948 



PROPOSED APPLICATIONS OF SMITHSON'S BEQUEST. 



15. The duty of the Assistant Secretary, acting as librarian, will be, for 

 the present, to assist in taking charge- of the collections, to select and pur- 

 chase, under the direction of the Secretary and a committee of the board, 

 books and catalogues, and to procure the information before mentioned ; to 

 give information on plans of libraries, and to assist the Secretary in editing 

 the publications of the institution and in the other duties of his office. 



16. The Secretary and his assistants, during the session of Congress, will 

 be required to illustrate new discoveries in science, and to exhibit new 

 objects of art; also distinguished individuals should be invited to give lec- 

 tures on subjects of general interest. 



17. When the building is completed, and when, in accordance with the 

 act of Congress, the charge of the National Museum is given to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, other assistants will be required. 



Explanation and illustration of the programme. 



In accordance with my instructions, I consulted with men 

 of eminence, in the different branches of literature and 

 science, relative to the details of the plan of organization, 

 and arranged the various suggestions offered, in the form of 

 the accompanying programme. This, after having been 

 submitted to a number of persons in whose knowledge and 

 judgment I have confidence, is now presented to the board, 

 with the concurrence of the Committee on Organization, 

 for consideration and provisional adoption. I regret that 

 my engagements have been such as to render it impossible 

 for me to call upon many persons whose counsel would have 

 been valuable, but I hope hereafter to avail myself of their 

 advice in behalf of the institution. I also regret that. I 

 could not give the names of those whose suggestions have 

 been adopted in the programme ; the impossibility of ren- 

 dering justice to all, has prevented my attempting this. 

 Many of the suggestions have been offered by different per- 

 sons, independently of each other ; and, indeed, the general 

 plan of the increase and diffusion of knowledge as adopted 

 by the board, is such as would naturally arise in the mind 

 of any person conversant with the history of physical 

 science, and with the means usually employed for its exten- 

 sion and diffusion. 



The introduction to the programme contains a series of 

 propositions, suggested by a critical examination of the 

 will of Smithson, to serve as a guide in judging of the fit- 

 ness of any proposed plan for carrying out the design of 

 the testator. The first section of the programme gives the 

 details of the plan proposed for the increase and diffusion 

 of knowledge by means of publication and original re- 

 searches. The second section furnishes the details, so far 

 as they can be made out at the present time, of the forma- 



