The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1911-02-02
Mr.. Starnes Gives an Inter
estink Account oil the
Smithsonian Institute.

CONTINUED from Last week. }

The Smithsonian Institution. which
occupies prominent place among
the learned established parts OF the
world. vas founded by Congress IN
1886 through James Su.itsson. an
Engiishnan, who In 1919 bequeathed
his entire property TO the United
States Of America TO found al Wash
Ington. under the name OF the Smith
sonian Institution, an establishment
for the Increase and diffusion of
knowledge among men," 4
The Smithsonian Institution slim
ulates. encourages and rewards seien-
tific investigator and study In va
rious departments OF knowledge. Il
has library OF o,oo0 volumes.
mostly deposited with the Library of
Congress, and is the custodian Of the
National Collections. 1t issues three
classes OF publications called The
Contributions to knowledge" The
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Contriba-
TONS" and the Annual Reports. :"
The first two contain the records of
original scientific research, and the
third popular papers relating TO the
most of the domains of knowledge.
Through its Bureau of International
Exchanges it furnishes medium of
interchange between learned socie-
ties and men not only in this country
alone, but throughout the entire
world, having over twenty thousand
correspondents outside of the United
States in every quarter of the globe
where civilized man is found.
The Smithsonian building is con-
strueted of red sandstone; it is 447x
Ice feet, and the highest of its nine
is one hundred and fifty feet. The coll
lections in the Smithsonian building
comprise tens Of thousands Of birds,
fish, reptiles and invertebrates.
Also many sponges and corals. Mex
leo and Porto Rico are represented by
special collections. There are mod
els of Zuni Pueblo, homes of the cliff
dwellers Of North America, and Swiss
lake villages with prehistoric i'm
plements from the cave jewellers of
France. -ruh h-s -esaers.;s .,r.. o-e-@
The National Museum, which is
under the direction of the Institu-
ton, is supported by an annual tap-
preparation of Congress. The building
completed {, in T. 1881 is 326 feet
square and covers 2 r173 acres. An
additional granite building, to con-
tain nearly 10 acres of floor space,
is in erection on theo Mall opposite
the Smithsonian building --Eoau cit
10 Of course the animals were all
Stuffed" but they were, very inter-
esting to see, for they We're fixed so
well that they looked natural. Many
thousands of birds, among which was
the smallest bird in 1.-THE world 1Were
to be seen. This bird DIS no; larger
than, a common hornet, and, yet it is
seen with its feathers, wings, and a
tail as complete as any, other bird.
After staying in the Institute for
about three hours. and noticing the
skeletons, of. whales which. were 100
feet in length, and also the various
collections which ExPresident Roose-
welt sent from Africa, we, went back
to the hotel.
After going to the hotel We were
told that the collection Of the smith
sonfan Institute have increased from
about $50, 900 secimesns in 1889. to
over 5000, 200 in 1895 Also it IS
the recognized depository for ait OBJ
jeets OF scientific and artistic inter-
est which come into possession OF the
70 preserve these 4 treasures paerppe,t-
us1Iy and. SO do this to administer
them as to make them serve the
most useful ends for, those Who de-
sire to examine them. - Thus the
most popular, exhibits are, exhibited
ii the halls, yet the larger portions
are stored away in the laboratories
where they can be consulted by prop
erly accredited students and inTesti-
gators.ds 5eg O. 5nu 1u89 9d nsdR
al After We had eaten supper, we roy rooF
ed the streets and went to the the
-tB4B4 @sft 4tf3E G3It@<SE GF5A 23se9N-to