ADVERTISEMENT 



THIS volume forms the thirty-third of a series, composed of original memoirs 

 on different branches of knowledge, published at the expense and under the direc- 

 tion of the Smithsonian Institution. The publication of this series forms part of a 

 general plan adopted for carrying into effect the benevolent intentions of JAMES 

 SMITHSON, Esq., of England. This gentleman left his property in trust to the 

 United States of America to found at Washington an institution which should 

 bear his own name and have for its objects the " increase and diffusion of knowl- 

 edge among men." This trust was accepted by the Government of the United 

 States, and acts of Congress were passed August 10, 1846, and March 12, 1894, 

 constituting the President, the Vice-President, the Chief Justice of the United 

 States, and the heads of Executive Departments an establishment under the name 

 of the " SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, FOR THE INCREASE AND DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE 

 AMONG MEN." The members of this establishment are to hold stated and special 

 meetings for the supervision of the affairs of th-e Institution and for the advice 

 and instruction of a Board of Regents to whom the financial and other affairs 

 are intrusted. 



The Board of Regents consists of two members ex officio of the establishment, 



O ' 



namely, the Vice-President of the United States and the Chief Justice of the United 

 States, together with twelve other members, three of whom are appointed from the 

 Senate by its President, three from the House of Representatives by the Speaker, 

 and six persons appointed by a joint resolution of both Houses. To this Board is 

 given the power of electing a Secretary and other officers for conducting the active 

 operations of the Institution. 



To carry into effect the purposes of the testator, the plan of organization 

 should evidently embrace two objects : one, the increase of knowledge by the addi- 

 tion of new traths to the existing stock; the other, the diffusion of knowledge, 

 thus increased, among men. No restriction is made in favor of any kind of knowl- 

 edge, and hence each branch is entitled to and should receive a share of attention. 



The act of Congress establishing the Institution directs, as a part of the plan 

 of organization,, the formation of a library, a museum, and a gallery of art, together 

 with provisions for physical research and popular lectures, while it leaves to the 

 Regents the power of adopting such other parts of an organization as they may 

 deem best suited to promote the objects of the bequest. 



After much deliberation, the Regents resolved to apportion the annual income 

 specifically among the different objects and operations of the Institution in sucli 

 manner as may, in the judgment of the Regents, be necessary and proper for each, 

 according to its intrinsic importance, and a compliance in good faith with the law. 



The following are the details of the parts of the general plan of organization 

 provisionally adopted at the meeting of the Regents, December 8, 1847 : 





