EEPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 5 



charge of the Library and the Exchanges, with stich additional duties 

 as the Secretary may assign him, be Jtpproved." 



In the absence of Doctor Angell, chairman of the special commit- 

 tee, Senator Henderson presented a report giving an account of the 

 visit of the committee to Detroit and their conference with Mr. 

 Freer. The report was fully discussed, and the following resolution 

 was adopted : 



^"Resolved, That the Board of Regents take this occasion to express 

 their sincere thanks to Mr. Charles L. Freer, of Detroit, for the cour- 

 tesy shown to the commit'. 3e of the Regents which recently visited 

 Detroit to examine his art collection; and that further consideration 

 of his generous offer to donate the same to this Institution or the 

 United States be continued until the next meeting of the Board of 

 Regents." 



The Secretary stated that Capt. John Donnell Smith, of Baltimore, 

 had donated to the Institution his entire botanical collection, and the 

 Board adopted the folloAving resolution : 



''Resolved, That the thanks of the Board of Regents be tendered 

 to Capt. John Donnell Smith for his generosity in presenting to the 

 Institution liis large and valuable collection of plants and books on 

 botany, which is gratefully accepted." 



The Secretary stated that a room in the Smithsonian building had 

 been fitted up as a temporary resting place for the remains of Smith- 

 son, and asked the Regents to be present at their transfer. 



After adjournment, the Regents repaired to the room referred to, 

 Avhere, in their presence, the remains were placed w^ithin the tomb, 

 which was then sealed, 



GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



Sixty years ago, when Joseph Henry became the first Secretary of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, the scope of the work he assumed was 

 practically unlimited; Smithson's direction being that his bequest 

 was to be used for the " increase and diffusion of knowledge among 

 men." After considering many suggestions as to how this might best 

 be done. Professor Henry decided that the proper function of the 

 Smithsonian Institution was " to assist men of science in making 

 original researches, to publish them in a series of volumes, and to give 

 a copy of them to every first-class library on the face of the earth." 

 This has remained the policy of the Institution; and although its 

 operations have, of necessity, been modified from time to time, its 

 original breadth of scope has never been narrow^ed. 



The methods of assisting in original research have been various. 

 Numerous grants have been made to qualified investigators, and 

 expeditions have been sent out in many directions. Several enter- 

 prises undertaken by the Institution on a small scale outgrew the 

 original intention and, in accordance with the policy of the Institution 



