REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 3° 
(3) Solution or experimental problems, such as a new determination of the 
weight of the earth, of the velocity of electricity and of light, chemical analyses 
of soils and plants, collection and publication of articles of science accumulated 
in the offices of the Government. 
(4) Institution of statistical inquiries with reference to physical, moral, and 
political subjects. 
(5) Historical researches, and accurate surveys of places celebrated in 
American history. 
(6) Ethnological researches, particularly with reference to the different races 
of men in North America; also explorations and accurate surveys of the mounds 
and other remains of the ancient people of our country. 
It has been the aim of the Institution throughout its history to 
accomplish as much as practicable in all the fields of research above 
enumerated, and the secretaries of the Smithsonian have in their 
turn been chosen by the regents with that end in view. The first 
secretary, Professor Henry, was a physicist, and researches during 
his administration were largely in the domain of physics. 
The present United States Weather Bureau is an outgrowth of 
the system of meteorological observations and warnings established 
by the Smithsonian Institution. In 1847 an appropriation was 
made “ for instruments and other expenses connected with meteoro- 
logical observations.” The instruments thus secured were dis- 
tributed throughout the country, and within two years the volunteer 
observers reporting to the Institution numbered about 400. In 1849 
Henry realized the value of the electric telegraph as “a ready means 
of warning the more northern and southern observers to be on the 
watch for the first appearance of an advancing storm,” and there was 
inaugurated a system of daily telegraphic weather reports, a system 
which was continued under the direction of the Institution until the 
beginning of the Civil War. On a large map in the Smithsonian 
building the weather over a considerable part of the country, accord- 
ing to reports received at 10 o’clock each day, was indicated by 
suitable symbols. 
Under the second secretary, Professor Baird, biological science 
was one of the principal fields of research. It was during his admin- 
istration that there was organized the United States Fish Commis- 
sion for the study of the food fisheries of the United States, and 
Prof. Baird served as head of that commission until his death. 
The organization later became the United States Bureau of Fish- 
eries of the Department of Commerce. Prof. Baird took a deep inter- 
est in the National Museum, and under his direction there was 
erected a building for the exhibition of the valuable collections ac- 
quired from the International Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876. 
Professor Langley, the third secretary, was both an astronomer and 
a physicist. But to his deep devotion to those professions may be 
added a broad view of the entire field of human knowledge. It was 
