The Smithsonian Publications 493 



ment, is held everywhere in Europe. The volumes pub- 

 lished under its auspices have done the highest honor to 

 American science and are considered most valuable contribu- 

 tions to the stock of knowledge among men. They are 

 shown to visitors as among the most creditable publications 

 of the age, and as highly interesting illustrations of the prog- 

 ress of science and the arts in the United States; and the 

 eagerness to possess them is very great among the savants 

 of the Old World. They were shown to me wherever I 

 went, and the commendations bestowed on the civilization of 

 America, as evinced by the excellence of these works, both in 

 matter and form, was deeply gratifying to me." 



In the course of the debate in Congress on Senator Choate's 

 resignation as a Regent, Mr. William H. English of Indiana 

 said, in the House of Representatives : 



" Original researches have been stimulated, and many valu- 

 able memoirs upon scientific subjects published and distrib- 

 uted to all the principal libraries and learned societies in the 

 world. To show conclusively what has already been done in 

 this direction, I will give a list of some of the publications, 

 premising in the language of the secretary of the board, that 

 'the institution up to this time has scarcely published a single 

 paper the production of which has not been stimulated and 

 assisted, or whose character has not been improved, by the 

 agency of the institution, and, as a whole, they are such as 

 could not have been given to the world without the aid of the 

 Smithsonian bequest.' They are the product of American 

 genius, and have reflected the highest honor on American 

 science. 



"These works are distributed gratuitously to most of the 

 incorporated colleges and libraries in the United States, and 

 to the leading literary institutions of other countries. They 

 are not copyrighted, and are sold by the trade at a low rate. 



" It may be contended that researches and publications of 

 a character so purely scientific are not calculated directly to 

 diffuse knowledge among the great mass of mankind. 



