THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 181 



purposes. The active operations will suffer most by this draft on the 

 income, since it will be made for the better accommodation of the 

 library and the museum. 



It must not be inferred, from the foregoing account, that the affairs 

 of the Institution are in an unfavorable condition ; on the contrary, 

 though they are not in every respect what could be wished, still, under 

 the circumstances I have mentioned, they are much better than could 

 have been anticipated. The funds are in a very prosperous state, and 

 all the obstacles in the way of the usefulness of the establishment may, 

 by judicious management, in time be removed. The opposition which 

 was made to the building, led to the adoption of the plan of finance to 

 which I have heretofore adverted, and from this has been realized much 

 more than could have been expected. 



After all the expenditures which have been made on the building, 

 grounds, publications, researches, purchase of books and apparatus, 

 not only is the original bequest untouched, but there is now on hand 

 upwards of $200,000 of accrued interest. This will be sufficient to 

 finish the exterior of the building, including all the towers, the interior 

 of the wings, ranges, and a part of the interior of the main edifice ; 

 which will afford sufficient accommodation for some years to come, and' 

 leave $150,000 to be added to the principal. 



This result has been produced by a rigid adherence to the determi- 

 nation of increasing the annual income ; and in accordance with this, 

 and in obedience to the direction of the Board of Regents, a petition 

 has been presented to Congress, asking that $150,000 may be taken 

 from the Institution and placed in the treasury of the United States, on 

 the same terms as those of the acceptance of the original bequest, never 

 to be expended, and yielding a perpetual interest of six per cent. 



If this petition be granted, all the funds will be permanently and 

 safely invested, and the original income will be increased from $30,000 

 to nearly $40,000. Out of this, besides carrying on the more important 

 object of the plan, it is proposed to appropriate yearly a small sum for 

 the gradual completion of the interior of the building. 



The great importance of a small addition to the income will be evi- 

 dent, when it is recollected that a definite sum is annually required to 

 defray the necessary expenses of the establishment, and that after this 

 has been provided every addition will tend to produce a greater pro- 

 portional amount of useful effect. The proposed increase will be suf- 

 ficient to pay all the salaries of the officers, and leave the original 

 income in a great measure free to be applied to the objects contemplated 

 in the plan. -_ 



At the last meeting of the Board, Professor Baird, of Dickinson Col- 

 lege, Pennsylvania, a gentleman distinguished for his attainments in 

 science, was appointed an Assistant Secretary in the department of 

 natural history. His appointment was made at this time more particu- 

 larly in order that his services might be secured to take charge of the 

 publications, and that we might avail ourselves of the ample experi- 

 ence which he had gained in this line. He entered on his duties in 

 July last, and besides being actively engaged in organizing the depart- 

 ment of natural history, he has rendered important service in conduct- 

 ing our foreign exchanges and attending to the business of the press. 



