CHAPTER XLVII.INSIDE THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION—ITS TREASURES OF ART AND SCIENCE—THE LARGEST COLLECTION IN THE WORLD.

A Singular Bequest—Strange Story of James Smithson—A Good Use of Money—Seeking the Diffusion of Knowledge—Catching a Tear from a Lady’s Cheek—Analysis of the Same Tear—The Attainments of a Philosopher—A brief Tract on Coffee-Making—James Smithson’s Will—A Genealogical Declaration—Announcing a Bequest to Congress—Discussions and Reports—Praiseworthy Efforts of Robert Dale Owen—The Bequest Accepted—The Board of Regents—The Plan of the Institution—Its Intent and Object—Changes Made by the Regents—Ex-OfficioMembers of the Institution—“The Power Behind the Throne”—The Secretary—The Smithsonian Reservation—The Smithsonian Building—Its Style of Architecture—Inside the Building—Injuries Received by Fire—Loss of Works of Art—The Museum—Treasures of Art and Science—The Results of Thirty Government Expeditions—The Largest Collection in the World—Valuable Mineral Specimens—All the Vertebrated Animals of North America—Classified Curiosities—The Smithsonian Contributions—Comprehensive Character of the Institution—Its Advantages and Operations—Results—The Agricultural Bureau—Its Plan and Object—Collecting Valuable Agricultural Facts—Helping the Purchaser of a Farm—The Expenses of the Bureau—The Library—Nature-Printing—In the Museum—The Great California Plank—Vegetable Specimens—International Exchanges.

An Englishman, of the name of James Smithson, gave all his property to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.”

But few are aware of the singularity of the bequest. Such a donation, from a citizen of Europe, would be remarkableunder any circumstances; but it was much more singular coming from an Englishman, endued with no small degree of pride of country and lineage, if we may judge from the pains he takes, in the caption of his will, to detail his descent from the nobility. He is not known to have ever visited the United States, or to have had any friends residing here. Mr. Rush informs us that he was a natural son of the Duke of Northumberland, his mother being Mrs. Macie, of an ancient family in Wiltshire, of the name of Hungerford; he was educated at Oxford, where he took an honorary degree. In 1786, he took the name of James Lewis Macie, until a few years after he left the University, when he changed it to Smithson. He does not appear to have had any fixed home, living in lodgings when in London, and occasionally, a year or two at a time, in the cities on the continent, as Paris, Berlin, Florence, and Genoa; at which last place he died. The ample provision made for him by the Duke of Northumberland, with retired and simple habits, enabled him to accumulate the fortune which passed to the United States. He interested himself little in questions of government, being devoted to science, and chiefly to chemistry. This had introduced him to the society of Cavendish, Wollaston, and others, advantageously known to the Royal Society in London, of which he was a member.

In a paper relative to one of the publications of the Smithsonian Institution, read before a scientific society at Dublin, it is stated, on the authority of Chambers’ Journal, that he had gained a name by the analysis of minute quantities, and that “it was he who caught a tear as it fell from a lady’s cheek, and detected the salts and other substances which it held in solution.”

In a notice of his scientific pursuits, by Professor Johnson, of Philadelphia, there are enumerated twenty-four papers, or treatises by Smithson, published in the Transactions of the Royal Society, and other scientific journals of the day, containing articles on mineralogy, geology, and more especially mineral chemistry. In the Annals of Philosophy (Vol. 22, page 30) he has a brief tract on the method of making coffee. The small case of his personal effects, which is to be preserved in a separate apartment of the Institution, consists chiefly of minerals and chemical apparatus.

The will indicates a degree of sensitiveness on the subject of his illegitimacy. He starts with a declaration of pedigree:

I, James Smithson, son of Hough, first Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth, heiress of the Hungerfords of Audley, and niece of Charles the Proud, Duke of Somerset, now residing in Bentinck street, Cavendish Square, do make this my last will and testament,....“To found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishmentFor the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge among Men.”

“To found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishmentFor the Increase and Diffusion of Knowledge among Men.”

The bequest was first announced to Congress by President Jackson, in 1835. Long discussions and reports followed; first, upon the propriety of accepting the trust; and next, upon the kind of institution to be established; in the course of which the ablest minds in the country, in and out of Congress, gave expression to their views. The report of Mr. Adams was particularly eloquent. The objection to receiving the bequest was based mainly upon the alleged absence of constitutional power, but partly upon policy.

The discussion as to the kind of institution which would best fulfil the testator’s intention, extended through a series of years, and led to almost every possible proposition. I shall not attempt to give even an outline of these debates, which finally culminated in the adoption of a somewhat mixed scheme, allowing of almost anything. To Robert Dale Owen, of Indiana, is mainly due the credit of finally pressing the bill to a vote. The Act required that there be provided a hall or halls for a library, a museum, a chemical laboratory, necessary lecture-rooms, and a gallery of art.

The Board of Regents, in whose hands the control of the institution is vested, drew up the following general plan, upon which the operations of the institution have been conducted, this plan being, in their judgment, best calculated to carry into effect the wishes of the founder:

To Increase Knowledge: It is proposed—first, to stimulate men of talent to make original researches, by offering suitable rewards for memoirs containing new truths; and, second, to appropriate annually a portion of the income for particular researches, under the direction of suitable persons.To Diffuse Knowledge: It is proposed—first, to publish a series of periodical reports on the progress of the different branches of knowledge; and, second, to publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest.Details of Plan to Increase Knowledge by Stimulating Researches: First, facilities to be afforded for the production of original memoirs on all branches of knowledge. Second, the memoirs thus obtained to be published in a series of volumes, in a quarto form, and entitled Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Third, no memoir, on subjects of physical science, to be accepted for publication, which does not furnish a positive addition to human knowledge, resting on original research; and allunverified speculations to be rejected. Fourth, each memoir presented to the institution to be submitted for examination to a commission of persons of reputation for learning in the branch to which the memoir pertains, and to be accepted for publication only in case the report of this commission is favorable. Fifth, the Commission to be chosen by officers of the Institution, and the name of the author, as far as practicable, concealed, unless a favorable decision be made. Sixth, the volumes of the memoirs to be changed for the transactions of literary and scientific societies, and copies to be given to all the colleges and principal libraries in this country. One part of the remaining copies may be offered for sale, and the other carefully preserved, to form complete sets of the work to supply the demand for new institutions. Seventh, an abstract, or popular account, of the contents of these memoirs, to be given to the public through the annual reports of the Regents to Congress.By Appropriating a Part of the Income, Annually, to Special Objects of Research, under the Direction of Suitable Persons: First, the objects, and the amount appropriated, to be recommended by Councillors of the Institution. Second, appropriations in different years to different objects; so that, in course of time, each branch of knowledge may receive a share. Third, the results obtained from these appropriations to be published, with the memoirs before mentioned, in the volumes of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Fourth, examples of objects for which appropriations may be made: 1. System of extended meteorological observations for solving the problem of American storms; 2. Explorations in descriptive natural history, and geological, magnetical, and topographical surveys, to collect materials for the formation of a physical atlas of the United States; 3. Solution of experimental problems, such as a new determination of the weight of the earth, of the velocity of electricity and of light; chemical analyses of soils and plants; collection and publication of scientific facts accumulated in the offices of Government; 4. Institution of statistical inquiries with reference to physical, moral, and political subjects; 5. Historicalresearches, and accurate surveys of places celebrated in American history; 6. Ethnological researches, particularly with reference to the different races of men in North America; also, explorations and accurate surveys of the mounds and other remains of the ancient people of our country.Details of the Plan for Diffusing Knowledge: First, by the publication of a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge, not strictly professional. These reports will diffuse a kind of knowledge generally interesting, but which, at present, is inaccessible to the public. Some reports may be published annually, others at longer intervals, as the income of the Institution or the changes in the branches of knowledge may indicate. Second, the reports are to be prepared by collaborators eminent in the different branches of knowledge. Third, each collaborator to be furnished with the journals and publications, domestic and foreign, necessary to the compilation of his report; to be paid a certain sum for his labors, and to be named on the title-page of the report. Fourth, the reports to be published in separate parts, so that persons interested in a particular branch can procure the parts relating to it without purchasing the whole. Fifth, these reports may be presented to Congress for partial distribution, the remaining copies to be given to literary and scientific institutions, and sold to individuals for a moderate price.By the Publication of Separate Treatises on Subjects of General Interest: First, these treatises may occasionally consist of valuable memoirs translated from foreign languages, or of articles prepared under the direction of the Institution, or procured by offering premiums for the best exposition of a given subject. Second, the treatises should, in all cases, be submitted to a commission of competent judges, previous to their publication.

To Diffuse Knowledge: It is proposed—first, to publish a series of periodical reports on the progress of the different branches of knowledge; and, second, to publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest.

Details of Plan to Increase Knowledge by Stimulating Researches: First, facilities to be afforded for the production of original memoirs on all branches of knowledge. Second, the memoirs thus obtained to be published in a series of volumes, in a quarto form, and entitled Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Third, no memoir, on subjects of physical science, to be accepted for publication, which does not furnish a positive addition to human knowledge, resting on original research; and allunverified speculations to be rejected. Fourth, each memoir presented to the institution to be submitted for examination to a commission of persons of reputation for learning in the branch to which the memoir pertains, and to be accepted for publication only in case the report of this commission is favorable. Fifth, the Commission to be chosen by officers of the Institution, and the name of the author, as far as practicable, concealed, unless a favorable decision be made. Sixth, the volumes of the memoirs to be changed for the transactions of literary and scientific societies, and copies to be given to all the colleges and principal libraries in this country. One part of the remaining copies may be offered for sale, and the other carefully preserved, to form complete sets of the work to supply the demand for new institutions. Seventh, an abstract, or popular account, of the contents of these memoirs, to be given to the public through the annual reports of the Regents to Congress.

By Appropriating a Part of the Income, Annually, to Special Objects of Research, under the Direction of Suitable Persons: First, the objects, and the amount appropriated, to be recommended by Councillors of the Institution. Second, appropriations in different years to different objects; so that, in course of time, each branch of knowledge may receive a share. Third, the results obtained from these appropriations to be published, with the memoirs before mentioned, in the volumes of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Fourth, examples of objects for which appropriations may be made: 1. System of extended meteorological observations for solving the problem of American storms; 2. Explorations in descriptive natural history, and geological, magnetical, and topographical surveys, to collect materials for the formation of a physical atlas of the United States; 3. Solution of experimental problems, such as a new determination of the weight of the earth, of the velocity of electricity and of light; chemical analyses of soils and plants; collection and publication of scientific facts accumulated in the offices of Government; 4. Institution of statistical inquiries with reference to physical, moral, and political subjects; 5. Historicalresearches, and accurate surveys of places celebrated in American history; 6. Ethnological researches, particularly with reference to the different races of men in North America; also, explorations and accurate surveys of the mounds and other remains of the ancient people of our country.

Details of the Plan for Diffusing Knowledge: First, by the publication of a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge, not strictly professional. These reports will diffuse a kind of knowledge generally interesting, but which, at present, is inaccessible to the public. Some reports may be published annually, others at longer intervals, as the income of the Institution or the changes in the branches of knowledge may indicate. Second, the reports are to be prepared by collaborators eminent in the different branches of knowledge. Third, each collaborator to be furnished with the journals and publications, domestic and foreign, necessary to the compilation of his report; to be paid a certain sum for his labors, and to be named on the title-page of the report. Fourth, the reports to be published in separate parts, so that persons interested in a particular branch can procure the parts relating to it without purchasing the whole. Fifth, these reports may be presented to Congress for partial distribution, the remaining copies to be given to literary and scientific institutions, and sold to individuals for a moderate price.

By the Publication of Separate Treatises on Subjects of General Interest: First, these treatises may occasionally consist of valuable memoirs translated from foreign languages, or of articles prepared under the direction of the Institution, or procured by offering premiums for the best exposition of a given subject. Second, the treatises should, in all cases, be submitted to a commission of competent judges, previous to their publication.

“The only changes made in the policy above indicated have been the passage of resolutions, by the Regents, repealing the equal division of the income between the activeoperations and the museum and library, and further providing that the annual appropriations are to be apportioned specifically among the different objects and operations of the Institution, in such manner as may, in the judgment of the Regents, be necessary and proper for each, according to its intrinsic importance, and a compliance in good faith with the law.”

The Act of Congress, organizing the Institution, makes the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Cabinet Ministers, the Chief-Justice of the United States, the Cabinet Ministers and the Mayor of Washington, membersex officioof the Institution. The Board of Regents charged with the control of the Institution, consists of the President of the United States, the Mayor of Washington, three Senators of the United States, three members of the House of Representatives, who areex officioRegents, six persons, not members of Congress, two of whom must be citizens of Washington, and members of the National Institute of that city, and the other four citizens of any of the states of the Union, no two of whom are to be chosen from the same state. The Board of Regents make annual reports of their conduct of the Institution to Congress.

The real “power behind the throne” is the Secretary of the Institution, who is executive officer. He has charge of the edifice, its contents, and the grounds, and is given as many assistants, as are necessary to enable him to conduct the varied operations of the Institution. The property of the Institution is placed under the protection of the laws for the preservation and safe keeping of the public buildings and grounds of the City of Washington.

Upon the organization of the Institution, Congress set apart for its use a portion of the public ground lying westward of the Capitol, and between it and the Potomac River. Fifty-two acres comprised the grant, which was known as the “Smithsonian Reservation.” They were laid out under the supervision of Andrew Jackson Downing. He died while engaged in this work, and his memory is perpetuated by a memorial erected in the grounds in 1852, by the American Pomological Society, and consisting of a massive vase resting on a handsome pedestal, with appropriate inscriptions, the whole being of the finest Italian marble.

The building is situated near the centre of the grounds as they originally existed, the centre of the edifice being immediately opposite Tenth Street west. It is constructed of a fine quality of lilac-gray freestone, found in the new red sandstone formation, where it crosses the Potomac, near the mouth of Seneca Creek, one of the tributaries of that river, and about twenty-three miles above Washington. The stone is very soft at first, and is quarried with comparative ease. In its fresh state, it may be worked with the chisel and mallet; but it hardens rapidly upon exposure to the air and weather, and will withstand, after a time, the severest usage.

The structure is in the style of architecture belonging to the last half of the twelfth century, the latest variety of rounded style, as it is found immediately anterior to its merging into the early Gothic, and is known as the Norman, the Lombard, or Romanesque. The semi-circular arch, stilted, is employed throughout, in door, windows, and other openings.

The main building is 205 feet long by 57 feet wide,and to the top of the corbel course, 58 feet high. The east wing is 82 by 52 feet, and to the top of its battlement, 42½ feet high. The west wing, including its projecting apsis, is 84 by 40 feet, and 38 feet high. Each of the wings is connected with the main building by a range which, including its cloisters, is 60 feet long by 49 feet wide. This makes the length of the entire building, from east to west, 447 feet. Its greatest breadth is 160 feet.

The north front of the main building has two central towers, the loftiest of which is 150 feet high. It has also a broad, covered carriage-way, upon which opens the main entrance to the building. The south central tower is 37 feet square, 91 feet high, and massively constructed. A double campanile tower, 17 feet square, 117 feet high, rises from the north-east corner of the main building; and the south-west corner has an imposing octagonal tower, in which is a spiral stair-way, leading to the summit. There are four other smaller towers of lesser hights, making nine in all, the effect of which is very beautiful, and which once caused a wit to remark that it seemed to him as if a “collection of church steeples had gotten lost, and were consulting together as to the best means of getting home to their respective churches.”

The building was much injured by fire in January, 1865. The flames destroyed the upper part of the main buildings, and the towers. Although the lower story was saved, the valuable official, scientific, and miscellaneous correspondence, record-books, and manuscripts in the Secretary’s office, the large collection of scientific apparatus, the personal effects of James Smithson, Stanley’s Collection of Indian Portraits, and much other valuableproperty were destroyed. Fortunately, the Library, Museum, and Laboratory were uninjured. The fire made no interruption in the practical workings of the Institution, and in a comparatively short space of time the burned portions were restored.

The museum occupies the ground-floor, and is the principal attraction to a large portion of the visitors. It is a spacious hall, containing two tiers of cases, in which are placed the specimens on exhibition. Access to the upper tier of cases is had by means of a light iron gallery, which is reached by stair-ways of the same material. The Official Guide to the Institution, thus describes the Museum:

Under these provisions, the Institution has received and taken charge of such Government collections in mineralogy, geology and natural history, as have been made since its organization. The amount of these has been very great, as all the United States geological, boundary, and railroad surveys, with the various topographical, military, and naval explorations, have been, to a greater or less extent, ordered to make such collections as would illustrate the physical and natural history features of the regions traversed.

Of the collections made by thirty Government expeditions, those of twenty-five are now deposited with the Smithsonian Institution, embracing more than five-sixths of the whole amount of materials collected. The principle expeditions thus furnishing collections are the United States Geological Surveys of Doctors Owen, Jackson, and Evans, and Messrs Foster and Whitney; the United States and Mexican boundary survey; the Pacific Railroad survey; the exploration of the Yellowstone, by LieutenantWarren; the survey of Lieutenant Bryant; The United States naval astronomical expedition; the North Pacific Behring’s Strait expedition; the Japan expedition, and Paraguay expedition.

The Institution has also received, from other sources, collections of greater or less extent, from various portions of North America, tending to complete the Government series.

The collections thus made, taken as a whole, constitute the largest and best series of the minerals, fossils, rocks, animals, and plants of the entire continent of North America, in the world. Many tons of geological and mineralogical specimens, illustrating the surveys throughout the West, are embraced therein. There is also a very large collection of minerals of the mining regions of Northern Mexico, and of New Mexico, made by a practical Mexican geologist, during a period of twenty-five years, and furnishing indications of many rich mining localities within our own borders, yet unknown to the American people.

It includes also, with scarcely an exception, all the vertebrate animals of North America. The greater part of the mammalia have been arranged in walnut drawers, made proof against dust and insects. The birds have been similarly treated, while the reptiles and fish have been classified, as, to some extent, have also been the shells, minerals, fossils, and plants.

The Museum hall is quite large enough to contain all the collections hitherto made, as well as such others as may be assigned to it. No single room in the country is, perhaps, equal to it in capacity or adaptation to its purposes, as, by the arrangements now being perfected,and denoted in the illustration, it is capable of receiving twice as large a surface of cases as the old Patent-Office hall, and three times that of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia.

The Smithsonian Contributions are the work of men residing in every part of the United States. Does an individual think he has the data upon which to base an important discovery, he communicates his plans to the Institution. His suggestions are referred to men in other places, who have made that branch an especial subject of study, and who are not advised of the author’s name. If they report favorably upon it, the author is furnished with facilities for pursuing and describing his investigations. Does he want some book not to be found in the library nearest his home? The Institution purchases it and loans it to him, to be returned to the library. His work, when finished, may be invaluable to a scientific man, but is not in sufficient demand to warrant any publisher in issuing it. The Institution prints it, with the proper illustrations, and gives the author the privilege of using the plates in order to print a copyright for sale. Those published by the Institution are sent to every great library and to every scientific body in the world; and those bodies, in return, send back all their publications. Thus, already, a most valuable library has been collected, containing books hardly to be found collected together anywhere else in the United States.

Thirty years ago, the merely nominal sum of $1,000 was, at the instance of the Commissioner of Patents, Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, devoted by Congress for the purposes of Agriculture. For two years before, this patrioticgentleman had been distributing seeds and plants gratuitously, and for nine years, during his entire term of office, he continued his good work. His successors in the Patent-Office kept up the practice; but it was not until 1862 that the Department of Agriculture was formally organized.

TROPICAL FRUITS.INSIDE THE GOVERNMENT CONSERVATORY.—WASHINGTON.

It now nominally belongs to the Department of the Interior, but in every essential is a distinct department in itself.

The beautiful building built expressly for it, and dedicated exclusively to its uses, terminates one of the finest vistas running out from Pennsylvania avenue. It stands within the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution, surrounded by spacious conservatories and wide blooming gardens—every plant and tree indigenous to our country—from the luxuriant tropical vegetation of the Southern States, to the dwarfed and hardy foliage of our northern borders, may be found in its grounds. A division is devoted to horticulture, and the propagation and acclimatization of new and foreign species. Studies in ornamentation, in the best means of hybridizing, budding, pruning and grafting, in treating diseases of plants and trees, are thoroughly pursued in the experimental gardens. Seeds of new varieties and of superior quality, as soon as they are obtained, are freely distributed throughout the country, on application to the Commissioner of Agriculture.

The Department maintains, at least, one correspondent in every county of the United States, through whom statistics of quality and quantity of crops, and other facts, are forwarded to Washington, to be there distributed by means of the monthly and yearly reports. Specialistsare also employed to prepare for these reports instructive articles on suitable topics. Questions from agriculturists are freely answered and the fullest possible information afforded. The purchaser of a farm situated in a region with which he is unacquainted, has only to inquire, and the department will tell him the crops likely to prove remunerative in the special locality, advise him regarding cultivation, and warn him of obstacles to be surmounted, and the best means of overcoming them. A chemist will analyze the soil, report as to its properties and the value of fertilizers to be used thereon; a botanist will give every particular regarding the natures and diseases of plants, and will point out in what families to seek needed products, and what effect a change of soil will have upon them. An entomologist will give advice regarding the insects which destroy vegetation, and as to the best mode for their extermination.

As compared with the other national bureaux, the expense of this department is remarkably small. The cost of the library and museum was $140,000, and the conservatories were built at an expense of but $52,000 more. The library contains a valuable collection of agricultural literature in several languages. Volumes of rare pictures are arranged on long tables; one work, a present from Francis Joseph I., Emperor of Austria, entitled “Nature-Printing,” containing representations of ferns so exquisitely printed that it is difficult to believe them unreal.

THE DOME AND SPIRAL STAIR CASE, RARE PLANTS AND FLOWERS.INSIDE THE GOVERNMENT CONSERVATORY.—WASHINGTON.

In the museum are specimens of fibrous products, cereals of this and other countries, stuffed birds and plaster-casts of fruits from all the different sections of the United States, arranged so as to show at a glance the productsof each region and the specific changes caused by transportation. On the walls of the fruit-cabinet are hung diagrams showing the character and habits of the different insects that prey upon fruit and fruit trees; and in glass cases are preserved the native birds that feed upon destructive insects, and should be protected by the kind treatment of the agriculturist.

The halls of this beautiful building are laid with imported tiles, its ceilings are exquisitely frescoed, and many of its walls hung with wood-paper in rich blending tints. The museum filling the main hall of the second floor is furnished with lofty, air-tight walnut cases.

The great California plank which once stood in one of the underground halls of the Patent-Office, has been wrought into a massive table which stands in the Museum. It is seven feet by twelve, and looks like a billiard-table without the cloth, and is finely polished. The legs and frame are made of Florida cedar. The top of the table is composed of the plank; it looks like solid mahogany without knot or blemish. Much attention has been given to the cultivation of the fibrous grasses which, in China, are woven into fine and durable cloth. Specimens of these grasses, and of the cloth which they make, in its various stages of manufacture, are on exhibition in the cases of the museum. A number of acres have been set apart in the grounds for the cultivation of these grasses. The shade-trees of our entire country are to be represented in these grounds. Already over one thousand four hundred native varieties have been planted.

Through the Smithsonian Institute the Department has been put into communication with leading foreign agricultural societies, and the result has been, not only anexchange of reports, but of almost every known specimen of flower-seeds, seeds of shrubs, vegetables and fruits. The display of flowers in the agricultural grounds is already something wonderful, and soon will equal any like display in the world.

TROPICAL PLANTS AND FLOWERS.INSIDE THE GOVERNMENT CONSERVATORY.—WASHINGTON.

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