
          of this branch of science. I have
ever been opposed to expending the
Smithsonian income in the support
of a Museum which ought to be maintained
by the General Government - not
because such an establishment is not
of value in itself but because it does not
comport with the liberal spirit of the
bequest and would absorbe in a
single object the whole of the proceeds
of the Smithsonian fund.

Were we to ask for specimens in
return for what we distribute our collections
would soon exceed our means of
taking care of them. We now receive
4000 dollars from Government for the
care of the [?] Museum and the
duplicate specimens of the expeditions;
but this scarcely pays one half of the
actual cost. You can have but little
idea, without experience, of the expense
of keeping up an establishment like this
particularly in the city of Washington where
every one is habituated to the liberal expenditures
of the Government.

        