LECTURES AT THE SMITHSONIAN. 371 



Union in which the public lands are situated, &quot; a quantity 

 of land equal to a township in each land district in each 

 of said States, to aid in defraying the expenses of a 

 scientific exploration and geological survey of said 

 States. The passage of such a bill indicates not only 

 the existence of a desire to discover what the country 

 contains, but an appreciation of the objects of science, 

 and of its economical value in relation to the comforts of 

 life, which is not in all, even of our European, communi 

 ties to be met with. Had such a grant as this been 

 made at an earlier period, the survey of Pennsylvania 

 would long ago have been before the public, and those 

 of other States would have been completed. 



There are, in the numerous public offices in Washing 

 ton, some thousands, it is said, of young men, who 

 receive salaries too small to admit of themselves and 

 their families partaking of any evening entertainment 

 for which money is to be paid. To this large class the 

 gratuitous lectures in the Smithsonian Institute, delivered 

 by persons most eminent in their several departments, 

 will prove a great moral as well as intellectual boon. I 

 had the pleasure of attending some of these lectures 

 during my brief stay in the city, and overflowing 

 audiences of twelve to fifteen hundred people showed 

 how much interest they were already exciting. 



Among old European acquaintances, I here met with 

 Mr Espy, so well known for his theory of storms. He 

 was engaged in the Smithsonian buildings, making expe 

 rimental researches in connection with his theory, for 

 which the necessary funds had been furnished by the 

 general Government. To my namesake and old corres 

 pondent, Professor Walter R. Johnson, formerly of the 

 Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, and well known in 

 Europe for his extensive researches, economical and 

 chemical, upon American iron and American coal, I 

 was also indebted for kind attentions. It was my 



