UNITED STATES. I. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. MEMBERS, ex officio. James Buchanan, Pres. U. States. Lewis Cass, Secretary of State. | Isaac Toucey, Secretary of Navy. John B. Floyd, Secretary of War. | W. B. Magruder, Mayor of Wash. BOARD OF REGENTS. John C. Breckenridge, Vice-Pres. | Hiram Warner, U.S.Representative. United States. Roger B. Taney, Chief Justice U. S. Benjamin Stanton, U. S. Represent. W. H. English, U. S. Representative. Joseph G. Totten, Citizen of Wash. History. The liberal founder of this Institution was James Smithson, of London, who by his will provided that the bulk of his estate, in case of failure of heirs to a nephew, should be given "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." Mr. Smithson was the son of the Duke of Northumberland. His mother was a Mrs. Macie, of an old family in Wiltshire, of the name of Hungerford. He was educated at Oxford, where he distinguished himself by his proficiency in chemistry, and received an honorary degree in 1786. At the time of his death, in 1829, he resided at Genoa. By the decease of the nephew without heirs in 1835, the property devolved upon the United States, and in 1838 the American Secretary of the Treasury was in possession of a sum resulting from the bequest of $515,169. For seven years the fund was suffered to accumulate, until the interest amounted to $ 242,129, which sum was devoted to the erection of an elegant and commodious building. The annual income of the bequest is $30,910.14. Organization. The Act of Congress directs the formation of a library, a museum (for which it grants the collections belonging to the United States), and a gallery of art, and also makes provision for physical research and popular lectures, while it leaves to the Regents the power of adopting such other parts of an organization as they may deem best suited to promote the objects of the bequest. The Regents, at a meeting in December, 1847, resolved to divide the annual income ($ 30,910.14) into two equal parts, to be apportioned, one part to the increase and diffusion of knowledge, by means of original research and publication, the other to be applied, in accordance with the requirements of the Act of Congress, to the gradual formation of a library, a museum, and a gallery of art. In the details of the first, it was proposed "to stimulate research by offering rewards, consisting of money, medals, &c., for original memoirs on all subjects of investigation"; the memoirs to be published in quarto, under the title of "Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," after having been approved by a commission of persons of reputation in the particular branch of knowledge. No memoir on a subject of a physical science is to be published "which does not furnish a positive addition to human knowledge, resting on original research"; and all unverified speculations are to be rejected. For the diffusion of knowledge, it was proposed "to publish 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," and also to publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest. An extensive system of meteorological observations, embracing the whole country, has been carried out by the Institution. A system of scientific correspondence is carried on by the officers of the society, who receive much valuable information in this way. A small sum is also paid to lecturers, who have been among the chief professional and literary men of the country. The building occupied by the Institution was completed in the spring of 1855. It is four hundred and twenty-six feet in length, and of irregular width and height. It was erected from the designs of James Renwick of New York, and is in the Lombard style of architecture. Its cost, including furniture, is estimated at about $30,000. [For further information, see Duyckinck's Cyclopædia of American Literature, from which these items are taken; also North American Review for October, 1854, and Annual Report of Regents.] II. NATIONAL INSTITUTE. OFFICERS. *Lieut. M. F. Maury, U.S.N., Pres. | Daniel Breed, M.D., Cor. Sec. L. D. Gale, M. D., Prof. S. F. Baird, Vice-Pres. Wm. W. Turner, Rec. Sec. The National Institute may be regarded as the continuation of a private association which, under the designation of "The Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Art and Science," had been founded at Washington in the year 1818. In this initial condition it had for more than twenty years taken part in the scientific labors and discussions of the time, had collected a very considerable cabinet, and taken preliminary measures for the establishment of a select and scientific library. Its members at this time consisted principally of officers of the army and navy, foreign ministers, consuls, and professional gentlemen employed in the different departments of the government. In the year 1840 it amended its original constitution, and in 1842 was incorporated by an Act of Congress, under its present name, and made the curator of all the collections in arts and science then belonging to the government in Washington, which had, up to that time, been kept in different places under the charge of the State, War, and Navy Departments. The library contains between three and four thousand volumes. It has a few manuscripts and a valuable collection of maps, charts, and engravings. III. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. (First Meeting, Sept. 20, 1848.) OFFICERS FOR 1858. Prof. Jeffries Wyman, President. Prof. Joseph Lovering, Perm. Sec. Prof. John E. Holbrook, Vice-Pres. Dr. William Chauvenet, Gen. Sec. Dr. A. L. Elwyn, Treasurer. * Since resigned, and place now vacant. |