Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution

Discussion of Professor Snell's barometric observations, by F. H. Loud..........

Investigation of illuminating materials, by Joseph Henry

461

483

Synopsis of the scientific writings of William Herschel, by E. S. Holden,

and C. S. Hastings....

509

Reports of astronomical Observatories....

623

INDEX to the volume

741

REPORT OF PROFESSOR BAIRD,

SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, FOR 1880.

To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution:

GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to present herewith a report of the condition of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1880.

As heretofore, in addition to matters pertaining strictly to the Smithsonian Institution, I shall give an account of the operations connected with the National Museum, placed by Congress in charge of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as of those of the United States Fish Commission, of which the present Secretary is the chief officer.

THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.

INTRODUCTORY.

In the report for 1879 the announcement was made of an appropriation by Congress for the purpose of constructing a new building for the service of the National Museum, and of the commencement and rapid progress of the work upon the same. I now have the pleasure of stating that the work has been in the greater part completed during the year 1880, and that a portion of the building is already occupied for its legitimate objects.

The details of progress and completion will be given in full in the report of the building committee and of the architect, to which I would refer. It will be sufficient to say here that the work has all been done within the estimates, and that it promises to be even more suitable to its purpose than was anticipated. All the requirements in regard to light and heat are fully met; and in this respect, and in that of its slight cost in proportion to the space obtained, the building is believed to have no parallel in the country. Including the building proper, the steam heating apparatus, the gas and water fixtures, and all their accessories, the cost has amounted to less than $3 per square foot of ground floor, and to about 6 cents per cubic foot of entire capacity.

Another noteworthy event of the year has been the election of Mr. James A. Garfield, one of the Regents of the Institution, to the office of President of the United States.

S. Mis. 31-1

MEMORIALS.

Statue of Professor Henry.-The annual meeting of the Board of Regents was held on the 17th of January, at which time the usual reports of the year 1879 were presented. Prior to that date a bill had been introduced into the Senate by Mr. Booth, a Regent of the Institution, providing for the erection in the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution of a statue of Professor Henry. This, in a somewhat modified form, passed the Senate and House and became a law by the signature of the President on the 1st of June, 1880.*

The total appropriation was $15,000, and it was agreed that one-fourth should be paid on the completion of the design, one-fourth on the completion of the model in clay, one-fourth on the completion in bronze, and the remainder on the placing of the statue in the Smithsonian grounds.

Memorial representations of Professor Henry.-The Institution is indebted to Mr. F. Gutekunst, of Philadelphia, for copies of an excellent phototype of the late Secretary, Professor Henry, copied from a photograph taken by the same artist during the time of the Centennial Exhibition. The portrait is a mechanical imprint of cabinet size, a close reproduction of the original photograph.

Although a partial account of various portraitures of Professor Henry was given in the last annual report, it may not be improper, with the view of making the record more complete, to repeat those formerly mentioned, as well as to indicate additional likenesses.

Of original photographs, there are one small front face (carte size) by H. Ulke; one profile head (carte size) by T. W. Smillie; one small size, full-length, standing, by the same; one front view of head and bust, cabinet size, by the same, and one, imperial size, by the same; one, carte size, and four different views, cabinet size, by M. B. Brady, of Wash

* In view of the adjournment of the Board of Regents at the time of the passage of the law, it was impossible to take any formal action in the matter; but in the exercise of its general discretion, the executive committee entered into correspondence with Mr. Story, the artist designated in the act as the sculptor, and obtained from him his acceptance of the trust, and some suggestions as to the design and the general conditions of carrying it out.

As the executive committee was doubtful as to its authority to carry out fully the provisions of the proposed agreement with Mr. Story, the members of the Board were communicated with by letter and their assent obtained to such action as the committee might deem best in the premises.

It was therefore thought best to make a provisional ratification of the agreement with Mr. Story, the session of Congress in the beginning of December rendering it pessible to obtain the action of the Board before anything could be done by the sculptor. A meeting of the Board therefore, was held on the 8th day of December, 1880, and the action of the exec utive committee was approved and authority given to carry it into effect. A dispatch was sent by Atlantic cable to Mr. Story, and the work, according to a recent communication from Hon. George P. Marsh, United States miniser at Rome, Mr. Story's place of residence, is progressing satisfactorily.

ington; two, cabinet size, by A. Gardner, of Washington; three, cabinet size, by S. M. Fassett, of Washington; and one of cabinet size and one of imperial size, both by F. Gutekunst, of Philadelphia.

Of crayon heads of life size, there are one by H. Ulke, from an oil portrait by the same; one by Mrs. Fassett, from a portrait by S. M. Fassett; one by Mrs. M. G, Dayton, from a photograph by Fassett; one by R. Reichmann, from a photograph by T. W. Smillie; and one by A. J. Janvier, from a photograph by M. B. Brady.

Of wood cuts, one was published in an "Account of the Smithsonian Institution," by W. J. Rhees, Washington, 1855; and one in Harper's Weekly of June 1, 1878, accompanying an obituary notice.

Of engravings on steel, one was produced by L. L. Punderson, from a painting by Mooney, and published at Boston in the Annual of Scientific Discovery for 1852; one was engraved by G. R. Hall, from a photograph, and published at New York in the Eclectic Magazine for March, 1875; one was engraved by S. Hollyer, from a photograph, and published at New York, in Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia for 1879; and one of small size, vignette, was engraved by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing of the Treasury Department, at Washington, 1880, for publication in the Memorial volume ordered by Congress.

Of oil paintings, of bust or half-length life size, one was painted by H. Ulke, of Washington; one was painted by W. Ingalls; one by Thomas Le Clear, of New York; and one by Theodore Kaufmann, of Washington.

Of busts in plaster, one of small size was modeled by C. W. Burton, of Washington; one of life size by Clarke Mills, of Washington; one of life size by Fisk Mills, of Washington; and one of life size by Mrs. C. S. Brooks, of New York.

In the last report it was stated that Congress had authorized the printing in one volume of the memorial services held in honor of Professor Henry in the House of Representatives on the 16th of January, 1879. Of this volume a large edition was ordered; and after various delays, beyond the control of the Institution, it will soon appear in a wellprinted form, accompanied by an excellent portrait engraved by the Treasury Department. There has been a great demand for this work from all quarters of the country, and copies of it will be placed in all the principal libraries at home and abroad.

Smithson's Effects.-By the 6th section of the organizing act of Congress of August, 1846, it was provided that "the minerals, books, manuscripts, and other property of James Smithson, which have been received by the Government of the United States, and are now placed in the Department of State, shall be removed to said Institution, and shall be preserved separate and apart from other property of the Institution."

The books belonging to the founder of the Institution have been catalogued and placed in a handsome walnut case with plate-glass front. They consist of 45 duodecimo, 110 octavo, and 26 quarto volumes, many of them in a worn, and a few in a dilapidated condit on. It has been

thought proper, however, to leave them exactly as they were when forming the library of Mr. Smithson.

Such of the relics of Smithson and his family as have come into possession of the Institution have also been appropriately arranged in frames and placed on exibition in the Regents' room. They consist of the following articles:

1. An oil portrait of Smithson as an Oxford student.

2. An oil portrait in miniature of Smithson, painted by Johns, at Aixla-Chapelle, in 1816.

3. An oil portrait in miniature of Col. Henry Louis Dickinson, a halfbrother of James Smithson.

4. The dinner invitation card of Smithson.

5. His visiting card, used in Paris.

6. A copy of his will in his own handwriting.

7. A manuscript in his handwriting.

8. A commission from George III to Major Henry Louis Dickinson, as Lieutenant-Colonel, dated 1st Jan., 1800.

9. A commission from the same King to Lient. Colonel H. L. Dickinson, as Colonel of the 84th Regt., dated 4th Aug., 1808.

Smithson's Tomb.-It is, of course, eminently proper that the Smithsonian Institution should do all in its power to preserve the remembrance of its great founder, Mr. James Smithson; and an endeavor toward this end has been made by the publication of a Life of Smithson and a reprint of all his works. In the efforts to obtain a memorial of some kind of the last resting place of Mr. Smithson, at Genoa, in Italy, a photograph of the tomb was obtained from Mr. Hazelton, the United States consul in that city, with a statement of its present condition. In accordance with a suggestion from him he was authorized to put the monument in thorough repair and to arrange to have it kept in good condition at the expense of the Institution. The monument is an appropriate and substantial one, and as long as the Institution is in existence this reminder of its founder should be carefully protected.

INAUGURAL RECEPTION.

Reference should be made to the granting of the use of the new Museum building for the purpose of holding the inaugural reception in honor of the newly-elected President. A petition to that effect, from a committee of citizens of Washington, was presented at a meeting of the Board on the 8th of December, and the following resolution, granting the request, was passed:

"Whereas the new Museum building is unfinished and not ready for occupancy of the government collections, and whereas such a contingency will not again occur, and no precedent is to be given for the use of the building for other purposes:

"Resolved, That the use of the new National Museum building be granted for the inaugural reception of the President of the United States, on the 4th of March, 1881, and that the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution be authorized to make all necessary arrangements for this purpose."

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