130 EIGHTH ANNUAL RE FORT OF 



plan will be to grant him a small sum of money to carry on his inves- 

 tioations. provided they are considered worthy of assistance by compe- 

 tent judges. This will have the double effect of encouraging him in 

 the pursuit, and of facilitating his progress. The Institution, however, 

 need not depend upon cases of this kind, even if they were more numer- 

 ous than they are, for the application of its funds in the line of original 

 research. There are large fields of observation and experiment, the 

 cultivation of which, though it may afford no prospect of the discovery 

 of a principle, can hardly fail to produce results of importance both in 

 a practical and theoretic point of view. As an illustration of this remark, 

 I may mention the case of the investigations made a few years ago by 

 a committee of the Franklin Institute, of Philadelphia. The Secretary 

 of the Treasury of the United States placed at the disposal of this so- 

 ciety a sum of money, for the purpose of making experiments with 

 reference to the cause of the explosion of steam-boilers. A committee of 

 the society was chosen for this purpose, which adopted the ingenious 

 plan of writing to all persons in the United States engaged in the ap- 

 plication of steam, and particularly to those who had observed the ex- 

 plosion of a steam-boiler. In this way opinions and suggestions in 

 great variety, as to the cause of explosions, were obtained. The most 

 plausible of these were submitted to the test of experiment ; the re- 

 sults obtained were highly important, and are to be found favorably 

 mentioned in every systematic work on the subject of steam which has 

 appeared in any language, within the last few years. New and im- 

 portant facts were established; and, what was almost of as much con- 

 sequence, errors which had usurped the place of truth were dethroned. 



In the programme, examples are given of a few subjects of original 

 research to which the attention of the Institution may be turned. I 

 will mention one in this place, which, in connection with the contents 

 of our first memoir, may deserve immediate attention. I allude to a 

 small appropriation made annually for researches with reference to the 

 remains of the ancient inhabitants of our country. This is a highly in- 

 teresting field, and what is done in regard to it should be done quickly.. 

 Every year the progress of civilization is obliterating the ancient 

 mounds; cities and villages are rising on the spots they have so long 

 occupied undisturbed, and the distinctive marks of these remains are 

 every year becoming less and less legible. 



In carrying out the spirit of the plan adopted — namely, that of affect- 

 ing men in general by the operations of the Institution — it is evident that 

 the principal means of diffusing knowledge must be the press. Though 

 lectures should be given in the city in which Srnithson has seen fit to 

 direct the establishment of his Institution, yet, as a plan of general dif- 

 fusion of knowledge, the system of lectures would be entirely inade- 

 quate ; every village in our extended country would have a right to de- 

 mand a share of the benefit, and the income of the Institution would 

 be insufficient to supply a thousandth part of the demand. It is also 

 evident that the knowledge diffused should, if possible, not only em- 

 brace all branches of general interest, so that each reader might find a 

 subject suited to his taste, but also that it should differ in kind and 

 quality from that which can be readily obtained through the cheap 

 publications of the day. These requisites will be fully complied with 



