TWENTY-FIFTH CONGRESS, 1837-39. 177 



botanical treasures of every portion of our territory, and 

 the useful products of every foreign clime ; so that, while 

 our conservatory of arts and trades, now rising with 

 increased splendor from the ashes of its late conflagration, 

 shall receive the monuments of inventive genius, the con- 

 templated depository of our natural riches would soon vie 

 with it in curiosities and in usefulness. 



2. Of the importance to the military interests of the 

 country of an institution like that herein proposed no 

 doubt can be entertained, when we take into view the great 

 number of practical subjects which, in that service, it is 

 necessary to determine by actual experiment. Questions 

 relating to the form, construction, and efficiency of ord- 

 nance and arms of every description, the effect of projec- 

 tiles as related to their weight, bulk, and velocity, and to 

 the charges by which they are projected, or to the length, 

 weight, windage, and other circumstances of the guns em- 

 employed ; to the durability of the latter, as dependent on 

 the quality of metal used in their fabrication, or on the 

 method of casting and subsequent preparation for service, 

 are often presented for solution. 



In connection with the products of a national foundry, 

 should such an establishment be authorized, the prosecu- 

 tion of experiments would be of the utmost consequence, 

 and they certainly cannot be less important when the ord- 

 nance for our army and navy is manufactured entirely by 

 contract. Much of that skill which is required in the 

 fabrication of small arms is dependent on a just application 

 of scientific principles ; and careful researches into the 

 nature of the materials, and the best methods of working 

 them, is often demanded. Nor are inquiries for this 

 department of public service confined to one or a few 

 materials. Iron, copper, and zinc, brass, and many other 

 alloys; materials for tents, clothing, and accoutrements; 

 the whole range of substances employed in pyrotechny; 

 the materials for constructing fortifications, whether on the 

 seaboard or in the interior; for gun-carriages and other 

 vehicles; for portable bridges, and for every species of 

 camp equipage, are among the objects of attention in this 

 connection. Nor must the influence of heat, moisture, and 

 other causes, in destroying the various materials employed 

 in the military service, or the means of preventing their 

 injurious effects, be omitted. 



The interests of the army, then require many series of 

 experimental inquiries. And though, for the purposes of 

 educating youth to the profession of arms, it is admitted 



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