34 The Smithsonian Institution 



larger collection of models and natural products, which re- 

 mained under the custody of the Commissioner of Patents 

 until 1858, when it was transferred to the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution and became a part of the present National Museum." 



Though an assemblage of objects of more or less scientific 

 interest was thus early formed as an indirect result of the 

 policy pursued by the government, the establishment of a 

 national museum was earlier in the minds of many American 

 statesmen, especially in connection with the educational in- 

 stitutes which it was thought the government should found 

 for the intellectual advancement of the people. 



In the plan for a federal university published in the Penn- 

 sylvania Gazette in 1788, and commonly credited to Madi- 

 son, 1 section 8 relates to natural history, and in connection 

 therewith the remark is made : 



"To render instruction in these branches of science easy, 

 it will be necessary to establish a museum, and also a garden, 

 in which not only all the shrubs, etc., but all the forest trees 

 of the United States should be cultivated." 



The plan for a " National Institution " put forth by Joel 

 Barlow in 1806 includes mention of the natural history and 

 art museums of France in the preamble, and in the plan 

 itself (though ambiguously worded) are provisions for collec- 

 tions of minerals and philosophical instruments. 



While these and other similar plans show that the forma- 

 tion of national collections of art and science was thought 

 desirable by the fathers, they did not result directly in the 

 establishment of museums under the government. The first 

 really scientific collection that came into the possession of the 

 government was probably, as Doctor Goode has remarked, 2 



1 See Goode, ibidem, pages 66, 126, who 2 Goode. "Genesis of the National Mu- 

 believed Benjamin Rush, of Pennsylvania, to seum." Report United States National Mu- 

 have been the author of the plan. seum, 1891, page 273. 



