Smithsonian Institution

an establishment at Washington, D. C. It was founded in pursuance of a bequest made by James Smithson, an illegitimate son of the Duke of Northumberland. He was a man of scientific tastes and great usefulness. He was offended by the treatment he had received from his father, and decided to found an institution in the New World, that "my name," said he, "shall live in the memory of men when the titles of the Northumberlands and the Percys are extinct and forgotten." He died at Genoa, Italy, in 1829, leaving the following instructions: "I bequeath the whole of my property 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." Congress accepted the bequest and appointed a board of administration, consisting of the president, the vice-president, the chief justice, the members of the cabinet, three members of the Senate, three of the House, and six citizens, no two from the same state. The bequest amounted to half a million dollars. Congress has supplemented it with liberal donations.

The Smithsonian occupies a large building erected on public grounds at Washington. The secretary of the Smithsonian has been charged by Congress with the custody of the National Museum in which are exhibited the specimens of natural history, rocks, minerals, archaeology, Indian relics, etc., coming into possession of the United States. Smithson's own cabinet of minerals is stored here. A very great collection of stone knives, hatchets, and other American antiquities, including specimens from the ancient homes of the mound dwellers, the Aztecs, and the cliff dwellers, has been accumulated. There are in all nearly 6,000,000 articles. The Smithsonian funds have been loaned to the general government. The income has been used largely to defray the cost of publishing scientific works. Perhaps 300 volumes in all have been issued. In 1904 the remains of Smithson were brought to Washington from Genoa. They have been accorded a fitting resting place on the grounds.