68 ^ MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY. 



scientific research ; and that he changed, as we may say, the trustee- 

 ship for a purely personal reason. Henry took his stand on the 

 broad and simple terms of the bequest, "for the increase and dif- 

 fusion of knowledge among men." And he never — 



Narrowed his mind. 

 And to locality gave what was meant for mankind. 



He proposed only one restriction, of obvious wisdom and neces- 

 sity, that, in view of the limited means of the Institution, it ought 

 not to undertake anything which could be done, and well done, by 

 other existing instrumentalities. So, as occasion arose, he lightened 

 its load and saved its energies by giving over to other agencies some 

 of its cherished work — meteorology, for instance, in which a most 

 popular bureau now usefully expends many times more than the 

 whole Smithsonian income. 



He has in these last years signified his desire to go still further 

 in this direction, and to ha,ve the institution relieved from the charge 

 of the National Museum, now of iniperial dimensions and impor- 

 tance. His reasons were summed up in a few words in his last 

 report, along with his synopsis of the appropriate functions of the 

 Institution, which he prays may not be merged in or overshadowed 

 by any establishment of the Government, but may stand "free to 

 the unobstructed observation of the whole world, keeping in per- 

 petual remembrance the will of its founder." Its true functions 

 he declares are — 



" First. To enlarge the bounds of human thought by assisting 

 men of science to make original investigations in all branches of 

 knowledge; to publish these, and to present copies to all the prin- 

 cipal libraries of the world. Second. To institute investigations 

 in various branches of science, and explorations for the collection 

 of specimens in natural history and ethnology, to be distributed to 

 museums and other establishments. Third. To diffuse knowledge 

 by carrying on an extended international series of exchanges by 



