Meteorology 66 1 



Smithsonian Institution in the direction of reporting the con- 

 dition of the weather. That was not its only function. In 

 an excerpt from the " Transactions of the American Medical 

 Association," quoted by Henry, is the following description: 

 "The primary object of the Smithsonian Institution is the 

 advancement of the science of meteorology and the elucida- 

 tion of the laws of atmospheric phenomena ; that of the 

 Patent Office, to collect facts and deduce therefrom laws 

 which have immediate reference to agriculture ; while the 

 system of the Medical Department is intended to be pri- 

 marily subservient to the health of the troops and the ad- 

 vancement of medical science. These three Institutions are 

 now in harmonious cooperation, and it is believed that it is 

 no exaggeration to say that under their auspices more is now 

 being done to advance meteorology than has ever before 

 been attempted under any government." 1 Of the work 

 accomplished by the Patent Office a few words are necessary. 

 From 1854 to 1860 an annual appropriation was made by 

 Congress for "the collection of agricultural statistics, investi- 

 gations for promoting agriculture and rural economy, etc." 2 

 A portion of this income during the years mentioned was 

 devoted by the Commissioner of Patents to assisting the 

 Smithsonian Institution in collecting and reducing meteoro- 

 logical observations. Charles Mason, who was Commis- 

 sioner of Patents in 1853-' 5 7, says in his Report for 1856 

 "that the degree of heat, cold, and moisture in various locali- 

 ties, and usual periods of their occurrence, together with their 

 effects upon different agricultural productions, are of incal- 

 culable importance in searching into the laws by which the 

 growth of such products is regulated, and will enable the 



1 Preface of " Results of Meteorological inclusive, being a report of the Commissioner 



Observations made under the direction of the of Patents made at the first session of the 



United States Patent Office and the Smith- Thirty-sixth Congress," Volume I (1861). 

 sonian Institution from the year 1854 to 1859 2 Smithsonian Report," 1860, page 34. 



