{ 108 ] 22 



ot occupying ground untenanted by other institutions, and of doing nothing 

 wi\ u h the funds which can be equally well accomplished by other means, 

 has commended itself to the intelligent and reflecting portion of the public ; 

 and it has always appeared to me that this is as applicable to the formation 

 of < collections of books and specimens, as to the publications and other ope- 

 ratlons of the Institution. 



With reference to the library, the idea ought never.be entertained that 

 the portion of the limited income of the Smithsonian fund which can be de- 

 vote d to the purchase of books, will ever be sufficient to meet the wants of 

 the . American scholar. On the contrary, it is the duty of this Institution to 

 inert ase those wants by pointing out new fields for exploration, and by 

 stimi dating other researches than those which are now cultivated. It is a 

 part i of that duty to make the value of libraries more generally known, and 

 their want in this country more generally felt ; to show in what branches 

 of kne 'wledge our libraries are most deficient; to point out the means by which 

 those \ leficiencies can be supplied ; to instruct the public in the best methods 

 of prot Miring, arranging, cataloguing and preserving books ; to give infor- 

 mation as to the best form and construction of library buildings; in short, to 

 do all \ rhich was originally intended in the plan of rendering the Institution 

 a centre of bibliographical knowledge, to which the American scholar can 

 refer for all information relative to books in general, and particularly to 

 those in \ our own country. The libraries of the country must be supplied 

 by the ct mntry itself; by the general government ; by the State govern- 

 ments ; b'l y cities, towns and villages ; and by wealthy and liberal individuals. 

 It is to be ' hoped that in the restoration of the library of Congress, a foun- 

 dation will 1 be laid for a collection of books worthy of a government whose 

 perpetuity! principally depends on the intelligence of the people. 



The pro}; ier management of books, and general instruction as to their use, 

 are matters, perhaps of more importance than their accumulation in any one 

 place. It i\s estimated that about twenty thousand volumes, including pam- 

 phlets, purpt> irting to be additions to the sum of human knowledge, are pub- 

 lished annua 1 lly; and unless this mass be properly arranged, and the means 

 furnished by which its contents may be ascertained, literature and science 

 will be overwhelmed by their own unwieldy bulk. The pile will begin to 

 totter under i\'ts own weight, and all the additions we may heap upon it 

 will tend to ac\ld to the extension of the base, without increasing the elevation 

 and dignity of\the edifice. 



One of the i\nost important means of facilitating the use of libraries, par- 

 ticularly with }' eference to science, is well digested indexes of subjects, not 

 merely referring to volumes or books, but to memoirs, papers, and parts of 

 scientific transai ctions and systematic works. As an example of this, I 

 would refer to \the admirably arranged and valuable index to natural phi- 

 losophy and the mechanical arts by Dr. Young. "If my library were on 

 fire," said a cell bratcd author, " and I could save but one scientific book, 

 it would be Dr. Young's index." This work comes down to ]807 ; and I 

 know of no richt r gift which could be bestowed upon the science of our 

 own day than the continuation of this inrlex to the present time. Every 

 one who is desirotas of enlarging the bounds of human knowledge should, in 

 justice to himself, las well as to the public, be acquainted with what has pre- 

 viously been done \ in the same line, and this he will only be enabled to ac- 

 complish by the use of indexes of the kind above mentioned. 



The most important operation during the past year relative to the library, 



