JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 109 



Together, the salaries and general expenses before mentioned amount to more than 

 half the interest of the original fund, and to nearly half of the interest on that fund, 

 augmented by $150,000 of accumulated interest, which the Kegents propose to add to 

 it, "so as to make the permanent fund $665,000. The whole or the greater part of the 

 interest on this addition to the original fund will be required during the present year 

 for the building, and when that shall be finished, a considerable sum will be necessary 

 to fit up and furnish the great central portion, which is to be chiefly occupied by the 

 library and museum. It may be assumed that not less than $15,000 will be demanded 

 for this purpose. But supposing the building to be completed and furnished, and the 

 whole income at command for the operations of the institution, and assuming that the 

 salaries and general expenses will not increase, but remain as they were last year, at 

 $17,740, there will be at the disposal of the Eegents, for all operations and purposes, 

 including lectures, researches, publications, purchase of books for the library, bind- 

 ing, explorations for the benefit of the museum, apparatus, and the purchase of ob- 

 jects of art, a sum between $22,000 and $23,000. It will readily be perceived how 

 inadequate this sum is to the rapid accumulation of a library, of collections for the 

 museum and gallery of art, for lectures and those active operations which lead directly 

 to the increase and diffusion of knowledge. Even this fund may be expected to be 

 diminished by the greater expense which will attend the occupation of the entire 

 building and the increased and constantly increasing collections. 



The museum increases so rapidly by the deposit of Government collections, by do- 

 nations, exchanges, and the receipt of specimens from special explorations aided by the 

 institution, that very email, if any, annual appropriations are required for it. But 

 the expense of the care and exhibition of an increasing collection swells from year to 

 year, while the Smithsonian funds are not so increased. The great object of the mu- 

 seum should be to furnish to men of science, eminent in their several departments, the 

 means of advancing knowledge in these departments, by submitting specimens of new 

 objects to their examination. If the expenditure could be borne, it would scarcely be 

 desirable to increase the number of officers connected with the museum, so that the 

 various branches of natural history might be fully represented ; but considering the 

 limited funds of the Smithsonian Institution, such an idea is not to be entertained. 



On the contrary, the collections made should, in general, at all events, be referred 

 for examination and description to the men most eminent in the country, and the re- 

 sults should be published in a manner worthy of their labors by the institution. 



A larger but still a moderate appropriation for the library, varying as circumstances 

 may require, should be annually made. It may be desirable, occasionally, to make 

 larger investments in books, as when a library of special value and peculiar suitable- 

 ness may be in the market, and within the means of the institution. But this should 

 be left to the discretion and sound judgment of the Regents at the time. 



It is not believed to be advisable to accumulate in the Smithsonian Institution great 

 masses of books, without reference to their peculiar character and value. What we 

 want, and what the act of Congress contemplates, is not a collection of everything 

 which learned dullness and literary folly as well as real wisdom and sound science 

 have put into print — a vast and unwieldly repertory, in which the trash as well as the 

 precious may be found — but a library of valuable books pertaining to all departments 

 of human knowledge. The exchanges will gradually furnish us with much that an- 

 swers to this description, and moderate appropriations will supply, quite as rapidly as 

 necessary, whatever besides may be requisite to constitute a valuable library of re- 

 search in all departments of human knowledge. The library now consists of 12,005 

 volumes, besides 8,095 pamphlets and parts of volumes, and 1,874 maps, and 1,431 

 engravings. 



In his report to the Secretary, of January, 1853, Professor Jewett stated that the 

 library had nearly doubled in size during the year 1852, and that its greatest increase 

 had been by exchanges. He said " they may be considered as the first fruits of a sys- 

 tem of scientific and literary exchange established and sustained by the institution. 

 They show, also, that the benefits derivable from its connection with the system of 

 active operations had not been over-estimated. 



" A considerable portion of the money expended in publications, returns in the shape 

 of books for the library. These again are constantly increasing the efficiency and in- 

 terest of the publications. The value of the books received by exchange cannot be 

 estimated by their number, or even their nominal price. 



" They are works of the first importance to the scientific student and which it is 

 very difficult to procure by purchase, even with large funds at command." 



Professor Baird estimated the value of the works thus received, during the year 

 1852, at from $4,000 to $5,000. If we estimate the future receipts from the system of 



