REPORT OF JOSEPH HENRY, SECRETARY, FOR THE YEAR 1877. 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution : 



Gentlemen : I have the honor herewith to present to you a report 

 of the operations and condition of the Institution, intrusted to your care 

 by the Government of the United States, for the year 1877. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Nothing of special importance has occurred during the past year to 

 vary the conditions and operations of the establishment, while from the 

 following report I think it will be evident that it has continued faith- 

 fully to discharge the duties assigned it by the will of the founder, as 

 well as to carry out the directions prescribed by Congress in the act of 

 its organization. 



In the last report a full account was given of the operations of the 

 Institution in connection with the Centennial Exhibition, and in rela- 

 tion to this the Board of Eegents addressed a memorial to Congress, ask- 

 ing for an appropriation of $250,000 for the erection of a new building, 

 principally to accommodate the articles presented by foreign governments 

 to the National Museum under the care of the Institution. A bill in 

 favor of this petition was presented to the Senate by the Hon. Mr. Mor- 

 rill, of Vermont, which passed without opposition. It failed, however, 

 to pass the House of Representatives, although a majority of the mem- 

 bers approved of it, because it could not be brought before the House 

 without a two-thirds vote in favor of its consideration. The same 

 bill will again be presented, and the hope is confidently entertained that 

 it will receive the approbation of Congress. In anticipation of this re- 

 sult a plan of the building has been prepared under the direction of 

 General Meigs. 



In the two preceding reports I have called the attention of the Board 

 of Begents to the propriety of a, final separation of the Institution from 

 the National Museum, and nothing has occurred during the past year to 

 change my opinion on this point. Although I do not urge this for im- 

 mediate action, yet I think it should be kept in view, and the proposi- 

 tion at a favorable time presented to Congress. My reason for advocating 

 this proposition is that Smithson gave his own name to the establish- 

 ment which he founded, thereby indicating that he intended it as a monu- 

 ment to his memory, and in strict regard to this feature of his will his 

 bequest should be administered separately from all other funds and the 

 results achieved by it, accredited to his name alone. The Institution, 



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