January 8, 1897.] 



SCIENCE. 



39 



In the earlier years of the Institution its 

 collections were such as related purely to 

 research and were made in the course of 

 variou.s original investigations to which it 

 was giving aid. These naturally increased 

 in number and covered an increasingly 

 large field, though mostly pertaining to the 

 biological sciences. Although no special 

 effort was made to arrange them for public 

 display, they constituted an interesting col- 

 lection, and a visit to the ' Smithsonian ' 

 was accounted an essential incident in a 

 pilgrimage to the Nation's capital. It then 

 came to be considered as in some sense a 

 'museum.' What is known as the ' l^a- 

 tional Museum ' was established by the 

 Government in 1842, being made up largely 

 of specimens collected by the Wilkes expe- 

 dition. It was housed in the Patent Office, 

 but in 1858 it was transfered to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, being largely increased 

 at that time by additions from other 

 government departments. Its acceptance 

 then by the Institution was undoubtedly in 

 furtherance of the idea that it ought to 

 undertake what evidently could not have 

 been accomplished by any other organiza- 

 tion, namely, the consolidation of the 

 numerous collections that had separately 

 grown up in the several departments. 

 That it was not expected that the Institu- 

 tion should permanently load itself with 

 museum management is clear from the 

 attitude of its authorities twenty years ago. 

 In his Report to the Regents for the year 

 1876, Prof. Henry puts the whole matter so 

 clearly that his words may well be quoted 

 in part. He says: " I may further be 

 allowed to remark that the experience of 

 the last year has strengthened my opinion 



as to the propriety of a separation of the 

 Institution from the National Museum. 

 * * * Smithson gave his own name to the 

 establishment which he founded, thereby 

 indicating that he intended it as a monu- 

 ment to his memory, and, in strict regard to 

 this item of his will, the endowment of 

 his bequest should be administered separate 

 from all other funds, and the results achieved by 

 it should be accredited to his name alone. The 

 Institution should not, therefore, be merged 

 in an establishment of the government, 

 but should stand alone, free to the unob- 

 structed observation of the whole world, 

 and keep in perpetual remembrance the 

 name of its generous founder. * * * Every 

 civilized government of the world has its 

 museum, which it supports with a liberality 

 commensurate with its intelligence and 

 financial ability, while there is but one 

 Smithsonian Institution — that is, an establish- 

 ment having expressly for its object ' the 

 increase and diffusion of knowledge among 

 men.' The conception of such an institu- 

 tion — not a local establishment intended to 

 improve the intellectual condition of any 

 single city or any single nation, but that of 

 mankind in general— was worthy of the 

 mind of Smithson, and the intelligence and 

 integrity of the United States are both in- 

 volved in the proper administration of the 

 trust, since the terms in which it was con- 

 veyed must be truly interpreted and the in- 

 tention expressed rigidly carried out." 

 Prof. Henry continues in reply to the as- 

 sumption sometimes made that the Institu- 

 tion was benefited by increased popularity 

 due to its connection with the Museum, de- 

 claring that, on the contrary, this connec- 

 tion has proved a serious obstacle in the 



