INTKODUCTORY ADDRESS 



My J. \V. I'owi II. 

 Director, U. S. Geoloi^ieal Survey. 



On the occasion of the delivery of the first of tiie Saturday Lectures, the fol- 

 lowing remarks were made by Major J. W. PowElx : 



For luuuy years tlic Geue-nil Lrovernnient lias been proseculiiig 

 scieutific research through various agencies. The field of these in- 

 vestigations is wide. 



For a long time geological surveys have existed iu various forms. 

 In the study of the structure of the earth's crust — the mountains 

 and j)lain.s, the hills and valleys have been traversed, and rocks, 

 iniiierals and fossils collected ; and by these fos.sils we come to a 

 knowledge of the way in which the ancient earth was clothed with 

 vegetation, and of the animals that lived in the ancient seas, lakes, 

 and rivers, and roamed over the lands. 



During all these years biologists have been at work stuflying 

 the plants and animals that now live upon the earth and collecting 

 biologic materials from every laud. 



During all these years anthropologists have been at work study- 

 ing the native races of America and collecting their works of art. 



Since the foundation of the Smithsonian lustitution, it also has 

 in all these dej)artments promoted research and collected scientific 

 materials tor study, enlisting in its corps of collaborators men or 

 every part of the United States — yes, of every land and every clime. 



Since the organization of the Fish Commission, the nations of the 

 seas, and the tribes of tin; lakes and the rivers, have been studied. 

 Through these agencies, and yet many others, there has accumulated 

 in Washington, in the custody of the Smithsonian Institution, a large 

 bodv of material which has been the basis of a vast .system of scien- 

 tific research and publication. The General Government is now 

 annually publishing from 20 to oO large volumes — the monographs 

 and memoirs of scientific research — and the rate of publication is 

 rapidly increasing. 



These materials have already performed an important purpose — 

 greater than can be estimated, but tJteir value is perennial. 



