THIC ^;ENESI^; 01'^ THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 345 



A considerabU' portion of tin' collections Las boon anaii^ed, and a 

 taxidermist em[)loyed to repair the specimens of zoology which have 

 been damaged, and to i)repare for exhibition others whicli had not jjre- 

 vionsly been inounte<l. The innsenm will soon be an object of continued 

 and increasing' interest to the inhabitants of the city and tt) sti-augers 

 Avho visit the capital of the Fidted States. 



An assent to the arrangement above stated for taking charge of the 

 Government collections is by no means inconsistent with the regret 

 expresse<l in previous reports that the law of Congress directed pro- 

 vision to be made from the Smithsonian fund for a public; museum and 

 hbrary. It must be evident to any one who attentively studies the past 

 history of the operations of the Institution that the interestof the money 

 expended on the building intended for this purpose would have beeu 

 nuu'li more efHciently ai)plied in the development and publicatiou of 

 new truths. But, in all cases where many views are to be consulted, 

 the question is not merely what oiif/ht to be, but what can be accom- 

 ]»lished. From the tirst there has existed a clear concei)tion of the means 

 l)y which the idea of the donor could be best realized, and the aim of 

 the majority of the regents has continually been to approxinmte, as 

 nearly as the restrictions of Congress would allow, to the i)lan originally 

 l)ro])osed. The policy has been invariably the saiiu% and the ])resent 

 rcpnlalion and generally acknowledged success of the lnstitntii>n aic 

 the resnlt ot this undeviating course.* 



The portion ot the Smithsonian income which can be devoted to a 

 nuisenm and the •"?4,()(I0 i)ei- annum a[>i)ropriated by Congress would 

 not together be snthciciit 1o estaldisli and sustain a general cctllection 

 ofsitecimens of the natural history ot tiu' AV(tild. It will therefore be, 

 the policy of tln^ Institution, unless other nu'ans are provided, to con- 

 line the collections [Mincij)ally to illustrations of the i)roducts (»t the 

 North American continent. For this ])urpose etforts Inne been made, 

 principally through the vaiions e\])loring e\])e(litions, to obtain a large 

 number of specimens of all the s])ecies ot the different kingdoms of 

 nature found in North America; and at this.tinu' the collection under 

 chaige of the Institution is more extensive in number and vaiiety than 

 any olhei' which has eser before, beeu nuide relative to this portion of 

 I lie globe. It is not in accordance with the geiuM'al organization of the 

 Institution t-o lortn a museum of single specimens, interesting only for 

 their rareness, but to (collect a large number of s])ecimeiis of each s[)e- 

 cii's, particularly of such as have not lieen described, aiid to distribute 

 these among the several naturalists who nuty have the industry, abil- 

 ity, and the desire to study them; the primary object of the Institution, 

 namely, the increase of the existing sum of knowledge, in this <'ase as 

 in all otlu'is, being kept promiiuMitly in view. 



Tin' Institution has now become the curator of the collections of nat- 

 ural history and ethnology of the Goverument, and Ijy law is emi)owered, 

 as it a])])ears to me, to nmke the same disposition of the materials con- 

 tained in these collections as it does of those i»rocured at its own ex- 

 pense. The design will be to render the specimens in the greatest degree 

 serviceable to the advance of knowledge. The JMuseum now consists 

 of the following collectiims, of which, according to Professor Baird, 

 about one-tifth were brought from the Patent Ofilice. 



First, those of the naval expeditions; second, those of the United 

 States geological surveys; third, those of the boundary surveys; fourth, 

 those of surveys for railroad routes to the Pacific; fifth, of miscellaneous 



Smithsouian Report, 1858, pp. 13-16. 



