272 



NATURE 



[July 21, 1898 



so regularly to agree with the corresponding diminution 

 of the bank-notes in the foreigner's pocket-book, that a 

 doubt could no longer be entertained." 



It may be added, by way of sequel, " that Smithson 

 resolved not to absolutely discontinue play (in which he 

 found the only stimulus which could make him forget 

 his physical suffering), but to do so with a care that the 

 expenditure for this purpose was a definite one, and 

 within his means." 



Smithson died in Genoa in 1829, having bequeathed 

 all his property to a nephew, Henry James Hungerford 

 by name, and after him to any child of this nephew, 

 "legitimate or illegitimate"; but in case of the said 

 nephew dying and leaving no child, then all the property 

 was, as mentioned above, to go " to the United States 

 of America, to found at Washington, under the name of 

 the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the 

 increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 



Henry Hungerford died unmarried and without heirs 

 in 1835, and Smithson's solicitors forthwith communi- 

 cated with the United States Embassy in London. 

 Then followed discussions in Senate and House of Repre- 

 sentatives. Some senators considered that it would be 

 beneath the dignity of the nation to receive benefits 

 from a foreigner. Other senators considered that it would 

 not. The House of Representatives referred the matter to 

 a select committee, and finally the legacy was accepted, 

 and Richard Rush, a lawyer of high standing, at one 

 time United States Minister at the Court of St. James's, 

 was selected to prosecute the claim in Chancery. 



When Mr. Rush arrived in London he found that 

 there were eight hundred cases in Chancery ahead of 

 his, yet he managed to get the suit settled in less than 

 two years, a matter " which gave rise to no little surprise," 

 seeing that "the English lawyers themselves admitted 

 that a Chancery suit was a thing which might begin 

 with a man's life, and its termination be his epitaph." 

 It is pleasant to read that this success " was due in a 

 large degree to the extreme friendliness and consider- 

 ation manifested by the British law officers, from the 

 Attorney-General down." The suit settled, Mr. Rush 

 took passage home in the packet ship Mediator with one 

 hundred and five bags, each containing a thousand 

 sovereigns, except one, " which," reported Mr. Rush, 

 "contained 960 sovereigns and eight shillings and seven- 

 pence wrapped in paper'''' — a particularity which is a 

 little comical in face of the fact that the Treasury 

 accounts show that the odd money which he actually 

 paid in was eight shillings and sixpence. 



And now, of course, the trouble began. Another eight 

 years must pass before Congress could decide what to do 

 with the money. Like our own Royal Society, the 

 Smithsonian Institution had to go through a period of 

 incubation before it could be hatched. Just as Evelyn, 

 Cowley, Petty, and others proposed sundry schemes for 

 giving body to the " Invisible College," so, numerous 

 "persons versed in science and in matters relating to 

 education" gave their views on the shape which the 

 Smithsonian Institution ought to take. Some advocated 

 the establishment of a university, others a central school 

 of natural science ; others, again, an institution for re- 

 searches in physical science in connection with the useful 

 arts. An experimental farm, a school of astronomy, and 

 a meteorological bureau were other proposals ; while 

 ex-President Adams urged the establishment of an 

 astronomical observatory "equal to any in the world," 

 an idea for which he fought with great persistence. 



At length, in 1846, the existing Naval Observatory 

 having been organised, Mr. Adams was willing to drop 

 his observatory scheme, which had been standing some- 

 what in the way of a settlement, and in that year the Act 

 incorporating the Smithsonian Institution was passed by 

 Congress. 



To John Quincy Adams, " the Smithsonian " owes 

 NO. 1499, VOL. 58] 



much. It was mainly by his influence that the bequest 

 was accepted, and, when accepted, that it was resolved 

 to keep the capital intact and spend only the interest. 

 Next to him, the Institution is indebted for its successful 

 foundation to Joel Poinsett of South Carolina. To 

 Poinsett are due the main features of organisation, the 

 plan for a national museum of science and art, and the 

 inauguration of a system of international exchange of 

 books. Other features are due to other men : the 

 establishment of the library to Rufus Choate, of Massa- 

 chusetts, and George P. Marsh, of Vermont ; the 

 establishment of a staff of resident investigators to 

 Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania ; and the organisation of 

 the various branches into one whole to Robert Dale 

 Owen, of Indiana. 



For the constitution of the Smithsonian Institution we 

 must refer the reader to the volume before us. There he 

 will find it set forth with fulness, and supplemented with 

 a biographical notice of every member of the Board of 

 Regents down to the present time, and with an interesting 

 chapter on the three successive Secretaries, Prof. Joseph 

 Henry, Prof. Spencer Fullerton Baird, and finally Prof. 

 Samuel Pierpoint Langley, who happily is still spared 

 to the scientific world, and at the age of sixty-four shows 

 no abatement in scientific ardour. That the constitution 

 of the Institution was judiciously conceived is sufficiently 

 shown in the brief paragraph with which the late Dr. 

 Goode closes his chapter on " The Board of Regents " : 

 " Notwithstanding the fears so generally entertained fifty 

 years ago, the Institution has never, in any respect, fallen 

 under the influence of political interference. No member 

 of its staff has ever been appointed because of the 

 influence of powerful friends or for any reason except that 

 he was believed to be the best man available for the place. 

 No sinecures have been created, and no breath of sus- 

 picion has ever tarnished the reputation of any officer or 

 employee." 



And now, at the end of its first half-century, what is 

 the scope of this great Institution, and what is the work 

 which it carries on ? " To increase and to diffuse know- 

 ledge among men," were the aims of the founder, and to 

 these two aims — the increase, and the diffusion of know- 

 ledge — the Institution strictly addresses itself. The 

 Library, the Publications, the Museum, the Bureau of 

 Exchanges, the Bureau of Ethnology, the Astrophysical 

 Observatory, the Zoological Park, and the exploration 

 ■work of the Institution are some of the main branches 

 of its system bearing upon one or other of these aims. 



In most of these branches the Institution is in close 

 alliance with the United States Government. Its library, 

 for instance, is actually beneath the same roof as the 

 library of Congress, and, though kept distinct, forms 

 for practical purposes one library. It is said that the 

 Institution reaps great advantage by this arrangement, 

 inasmuch as it thus has access to a much larger 

 number of volumes, while effecting a considerable saving 

 in its funds. Indeed, it is a question whether a similar 

 amalgamation might not usefully be made between some 

 of our English libraries. Whatever advantages there 

 may be in each scientific society in Burlington House, 

 for instance, having its own library — and some advan- 

 tages no doubt there are — it is obvious that a certain 

 waste of funds and force results from the Royal, the 

 Geological, the Chemical, the Linnean, and the Royal 

 Astronomical Societies, all situated in the same quad- 

 rangle, being possessed of separate libraries, separate 

 staffs of assistants, separate catalogues, and quintuplet 

 sets of many expensive serials and books. 



As with the library, so with the museum ; the Govern- 

 ment and the Institution are mutually benefited by a 

 close alliance. The nucleus of the museum was Smith- 

 son's own cabinet of minerals, consisting of some eight 

 or ten thousand specimens. To this were added, in 

 1858, the collections formed by various exploring 



