560 The Smithsonian Institution 



stitute of Bologna, the Holland Society of Science, the Impe- 

 rial Academies of Science in Bordeaux and Vienna, the Lon- 

 don Institution of Civil Engineers, the Royal Academy of 

 Science in Brussels, the Royal Prussian Academy of Science, 

 and others, was a matter of interest to men of science in 

 America, and was greatly helpful in directing their efforts. 

 In the above review of the work of the Institution along 

 the line of physics, it has been impossible to look much 

 beyond what is reflected in its numerous publications. 

 Throughout its fifty years of existence there has been some- 

 thing besides this, however, less tangible, it is true, but often 

 more effective, in the ready disposition of its authorities 

 to render assistance to every man engaged in original inves- 

 tigation which was likely to prove of value, and for which 

 support was not easily obtained from other sources. Many 

 physicists, in America and elsewhere, can testify to the valu- 

 able cooperation of the Institution. To the general public it 

 has been easy of access, and its resources in the way of 

 obtaining information have always been at their command. 

 The Smithsonian Reports have been especially valuable as 

 a means of diffusing a knowledge of the more important 

 advances in physical science, for there is hardly a discovery 

 of moment, or a notable expression of opinion on the part 

 of a man of distinction, that has not found a place in this 

 most valuable annual. All scholars note with pleasure its 

 increase in size from year to year, and physicists welcome 

 the increasing recognition of their science. Under the wise 

 direction of one of the first physicists of the present time, it 

 is natural to indulge in the hope and expectation that in the 

 years to come the Smithsonian Institution will be, even more 

 than in the past, the center of intellectual activity of the 

 Western Continent, and the friendly patron of original re- 

 search everywhere. 



