Founding of the Institution 49 



The influence of the National Institute upon the history of 

 science in the United States, and particularly in educating 

 public opinion and the judgment of Congress to an applica- 

 tion of the proper means of disposing of the Smithsonian 

 legacy, cannot well be overestimated. If the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution had been organized before the National Institute 

 had exerted its influences, it would have been a school, an 

 observatory, or an agricultural experiment-station. 



In 1846, however, the country was prepared to expect it 

 to be a general agency for the advancement of scientific in- 

 terests of all kinds as catholic, as unselfish, as universal as 

 the National Institute had been prepared to be. 



The National Institute, after nearly five years of activity, 

 suddenly ceased to be a center of public interest. The strug- 

 gle over the Smithsonian bequest, however, was still going 

 on. During the Twenty-seventh Congress (1841 1843) the 

 Senate did nothing. The House of Representatives ap- 

 pointed a select committee on the subject, and Mr. Adams as 

 chairman reported a new bill, providing still more thoroughly 

 for the erection of an observatory and the publication of a 

 nautical almanac to be called the Smithsonian Almanac. 



The Twenty-eighth Congress (1843-1845) brought its 

 deliberations in regard to the Smithsonian bequest more 

 nearly to an issue. The astronomical observatory bill * was 

 again presented by Mr. Adams, but not acted upon. In the 

 Senate, in the first session, a bill for the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion was reported June 6, 1844, from the Joint Committee on 

 the Library, by Senator Tappan, of Ohio, who in the second 

 session, December 12, introduced another bill, somewhat 

 similar, but presenting the character of the books to be 

 bought. This bill, before being finally voted upon, was 

 brought into a form somewhat resembling that which was 



1 House of Representatives 418, Twenty-eighth Congress. 



