THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 12? 



could be gathered in relation to him, have been made, to serve here- 

 after for a more definite account of his life and labours than has yet 

 appeared." It would appear, therefore, to have been in contem- 

 plation to prepare an extended biographical notice of the founder 

 of " the Smithsonian Institution." And this seems to us no more 

 than is due to Smithson by those who have assumed the responsi- 

 bility of his executors for the world at large. He cannot be looked 

 upon as the mere vulgar millionaire, bequeathing a wealth he could 

 no longer use, in order to gratify his vanity by some costly charity 

 destined to perpetuate his name. As a man of science his contri- 

 butions to physics do not greatly enlarge our knowledge, or add 

 materially to the resources by means of which chemistry and the 

 kindred sciences have made such rapid strides in modern times ; but 

 they show him to have been a willing fellow labourer with some of 

 the great men who confer so brilliant a lustre on the early years of 

 the present century ; and that under circumstances'of abundant 

 wealth, and peculiar social relations little calculated to have tempted 

 him into the paths of scientific investigation, had his tastes not lain 

 very specially in that direction. 



But eight years have elapsed since the notice of Smithson's papers 

 and other personal effects was inserted in the Eegent's Annual 

 Eeport ; and the present year has been signalised by a disastrous 

 conflagration, in which it is to be feared that the unused materials 

 for the purposed biography may have vanished, with whatever secrets 

 they contained. On the 12th of January the electric wires flashed 

 across the continent the following unwelcome intelligence : — 



"This afternoon, about three o'clock, a fire broke out in the 

 Smithsonian Institution building, in the loft above the picture gal- 

 lery, between the ceiling and the roof, caused, it is believed, by sa 

 defective flue. The ceiling soon fell in, and in a few minutes, the 

 gallery was one sheet of flame. The fire, as it mounted the central 

 tower and burst forth in full volume from the main roof, was 

 magnificently grand, and a curious spectacle was presented by the 

 steadiness of the revolution of the anoraeter, or wind register sur-- 

 mounting the tower, while the fierce flame was ravenously mounting 

 to its destruction. The windows of the picture gallery soon burst 

 out, disclosing only the shell of the room. There were some 200 

 of Stanley's pictures here. He had negociated for their sale to the 

 Michigan University. Only five or six of them were saved. The 

 loss is very serious, including the lecture room, the philosophical 



