 13, 1846, to January 26, 1876 ; together with the 

 reports of the Executive, Building, and Special Committees for the same 

 period. Eulogies on deceased members of the Board, and distinguished 

 collaborators of the Institution, are given, and also an account of the Bache 

 Scientific Fund, the Tyndall Trust, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Toner 

 Lectures, the Hamilton Bequest, the report of the Committee of the Board on 

 the invention of the electro-magnetic telegraph, the report of the examination 

 of Prof. Henry by the English Scientific Commission, and statistical tables 

 relative to the Institution. 



The material for the volume has been collected, and the work edited by 

 Mr. Wm. J. Rhees, Chief Clerk of the Institution. 



Spencer F. Baird, 



Secretary Smithsonian Institution. 



Washington, D. C, December, 1879. 



