REPORT OF THE SECRETARY, PROFESSOR HENRY, FOR THE 



YEAR 1874. 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution : 



Gentlemen : I have again the honor to present to you another an- 

 nual report of the operations and condition of the Institution which the 

 Congress of the United States has placed under your charge. During 

 the period embraced in this report, that of the year 1874, nothing has 

 happened to interfere with the prosecution of the plans which have been 

 adopted for " the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 

 The Institution, having now existed upward of twenty-five years, has 

 established a character and reputation in the eyes of the world, the 

 tradition of which will tend to perpetuate the same policy, with only 

 such improvements as experience may suggest, notwithstanding the 

 changes to which the personnel of the administration may from time to 

 time be subjected. 



The following changes have taken place in the Board of Regents 

 during the year : Chief-Justice Waite has been elected Chancellor of 

 the Institution, in place of Chief-Justice Chase, deceased. Prof. Asa 

 Gray has been elected Regent by Congress in place of Prof. L. Agassiz; 

 Prof. J. D. Dana, in place of Professor Woolsey ; Prof. H. Coppee, in 

 place of William B. Astor; Hon. A. A. Sargent, in place of Hon. Mr. 

 Trumbull ; Hon. E. E. Hoar, in place of Hon. James A. Garfield ; Hon. 

 G. W. Hazelton, in place of Hon. L. P. Poland; and Hon. George 

 Bancroft, in place of General Sherman. The change in the govern- 

 ment of the District leaves vacant, for the present, the position of 

 Regent occupied by the governor of the District. 



The resignation of General Sherman, on account of his change of res- 

 idence to Saint Louis, Mo., leaves a vacancy in the executive committee. 

 It gives me pleasure to present to the board, as an expression of his 

 feelings toward the Institution, the accompanying letter.* It is proper 

 to mention in this connection that during the interval between the 

 death of Chief-Justice Chase and the appointment of his successor, 

 Mr. Justice Clifford, of the Supreme Court, presided as Chancellor of the 

 board, and with the Secretary signed the requisition for drawing the 

 semi-annual interest from the Treasury of the United States on the 1st 

 of January, 1874. 



Since the establishment of the Institution several different bequests 

 have been made, intended to increase its usefulness ; but from none of 

 these has anything as yet been realized, except from that of James 

 Hamilton, Esq., of Carlisle, Pa., who bequeathed one thousand dollars 



* See proceedings of the Board of Regents. 



