Book Description

Excerpt from Report on the Progress and Condition of the United States National Museum for the Year Ending June 30, 1918 The Congress of the United States, in the act of August 10, 1846, founding the Smithsonian Institution, recognized that an opportunity was afforded, in carrying out the large-minded design of Smithson, to provide for the custody of the museum of the Nation. To this new establishment was therefore intrusted the care of the national collections, a course that time has fully justified. In the beginning the cost of maintaining the museum side of the Institutions work was wholly paid from the Smithsonian income; then for a number of years the Government bore a share, and during the past three decades Congress has voted the entire funds for the expenses of the Museum, thus furthering one of the primary means for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men without encroaching upon the resources of the Institution. The museum idea was inherent in the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution, which in its turn was based upon a ten years discussion in Congress and the advice of the most distinguished scientific men, educators, and intellectual leaders of the Nation of seventy years ago. It is interesting to note how broad and comprehensive were the views which actuated our lawmakers in determining the scope of the Museum, a fact especially remarkable when it is recalled that at that date no museum of considerable size existed in the United States, and the museums of England and of the continent of Europe were still to a large extent without a developed plan, although containing many rich collections. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.