JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS. 139 



that, to purchase this collection, and to place it in some secure situation easy of access 

 to visitors at the capital, would he an act worthy of the enlightened liberality of Con- 

 gress. The cost would he insignificant, and the value of the collection would increase 

 in all future time. No place is so suitable for its permanent deposit as the city of 

 "Washington, and no guardianship so appropriate as that of the Government of the 

 United States. 



Your committee recommend to the Board that the subject of the purchase of Mr. 

 Stanley's Indian gallery be brought respectfully to the attention of Congress, as a 

 measure eminently deserving a favorable consideration in its bearings upon the history 

 of the aboriginal tribes of America, and as a monument of deep and lasting interest 

 to the people of the United States. 



The report was accepted, and laid on the table for the present. 



The Secretary stated that Mr. Putnam having resigned the agency 

 of the Smithsonian publications in New York, Messrs. D. Appleton 

 <fc Co. had been appointed his successors. 



The Secretary announced that since the last meeting of the Board 

 the death of Dr. Robert Hare, of Philadelphia, had occurred, who 

 was one of the principal benefactors of the institution, and its firsl 

 honorary member. 



Professor Bache gave an account of the life, character, and scien- 

 tific researches of Dr. Hare, and offered the following resolutions : 



Resolved, That the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution have learned with deep- 

 regret the decease of one of the earliest and most venerated honorary members of the 

 establishment, Kobert Hare, M. D., of Philadelphia, late professor of chemistry in 

 the University of Pennsylvania. 



Resolved, That the activity and powe^r of mind of Dr. Hare, shown through a long 

 and successful career of physical research, the great fertility of invention, the happy 

 adaptations to matters of practical life, and the successful grappling with questions of 

 high theory in physical science, have placed him among the first in his country of the 

 great contributors to knowledge, clarum et venerabile nomen. 



Resolved, That while we deplore the loss of this great and good man, who has done 

 so much to keep alive the flame of science in our country in past days, we especially 

 mourn the generous patron of our institution, the sympathizing friend of the youth 

 of some of us, and the warm-hearted colleague of our manhood. 



Resolved, That we offer to the bereaved family of Dr. Hare our sincere condolence 

 in the loss which they have sustained by his death. 



The resolutions were adopted. 



The report of the Secretary for 1857 was then accepted. 



Professor Felton, in behalf of the Special Committee, to whom 

 the following communication of Professor llenrv, of March 16th, 

 1857, together with accompanying documents, &c, were referred, 

 presented a report. 



Communication from, Prof. Henry, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, relative 

 to a publication by Prof. Morse. 



Gentlemen: In the discharge of the important and responsible duties which de- 

 volve upon me as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, I have found myself ex- 

 posed, like other men in public positions, to unprovoked attack and injurious misrep- 

 resentation. Many instances of this, it may be remembered, occurred about two 

 years ago, during the discussions relative to the organic policy of the institution ; but, 

 though very unjust, they were suffered to pass unnoticed, and generally made, I pre- 

 sume, no lasting impression on the public mind. 



During the same controversy, however, there was one attack made upon me of such 

 a nature, so elaborately prepared and widely circu.ated by my opponents, that, though 

 I have not yet publicly noticed it, I have from the first thought it my duty not to 



