August 31, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



273 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AND THE 

 MUSEUM IDEA. 



The discussion opened by David Fairchild 

 and continued by David D. Mottier/ urging 

 the divorce of the museum idea from the 

 Smithsonian Institution, appears to me a 

 hopeful sign, indicating an awakening of the 

 scientific public to the underlying deeper 

 question: Has the Smithsonian Institution 

 been managed in accordance with the will of 

 Smithson or has this country proved faithless 

 to the trust freely accepted? 



For almost half a century I have taken note 

 of the Smithsonian Institution, I knew 

 Joseph Henry personally quite well and in 

 many ways assisted and was helped. I know 

 his * History of the Beginnings of the Insti- 

 tution,' which is also quite well known abroad, 

 having been republished extensively in Eu- 

 rope; for example, Cosmos, lie Series, T. 

 III., Paris, 1866, pp. 723-760. The * museum 

 idea' is fully considered therein and every- 

 thing local or even national is shown to be in 

 conflict with the intention of Smithson. 



Under the successors of Joseph Henry, the 

 institution has gradually ceased to conform 

 to the founder's intentions. Congress has 

 been called upon to furnish money — and our 

 Billion Dollar Congress has responded most 

 liberally. A national museum has been de- 

 veloped, a new four-million-dollar building is 

 now going up for the same; a zoological gar- 

 den and an astrophysical observatory have 

 been established; finally, costly experiments 

 on flying machines have been provided for by 

 Congress, all under the management of the 

 secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who 

 is not an ofiScer of the nation, but elected as 

 executive officer of the Smithson Trust and 

 paid exclusively from the Smithson fund. 



It is not necessary to consider the qualifica- 

 tions of the successors to Joseph Henry. But 

 it can not be denied that they were first of all 

 specialists, the one in fishes, the other in stars. 

 Thus they were not naturally predisposed for 

 the broad object of the institution: the in- 

 crease and diffusion of knowledge among men. 



^ Science, June 8 and July 27. 



Furthermore, each of the new national insti- 

 tutions established requires the full time and 

 energy of a first-class man; this is the experi- 

 ence of other countries, where such national 

 scientific institutions have long preceded and 

 much excel ours. It can, therefore, not be 

 questioned: both parties, the nation and the 

 Smithsonian, have lost heavily by the attempt 

 to administrate and plan our national insti- 

 tutions at the cost of the Smithsonian Fund. 



The costly national institutions have not 

 given the nation such a return in results a? 

 the outlay entitles us to expect. The putting 

 of all the work of many able men on the 

 shoulders of the one secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution has necessarily crippled the 

 national institutions, while it has equally 

 necessarily made it impossible for that officer 

 to give thought or time to the foundation of 

 Smithson from the funds of which he drew 

 his salary and to which he, therefore, owes in 

 duty both all his time and his entire energy. 

 That both the Smithsonian and the national 

 institutions have thus been crippled can not 

 be denied; specially glaring instances have 

 come to my personal knowledge and have been 

 referred to in some of my publications. 



In brief, the following are the main facts 

 of the condition that actually confronts us : 



1. Congress appropriates millions of dollars 

 for certain national scientific institutions, lo- 

 cated at Washington, but depends for their 

 planning and administration on the time and 

 ability of one single man who is not in any 

 sense a national officer nor receiving salary 

 from the national funds; this one man serves 

 as well as one man can do the work really re- 

 quiring a nimiber of men, each one a special- 

 ist in the line represented by each one of 

 these different national institutions. 



2. Congress has accepted Smithson's trust 

 and fimds, and through a board of regents 

 manages the institution of Smithson. This 

 board elects a secretary as executive officer 

 and pays him a salary out of the Smithson 

 Fund. His work necessarily demands the 

 full time and all the power of a most able 

 man of the broadest possible education and 

 the highest mental endowment; for Smithson 

 demanded his institution to work ' for the in- 



