720 The Smithsonian Institution 



"this proposition was agreed to by the government, and the 

 contemplated transfer has accordingly been made." 1 But an 

 annual appropriation of only $4000 was made, and this was 

 continued for many years. 



The appropriation by the government in 1858 of $4000 a 

 year marks an epoch in the history of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution as well as of the National Museum. By the Act so 

 passed the sustentation of a special museum was to that ex- 

 tent recognized, and thus the National Museum may be con- 

 sidered to have been originated by the Act of appropriation. 

 It was indeed on a very small and inadequate scale, but 

 the beginning was made of a national museum. 



Up to this time the collection had been almost exclusively 

 devoted to vertebrates, and "the following table exhibits the 

 additions made to the record books of the museum in 1857, 

 in continuation of previous years : " 2 



1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 



Mammals None 114 198 351 1200 2046 3200 



Birds 4353 4425 5855 8766 



Skeletons and skulls . . . 911 1074 1190 1275 2050 3060 3340 



Reptiles 106 239 



Fishes , 155 613 



Although the collections of the Exploring Expedition had 

 become much deteriorated and suffered considerably from 

 spoliation under incompetent custodians, it was still a rich 

 one, and many types of the numerous new species described 

 by Dana, Gould, Peale, Cassin, and Girard remained. The 

 invertebrates of the sea at last began to be in evidence, and 

 quite a respectable nucleus of a general zoological museum 

 became existent. 



The subsequent increase was quite rapid, and resulted from 

 many government expeditions, but was mostly confined to 



1 " Smithsonian Report," 1858, page 14. 2 Ibidem, 1857, page 49. 



