THE SMITHSONIAN PUBLICATIONS 



By Cyrus Adler 



It is chiefly by the publications of the Institution that its fame is to be spread 

 through the world, and the monument most befitting the name of Smithson erected 

 to his memory. —Henry. 



^HAT a portion of the income arising from the 

 Smithson bequest should be devoted to the 

 pubHcation of scientific memoirs was an idea 

 early advanced in the course of the discussion 

 relating to its application. In the year 1840, 

 Peter S. Duponceau, then president of the American Philo- 

 sophical Society, described the benefit which that society 

 had received from the publication of a bulletin containing 

 its own proceedings. 



One of the favorite plans for the application of the Smith- 

 son Fund was the establishment of an Astronomical Observa- 

 tory. The bills which would have authorized this disposition 

 of the fund were introduced into Congress in 1839, in 1841, 

 and again in 1844. All of these bills directed that the sum 

 of $30,000 be set aside, the income of which was to be used 

 for the printing of a nautical almanac, to be known as the 

 "Smithson Almanac." In a bill introduced into the House 



of Representatives February 28, 1846, by Mr. Robert Dale 



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