306 MEMORIAL OF JOSEPH HENRY. 



vaulting over the lower or principal story. Neither wing of. the 

 building was reached by the fire; and the valuable Library (not 

 then transferred to the Capitol), and the Museum, fortunately 

 escaped without injury. The Stanley collection of Indian portraits, 

 comprising about 200 paintings, and estimated as worth 20,000 

 dollars, was entirely destroyed. A fine full-sized copy in Carrara 

 marble, by John Gott, of the antique statue known as " The Dying 

 Gladiator," was crumbled into a formless mass of stone. 



The Secretary's office unfortunately fell within the range of the 

 flames. "The most irreparable loss was that of the records, con- 

 sisting of the official, scientific, and miscellaneous correspondence ; 

 embracing 35,000 pages of copied letters which had been sent, (at 

 least 30,000 of which were the composition of the Secretary,) and 

 50,000 pages of letters received by the Institution ; the receipts for 

 publications and specimens; reports on various subjects which have 

 been referred to the Institution ; the records of experiments insti- 

 tuted by the Secretary for the Government; four manuscripts of 

 original investigations, [memoirs by collaborators,] which had been 

 adopted by the Institution for publication ; a large number of papers 

 and scientific notes of the Secretary; a series of diaries, memorandum 

 and account books." * This truly " irreparable loss " of the original 

 notes of many series of experiments by Henry, of varied character, 

 running back for thirty years, kept for the purpose of reduction 

 and discussion, or further extension (as leisure might permit), and 

 of which but few had been published even by results, — was borne 

 by their author with his characteristic equanimity; and was very 

 rarely alluded to by him, unless when in answer to inquiries respect- 

 ing particular points of his researches, he was compelled to excuse 

 the absence of precise data. 



The Lecture Room — a model of its class — entirely burned out 

 by the fire, was not reconstructed : but the space it occupied on the 

 upper floor, was with the adjacent rooms (used as the apparatus 

 room, and the art gallery) thrown into one large hall, 200 feet long, 

 — at present occupied as the ethnological museum. Advantage 

 was taken of the hazard demonstrated by the fire, to induce Con- 

 gress in the following year to transfer the custody of the Smith- 



♦ Smilfismiiatt. Report for 1805, p. 18. 



