274 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIV. No. 609. 



crease and diffusion of knowledge among 

 men.' 



The British government refused to accept 

 this trust from the Englishman Smithson, 

 deeming the condition too broad and too diffi- 

 cult to comply with. The Congress of the 

 IJnited States thereafter was made the same 

 offer by Smithson on the same conditions and 

 accepted this trust on these conditions from 

 Smithson while he was alive; this trust we 

 are in honor bound to meet in every particu- 

 lar, now that Smithson is dead. 



Are we faithful to this trust when we pay 

 the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 

 out of the Smithson Fund — and then compel 

 him to administrate our own large national 

 institutions and thereby force him to neglect 

 the Smithsonian Institution proper? To what 

 extent this has been done is likely soon to 

 become known throughout the scientific woi;ld 

 in connection with questions that have thus 

 far been suppressed here at home, but will 

 come out by the enforcement of a recent act 

 of Congress. 



It seems to me that it is not merely a ques- 

 tion of ' divorcing the museum idea ' from the 

 Smithsonian Institution, but to put a stop to 

 the robbing of the Smithson Fund and to the 

 nullification of the Smithson wiU. We cer- 

 tainly should administer our own national 

 museums, zoological gardens, astrophysical 

 observatories and flying machines, all paid 

 for from national funds, granted by Congress ; 

 we should select the best man for each one of 

 these duties and pay him from our own 

 United States funds for his work. To take 

 the pay for this our work in any manner or 

 form from the Smithson Fund is to rob the 

 grave of Smithson. It is a national disgrace 

 that should cease the instant it is realized to 

 exist. 



But we should not only cease to rob the 

 grave of Smithson; we should also again make 

 an effort to comply with his conditions and 

 to realize, in his name, so far as it be possible, 

 his ideal: to increase and diffuse knowledge 

 among men throughout the world. 



Let us at least try to do that as well and as 

 faithfully as it was done xmder the adminis- 



tration of the first secretary of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, Joseph Henry. 



GrUSTAVUS D. HiNRICHS. 



4106 Shenandoah Avenue, 

 St. Louis, Mo., 

 August 17, 1906. 



IS NOT THE SMITHSONIAN AN INSTITUTE OF 

 RESEARCH ? 



To THE Editor of Science: In your issues 

 of June 8 and July 27 I note communications 

 from David Fairchild and David M. Mottier 

 in regard to certain changes they would like 

 to see made in the work of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



I wish to take exception to one or two state- 

 ments made by these gentlemen, though I 

 entirely agree with some of their suggestions. 



In the first place, both articles imply that 

 the Smithsonian Institution is not now a 

 place where important research is being done. 

 Surely if one will but glance over the last 

 ' Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion ' and the last volume of the ' Proceedings 

 of the National Museum,' some sixteen hun- 

 dred pages altogether, he will be forced to the 

 conclusion that research is being done at the 

 Smithsonian Institution. IsTote also some of 

 the important monographs that have appeared 

 under the auspices of the Smithsonian, Dr. 

 True's recent work on the whales, for example. 

 As is pointed out by the assistant secretary, 

 the time of the regular staff is largely taken 

 up with administrative duties, but, in spite 

 of this fact, a very considerable amount of 

 research is accomplished by these men. Be- 

 sides the investigations carried on by the 

 regular staff of the institution a large amount' 

 of research is done under the auspices of the 

 Smithsonian through grants of money, the 

 loan of material from the museum, and in 

 other ways. 



It seems to me that the Smithsonian is 

 already the ' Nucleus of a great national * * * 

 institute of research.' That with sufficient 

 funds much more might be accomplished goes 

 without saying; certainly it would be well to 

 have a permanent corps of investigators who 

 should not be hampered with routine admin- 

 istrative duties, and also tables where college 



