13S EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



apart a definite portion of the income of the bequest — as, for example, 

 at present three or four thousand dollars annually — to defray the ex- 

 pense of this part of the plan of increasing knowledge. A considerable 

 portion, however, of the sum thus expended will be returned to the In- 

 stitution in the form of additions to its library. I may also suggest, in 

 this place, the propriety of the adoption b} r the Board of a resolution 

 inviting all ena;ao;ed in original research to send the results of their labors 

 for publication in the Smithsonian Contributions. 



The Board also directed me to commence the collection of apparatus ; 

 and I accordingly sent orders to Europe, to the amount of twelve hun- 

 dred dollars, for the purchase of such articles as could not be procured 

 in the United States. Most of the instruments have been received, and 

 will be found of importance not only in the way of original research, 

 but also in illustrating some of the most interesting and recent pheno- 

 mena of physical science, as well as serving as samples for imitation 

 to the artists of this country. It was thought that these articles would 

 be admitted free of duty, and a petition to this effect was presented to 

 the Secretary of the Treasury ; but — though this officer is well known 

 to be much interested in the prosperity of the Institution — such is the 

 nature of the law that the duty could not be remitted. 



There is an article of apparatus which, within a few years past, has 

 opened almost a new world of research in the phenomena of life and 

 organization, the use of which is now indispensable in advancing our 

 knowledge of physiology and its kindred branches of science. I allude 

 to the achromatic microscope, to increase the power of which the artists 

 of Germany, France, and England, have vied with each other. On ac- 

 count of the small number of persons who are capable of constructing 

 the proper lenses, the best specimens of this instrument are very scarce 

 in this country, and can be procured only at a great expense. Under 

 these circumstances, it was a matter of much interest to learn, from a 

 source which could be relied on, that an individual in the interior of the 

 State of New York had successfully devoted himself to the study of the 

 microscope, and that he was able to produce instruments of this kind 

 which would compete with the best of those constructed in Europe. In 

 order to do justice to the talents and labors of this person, as well as to 

 furnish the Institution with a valuable instrument of research, I re- 

 quested him to construct a microscope, to be paid for out of the funds 

 for the purchase of apparatus, provided that a commission, appointed 

 by myself, should find it capable of producing certain effects. This 

 proposition was accepted, and the result will probably be given to the 

 Board at the next meeting. 



Preparations have also been made for instituting various lines of phy- 

 sical research. Among the subjects mentioned by way of example in 

 the programme for the application of the funds of* the Institution is ter- 

 restrial magnetism. I need scarcely say that this is a subject of high 

 interest not only in a theoretical point of view, but also in its direct re-' 

 ference to navigation and the various geodetical operations of civil and 

 military life. A resolution of Congress authorizing the exploration of 

 the mineral lands adjacent to the great lakes has given to us the means 

 of advancing this branch of knowledge with but little expenditure of the 

 funds of the Institution. The Secretary of the Treasury readily agreed 



