REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 19 



ence to this country, confined to a limited diffusion of existing know- 

 ledge, and made no provision for new discoveries. 



Fortunately trie BoarJ of Kegents, with more precise knowledge of 

 the subject and with more liberal views, after much deliberation, 

 were enabled to adopt a plan of organization, which, while it pro- 

 vided for the requirements of Congress, presented as its most promi- 

 nent feature the promotion of original research in the various branches 

 of science. 



Although the directors have had to contend with popular miscon- 

 ceptions and with opposition from other sources in carrying out this 

 plan, it has constantly been adhered to, and by its means a reputa- 

 tion has been established and an influence exerted in the line of 

 the promotion of knowledge as wide as the civilized world. All 

 the requirements of Congress have been strictly complied with, a 

 building, making provision on a liberal scale for a library, a museum, 

 a gallery of art, lectures, &c, has been erected at a cost of 325,000 

 dollars; and this sum, by prolonging the time of completing the 

 building, has been paid entirely out of the interest. The whole 

 amount of the original bequest, 515,000 dollars, remains untouched 

 in the Treasury of the United States ; and in order to assist in defray- 

 ing the heavy annual expense of the support of the establishment 

 necessarily connected with so large an edifice, the sum of 125,000 

 dollars has' been saved from the income and added to the principal. 



A library has been established, unrivaled in its series of the trans- 

 actions of learned societies, and containing nearly 50,000 articles ; a 

 museum has been collected, the most extensive in the world, as regards 

 the natural history of the North American continent ; a cabinet of 

 apparatus has been procured through the liberality of Dr. Hare, and 

 other means sufficient to illustrate the principal phenomena of chem- 

 istry and natural philosophy, as well as to serve the purpose of origi- 

 nal research ; and an annual series of lectures have been given to 

 large audiences by some of the most distinguished scientific and 

 literary individuals in the United States. 



Although economy and forethought have been observed in providing 

 for these objects, they have absorbed a considerable portion of the income, 

 and lessened the amount of good which might have been accomplished 

 by a policy of a more truly cosmopolitan character. They have, how- 

 ever, as far as possible, been made subservient to the direct promotion 

 of knowledge ; and in this behalf, notwithstanding its limited means, 

 the Institution has accomplished much that is important. 



