S2() tiE^OR*^' OF NATIONAL MUSEUk, I89i. 



our own contributions, with those of liberal fijisnds of science elsewhere^ 

 by tlie continued and generous assistance of tlie officers of the Army 

 and Nayy, of our foreign ministers and consuls, as weli as the members 

 of Congress and many in private life, I think it may be safely said we 

 hope to advance still further and faster, till we render the Institute in 

 many respects worthy its unrivaled jiosition and the growing country 

 to Avhich it belongs.* 



This was followed up by a memorial to Congress, which, having never 

 before been published, is here presented,! and which was favorably 

 acted upon by the Library Committee, who adopted the report sub- 

 mitted by Senator Choate concerning the similar memorial of 1844. 

 No action was, however, taken. 



Still another appeal was made| to the Twenty-ninth Congress, which 

 was presented to the Senate by Lewis Cass, and to the House of Eep- 

 resentatives by John Quiucy Adams, This, too, was fruitless. 



In 1846 also, as we have seen, Mr. Ingersoll, always a faithful friend 

 of the Society, endeavored to establish a connection between it and the 

 Smithsonian Institution in the administration of a ISfational Museum, 

 but the effort failed at the last moment, and the Eegents of the Institu- 

 tion were not inclined to take advantage of the privilege of putting 

 this building as a wing to the Patent Office, as they might have done. 



In the organization of the Smithsonian Institution the National In- 

 stitute was practically left out of account, and the hopes of many years 

 were blasted. What was still more discouraging' was that power had 

 been given to the new corporation to take possession of all Govern- 

 ment collections in the custody of the Institute, on the possessi(m of 

 which its chief claim to a subsidy was fouuded, and in connection with 

 which a considerable debt had been contracted, § as is indicated by Mr. 

 Rush's letter of July, 184C. 



In the ^'Notice to the Members of the National Institute" which 

 served as an introduction to its fourth Bulletin, dated November 25, 

 1846, a pitiful statement of the condition of the society is given : 



More than a thousand boxes, truidis, etc., embracing collections of 

 value, variety, and rarity in literature, the arts, and in natural history, 

 remain on hand unopened — the liberal contributions of members at 

 home and abroad — of governments, of learned and scientitic societies 

 and institutions of foreign countries and of our own, and of munificent 

 friends and patrons in every ])art of tlie world. For the jueservation, 

 re(;ei)tion, and display of these the [nstitute has neither funds nor a 

 su i table (lepository . 1 1 



This was a fatal condition of affairs, lor the formation of a museum 

 was the one object which, out of the many specified, seemed to have 



* Annual adilrt'ss, iip. 3;{, .'?4. 

 t Note V. 

 tNote (}. 



^Col. Alieit t'stiniatcd llii^ amount in 1844 at $1,500 and it was now doubtless 

 greater. 



II Troceedings i, p. 481. (Fouitli Hulletiu.) 



