14 TENTH ANNUAL KEPORT OF 



with what is deemed, the interests of individuals ; and when proposi- 

 tions intended only for personal advantage are rejected, a hostile feel- 

 ing is sometimes engendered, which finds vent in misrepresentation 

 and public attacks. After due caution has been observed in order to 

 give no just cause of complaint, such attacks should be disregarded. 

 The Regents will, doubtless, adhere to the line of policy which has 

 been adopted ; turn neither to the right nor to the left to catch an ap- 

 parently favorable breath of popular applause, and continue to lead, 

 rather than follow, public opinion. The directors of the establishment, 

 whose duty it is to make all that concerns it their special study, ought 

 to be better acquainted with the intentions of the donor, and the re- 

 sults produced by the expenditure of the income of his bequest, than 

 those who have no responsibility of this kind to induce that attention 

 to its affairs which could alone qualify them to become proper advisers 

 as to its operations. 



Since the last meeting of the Board, the Institution has not only 

 sustained^ but has extended the reputation it had previously acquired. 

 The number of applications on favorable terms, even in a commercial 

 point of view, which have been made from abroad for the Smithsonian 

 publications, has very much increased, and the number of volumes 

 received in exchange has exceeded that of any previous year. The 

 inquiries which have been made of the Institution for information in 

 regard to different branches of knowledge, the references to it for the 

 decision of important questions, and the applications for assistance in 

 the prosecution of original research, indicate an extending field of 

 usefulness open to its cultivation. Indeed, so many objects of the 

 highest importance are presented, that much difficulty would be ex- 

 perienced in the selection of those which should first receive attention, 

 if the directors were not governed by fixed rules. The tendency to 

 expand the operations of the Institution beyond its means, enforces 

 the necessity of constant vigilance and forethought. While much 

 may be done in the way of advancing knowledge by the judicious ap- 

 plication of a small fund, it is surprising that so much is expected to 

 be accomplished by an income so limited as that of this bequest, and 

 that propositions should frequently be made to the Regents by intel- 

 ligent persons to embark in enterprises which would involve the ex- 

 penditure of the whole annual interest on a single object. 



The building is at length completed, and its several apartments 

 are now in a condition to be applied to the uses of the Institution. 

 As various changes have been made in the original plan, the follow- 

 ing brief description may not be inappropriate at this time. It con- 

 sists of a main edifice, two wings, two connecting ranges, four large 

 projecting towers, and several smaller ones. Its extreme length from 

 east to west is 447 feet, with a breadth varying from 49 feet to 160 

 feet. The interior of the east wing is separated into two stories, the 

 upper of which is divided into a suite of rooms for the accommo- 

 dation of the family of the Secretary ; the lower story principally com- 

 prises a large single room, at present appropriated to the storage of 

 publications and the reception and distribution of books connected 

 with the system of exchange. The upper story of the eastern con- 



