BY THE ENGLISH SCIENTIFIC COMMISSION. 777 



collections. By this transfer the Institution is saved in the 

 expense of binding, cataloguing, and attendance, nearly 

 $10,000 annually, while it has the same use of its books as 

 before the arrangement was made. Again, the Agricultural 

 Department has taken charge of the plants of the Institu- 

 tion, and the osteological specimens have been transferred 

 to the Army Medical Museum. Furthermore, a wealthy 

 citizen of Washington has made a large appropriation of 

 money to establish and support a gallery of art, and it is 

 proposed to transfer to this the articles which the Institution 

 has accumulated in the line of art. The object of this policy 

 is to establish at Washington a collection of objects of nature 

 and art, without trenching on the Smithsonian fund, which 

 shall be worthy the capital of the nation. As a step towards 

 this desirable end, Congress, at its present session, has ap- 

 propriated $10,000 towards the support of the museum, un- 

 der the care of the Institution, and also $10,000 for the 

 commencement of the fitting up of the upper story of the 

 Smithson building for the better display of the collections. 

 The $10,000 for the care of the museum will for the present 

 be an annual appropriation. 



In regard to the increasing of knowledge by means of 

 original research, it should be observed that the will makes 

 no distinction as to any kind of knowledge, and here all 

 branches are entitled to a share of attention, that is, all 

 branches which can be said to be capable of definite in- 

 crease ; but these are proverbially scientific branches, and 

 therefore the appropriations from the income of the bequest 

 have thus far been devoted to the advancement of scientific 

 subjects. The plan adopted for the application of the in- 

 come of the bequest to what has been denominated the 

 active operations, in contradistinction to the plan of the 

 museum, library, &c, consists principally in assisting men 

 of science in their labors, in instituting various series of 

 observations or experiments and explorations ; in publish- 

 ing the results of these ; and in distributing copies to all 

 the principal libraries of the world. Whenever a man is 

 found who is capable of adding to the sum of human knowl- 

 edge, he is assisted, it may be, with instruments, books, 

 specimens, &c; or, if he is in the line of mathematics, in 

 its application to physics or astronomy, in which arithmeti- 

 cal calculations are required, an appropriation is made for 

 defraying the expenses of these. The Institution also 

 makes large collections of specimens in all branches of 

 natural history, not merely to supply the museum under its 

 care, but for distribution to advance this branch of knowl- 



