12S EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF 



account of the expense of the illustrations, could not be otherwise pub- 

 lished. Every one who adds new and important truths to the existing 

 stock of knowledge must be, of necessity, to a certain degree, in ad- 

 vance of his age. Hence the number of readers and purchasers of a 

 work is often in the inverse ratio of its intrinsic value ; and conse- 

 quently authors of the highest rank of merit are frequently deterred 

 from giving their productions to the world on account of the pecuniary 

 loss to which the publication would subject them. When our lamented 

 countryman, Bowditch, contemplated publishing his commentary on La 

 Place, he assembled his family and informed them that the execution 

 of this design would sacrifice one-third of his fortune, and that it was 

 proper his heirs should be consulted on a subject which so nearly con- 

 cerned them. The answer was worthy of the children of such a father : 

 " We value," said they, " your reputation more than your money." 

 Fortunately, in this instance, the means of making such a sacrifice ex- 

 isted ; otherwise, one of the proudest monuments of American science 

 could not have been given to the world. In the majority of cases, how- 

 ever, those who are most capable of extending human knowledge are 

 least able to incur the expense of the publication. Wilson, the Ameri- 

 can ornithologist, states, in a letter to Michaux, that he has sacrificed 

 everything to publish his work. "I have issued," he says, " six vol- 

 umes, and am engaged on the seventh ; but as yet I have not received 

 a single cent of the proceeds." In an address on the subject of natural 

 histoiy, by one of our most active cultivators of this branch of knowl- 

 edge, we find the following remarks, which are directly in point : 

 " Few are acquainted with the fact that from the small number of 

 scientific w^rks sold, and the great expense of plates, our naturalists 

 not only are not paid for their labors, but suffer pecuniary loss from 

 their publications. Several works on different branches of zoology, 

 now in the course of publication, will leave their authors losers by an 

 aggregate of $15,000. I do not include in this estimate works already 

 finished — one, for instance, the best contribution to the natural history 

 of man extant, the publication of which will occasion its accomplished 

 author a loss of several thousand dollars. A naturalist is extremely 

 fortunate if he can dispose of 200 copies of an illustrated work, and 

 the number of copies printed rarely exceeds 250." It may be said 

 that these authors have their reward in the reputation which they thus 

 purchase ; but reputation should be the result of the talents and labor 

 expended in the production of a work, and should not in the least de- 

 pend upon the fact that the author is able to make a pecuniary sacrifice 

 in giving the account of his discoveries to the public. 



Besides the advantage to the author of having his memoir published 

 in the Smithsonian Contributions free of expense, his labors will be 

 given to the world with the stamp of approval of a commission of 

 learned men ; and his merits will be generally made known through 

 the reports of the institution. Though the premiums offered may be 

 small, yet they will have considerable effect in producing original arti- 

 cles. Fifty or a hundred dollars awarded the author of an original 

 paper will, in many instances, suffice to supply the books, or to pay for 

 the materials, or the manual labor required, in prosecuting the research. 



'J ..ere is one proposition of the programme which has given rise to 



