Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-06-07

. tfnmcuL ny hnd anu Dy sea. III seeks uS II
has sought, either by official representation to
the heads Of departments or by personal in
fuence with officers and employees to secure
in the pcrsOheie Of exploration parties the
engagement Of competent well-adapted indi-
viduals for the work of collecting facts and
specimens it instructs such persons and 9TH
ers in the details of useful pointed obserya-
ton it has superintended the preparation,
and, where it could has borne the expense Of
| necessary equipment it has supplied from
time to time fresh material TO collectors while
in the field; has received the collections
made, preserved them for future study or
has at once consigned them to the hands of
competent specialists either at home or abroad
| for investigation, directing the execution Of
the necessary drawings and engravings. and
finally publishing the reports and distributing
! the available copies of the completed works
| to institutions of science and education. Pri-
| or to the establishment Of the Smithsonian
Institution but little had been done by our
| government in the way of scientific explora-
ton, with the marked exception Of that of
Captain Wilkes but since then nearly every
United States expedition, whether a survey
! for a Pacific railroad route, a boundary line
! between our country and the regions north or
/ south of it or within its borders-all such
| have been influenced and materially aided by
the active cooperation of the Institution. In
/ addition to this influence exerted on the char
acter of large systematic bodies for explora-
! ton and survey, the Smithsonian encourages
every naturalist and ethnologist that comes
within the range of its vision to observe and
| collect, and in most cases, where the field of
| inquiry promises to yield richly, suggests and
carries on an exploration there at its own eX-
! pense Between Greenland and Patagonia,
from Halifax to Alaska, men are working to-
| dny, cheered alone by the support and en-
/ coumgemcnt Of the Smithsonian Institution.
A very common but quite erroneous opin-
ion of the Institution is that its mission is to
! gather every thing in and give nothing out,
or to accumulate as large number of speci-
mems possible This is not SO. The OBJ
| ject of making these collections in conforni-
/ ty with the policy of the Institution was not
merely to supply a large museum in Wash
| lngton with permanent specimens or dupl-
Gates for exchange, but to furnish the natur-
alists and the archieologists Of the world with
the materials for advancing the science of
natural and ancient history Of North America.
and Of facilitating the study of its various
branches by supplying museums both in the
| United States and in Europe with sets Of type
| specimens.
So in pursuance of this object full sets of
! specimens collected have been submitted TO a
| large number of naturalists, both in this
| country and abroad, for critical study and de-
scriptiOn and it is not saying too much when
the assertion is made that scarcely a mono
| graphic Investigation has been conducted for
/ many years past into any branch of American
zoology which has not derived part if not the
whole Of its material from the Smithsonian
collections. Duplicates Of the specimens, af-
| ter their entry in the books and classification,
| have been annually made up into sets for dis
| tribution, always accurately labelled and fire.
! quently are the types Of some published in-
| vestigation. The average of such distribu-
! ton has for the last ten years been at least
ten to twelve thousand specimens annually.
and the whole aggregate of distribution in
! this way since the active existence of the es-
! tiblshment is much over a quarter of a mill
| ion. By this system all the older museums
in this country and many abroad have been
placed under substantial obligation to the In
| stitution, and the foundation of many new
associations of similar character has been
supplied IN this manner. To all colleges and
academies making special application, labelled
specimens have also been presented.
This great distribution of specimens differs
entirely from the ordinary exchanges con-
| Quoted between institutions or individuals
which usually involve the return Of an equiv
alent The object held in view by the Smith
sonian Institution is not what can be had in re-
| turn, hut where can particular specimen or
| series of specimens be placed 80 As to best ad-
vance the cause of science, by being most ac-
| cessible to the largest number of original in
vestigators.
Scattered over the world to-day are between
eight and nine hundred naturalists. ethnolo-
gists, and scientific amateurs, who are each at
his respective locality engaged in the labor of
making collections or recording observations
with the ultimate view of sending the results
to the Smithsonian. This work is all render
ed voluntarily, and the collections sent to the
Institution as a free-will Offering on the part
of the donors, who only ask that credit be
given them for the full measure of their
work.
In this connection, bearing in mind the
small income Of the Institution, it should be
stated that the generosity of the principal
lines of ocean steamships, the great railroad
trunk routes of transportation, and the sever
al express companies, which either carry the
Smithsonian freight free of cost or NJ half
rates, has alone enabled the Smithsonian
to carry out successfully its plan or opera
tons in its line of exchanges since without
this happy cooperation il would be helpless
to do n tithe even of what it now does for
at the present day it is the great medium of
scientific INSTRUMENTATION between the
New World and the old, its benefits being
recognized by institutions, individuals. and
governments. Its parcels pass all custom
houses without question or Interference, while
American and foreign lines of transportation
vie with each other in the extent of privilege
afforded it.
BY provisions of law the Smithsonian In
stitntion is made the custodian of the Nation
al Museum, aud for the last few years this
museum has been, as it now is, supported ell
trely by the government previously it annu-
ally drew largely upon the Smithsonian fund.
And it is the only lawful place of deposit for
''all objects of art and Of foreign and curious
research. and all objects of natural history,
plants, and geological and miueralogical spec
linens, belonging or hereafter to belong to
the United States, which may be in the city
of Washington, in whosesoyer custody
The Smithsonian Library was transferred
several years ago to the care of the Library
of Congress; and now forms the National
Science Library. 1t consists of some seventy
five thousand volumes, embracing the trans
actions and proceedings of the older scien-
tihc establishments of Europe. This library
is continually enriched by the annual addi-
tion of seven or eight thousand volumes sent
to it by various institutions, governments,
and individuals.
In concluding this brief epitome We may
pause to say that if in the short lapse of a
quarter of "A century the power Of the Smith
sOnian Institution has been so great in the
line of its legitimate function. what shall il
develop in the future? 1t stands to-day in
the reelected light of glorious record, free
and untrammelledto pursue its laudable course
ito the end, of which no man knoweth. ~
HdrPer's Weekly.
A LIVELY GAS FIGHr is in progress over in
Spain. The trouble grew out of the Barcel
ona authorities levying a tax on gas, which
the gas companies assessed ON their consum-
ers. Indignation was widespread, and al
most everybody stopped burning gas the
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