20 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



CORRESPOjSIDENCE. 



From its correspondence it appears that the Institution is generallj^ 

 considered by the pnblic as an establishment to which requests may 

 be addressed for information on all branches of knowledge, for the 

 solution of various scientific problems, for the examination and 

 indorsement both of scientific investigations and crude, unscientific 

 speculations, for supplying answers to questions in prize contests, and 

 the like. It seems well, therefore, to state that while responses are 

 cheerfulh^ given, as far as practicable, to all legitimate requests for 

 scientific information, the Institution does not undertake to maintain 

 a general question bureau. The connnunications received cover every 

 conceivable subject, from new theories of the physical phenomena of 

 the universe to a request for information as to the value of some sup- 

 posedly rare book, and the preparation of the data desired entails 

 the expenditure of a considerable amount of time and labor by the 

 members of the Institution's staff. INIany of these correspondents 

 are men of considerable culture and of much general reading, but are 

 Avanting in that special training which is necessary for successful 

 scientific investigation, and correspondence with this class is especially 

 difficult to manage, since the rejection of the propositions made is 

 generally attributed to prejudice and is resented by the writers, who 

 array themselves as martyrs to science. "^^ 



During the year many letters have been received from inventors 

 who desire either grants of money with which to develop their various 

 devices or an expression of the Institution's opinion as to the merits 

 of their inventions. As the Institution has no funds from Avhich such 

 aid can be given, and as the Secretary is prohibited by a decision of 

 the Board of Regents from expressing an opinion of this character, 

 he is obliged to refuse all such requests. It would seem proper to 

 state also that the Institution does not supply information of a com- 

 mercial nature, such as is customarily furnished for a fee by engineers 

 or other professional advisers, or which is designed to benefit some 

 individual rather than the public. 



In spite of these restrictions, however, the conduct of this corre- 

 spondence is an important agency for the diffusion of knowledge 

 among men. 



NATIONAL GAI-LERY OF ART. 



In the message of President Roosevelt communicated to the two 

 Houses of Congress at the beginning of the third session of the 

 Fifty-eighth Congress (dated December G, 1904) he says: 



The collection of art contemplated in section ,5586 of the Revised Statutes 

 should be desisnated and established as a })ational gallery of art. and the 

 Smithsonian Institution should be authorized to accept any additions to said 

 collection that may be received by gift, bequest, or devise. 



