JAMES SMITHSON AND HIS BEQUEST. 9 



are regarded from too high a point of view to allow us to hesitate in 

 placing in the first rank of the labors with which they are adorned 

 those which diffuse comfort, health, and happiness amidst the working 

 population." 



. In another of his papers Smithson says, referring to practical inves- 

 tigations : 



" In all cases means of economy tend to augment and diffuse comfort 

 and happiness. They bring within the reach of the many what waste- 

 ful proceeding confines to the few. By diminishing expenditure on one 

 article they allow of some other enjoyment which was before unattaina- 

 ble. A reduction in quantity permits an indulgence in superior quality. 

 In the present instance the importance of economy is particularly great 

 since it is applied to matters of high price, which constitute one of the 

 daily meals of a large portion of the population of the earth." 



" That in cookery also the power of subjecting for an indefinite dura- 

 tion to a boiling heat, without the slightest dependiture of volatile mat- 

 ter, will admit of a beneficial application, is unquestionable."* 



In the books of his library are found numerous marginal notes, indi- 

 cating his special attention to subjects relating to the health, comfort, 

 resources, and happiness of the people. 



Among his effects were several hundred manuscripts and a great 

 number of notes or scraps on a variety of subjects, including history, the 

 arts, language, rural pursuits, &g. On the subject of "habitations" 

 were articles classified under the several heads of situation, exposure, 

 exterior and interior arrangements, building materials, contents and 

 adornment of rooms, furniture, pictures, statuary, &c. It is not im- 

 probable that he contemplated the preparation of a cyclopedia or phil- 

 osophical dictionary. 



Smithson's contributions to scientific literature consist of twenty-seven 

 papers, eight published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Eoyal 

 Society, in the years 1791, 1802, 1806, 1808, 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1817, and 

 nineteen in Thomson's Annals of Philosoi^hy, a journal of the highest 

 scientific character, in 1819, 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1824, and 1825. These 

 papers have recently been collected and reprinted by the Smithsonian 

 Institution.t Several of them were previously republished in foreign 

 scientific journals translated by himself. 



It is highly probable that Smithson contributed articles to scientific 

 and literary journals other than those mentioned, but they have not 

 yet been discovered. 



* An improved method of making coffee. Smithsonian Miscell. Coll., No. 327, p. 88. 

 ] Smithsonian Miscell. Coll., No. 327, 1879, 8 vo., 166 pp. 



