THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS, 1853-1855. 555 



tution under its present management is held everywhere in Europe. The vohimes 

 published under its auspices have done the highest honor to American science, and 

 are considered most valuable contributions to the stock of knowledge among men. 

 They are shown to visitors as among the most creditable publications of the age, and 

 as highly interesting illustrations of the progress of science and arts in the United 

 States; and the eagerness to possess them is very great among the savants of the Old 

 World. They were shown to me wherever I went, and the commendations bestowed 

 on the civilization of America, as evinced by the excellence of these works, both in 

 matter and form, was deeply gratifying to me. The last time I had an opportunity 

 of seeing them was in the University Library, at Athens. The librarian pointed 

 them out to me and expressed the greatest anxiety to complete the set, one or two 

 volumes of which were wanting. I have a memorandum somewhere which I will 

 forward to j^ou. 



I promisetl a gentleman, with whom I became acquainted on my voyage from Eng- 

 land, that I would write to inquire whether it is possible to purchase an entire set. 

 He was desirous of adding them to his library. Will you oblige me by answering 

 this question at your convenience? 



C. C. Felton. 



Professor Agassiz, well known to the literary and scientific world, 

 has recently written a letter upon this subject, in which he says: 



Every scientific man in the country has been watching, with intense interest, the 

 proceedings of the Smithsonian Institution ever since its foundation, satisfied, as all 

 must be, that upon its prosperity the progress of science in America depends in a 

 very great measure. 



The controversies which have lately been carried on respecting the management 

 of the Institution have increased the solicitude of its friends with regard to its future 

 prospects in a degree which can hardly be realized by those who are not immediately 

 connected with the great cause of science. 



******* 



The votaries of science may differ in their views about the best means of advanc- 

 ing science, according to the progress they have themselves made in its prosecution; 

 but there is one standard of appreciation which can not fail to guide rightly those 

 who would form a candid opinion about it — I mean the life of those who have most 

 extensively contributed in enlarging the boundaries of knowledge. There are two 

 individuals who may, without qualification, be- considered as the most prominent 

 scientific men of the nineteenth century, Cuvier and Humboldt. By what means 

 have they given such a powerful impulse to science? How have they succeeded, not 

 only in increasing the amount of knowledge of their age, but also in founding new 

 branches of science? It is by their own publications and by aiding in the publica- 

 tions of others; by making large collections of specimens and other scientific appara- 

 tus, and not by the accumulation of large libraries. Humboldt never owned a book, 

 not even a copy of his own works, as I know from his own lips. "He was too poor," 

 he once said to me, "to secure a copy of them," and all the works he receives con- 

 stantly from his scientific friends and admirers are distributed by him to needy stu- 

 dents. Again, there is hardly a scientific man living on the Continent of Europe who 

 is not indebted to him for some recommendation in the proper quarters for assistance 

 in the publication of their works. I mention more particularly these details about 

 Humboldt, because he is happily still among the living, and his testimony may be 

 asked in a matter of such deep importance to the real progress of science. But the 

 same is equally true of the part Cuvier took in his day in promoting science. All 

 his efforts were constantly turned toward increasing the collections of the Jardin des 

 Plantes and supporting the publication of original researches, giving himself the 

 example of the most untiring activity in publishing his own. In this connection I 



