Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian InstitutionThe Institution, 1858 |
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Amount appears atmosphere aurora borealis barometer battery brush carbonic acid carboniferous charge circuit clouds coils Colonia Tovar conductor copper wire Course diameter direction discharge disk distance E.SE earth electricity electro-magnet experiments feet force of current geology German silver glass heat hydrogen ignition inches increase Lepidodendron Leyden jar light luminous arc magnetism main spiral main wire mean temperature metallic Meteorological Observations-Continued millimetre month Morse nearly needle negative observations obtained oxygen ozone P. M. Force P. M. Mean P. M. Ther P. M. Velocity passed period phosphorus plate platinum platinum wire pole positive produced Prof quantity rain Regents Register of Meteorological Riess S.SE secondary current secondary spiral shooting stars Sigillaria Smithsonian Institution spark strata stratum surface telegraph Thermometer in open thick tion tissue vapor vascular tissue Venezuela wire zodiacal light
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Page 9 - The emphasis upon publications as a means of diffusing knowledge was expressed by the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In his formal plan for the Institution, Joseph Henry articulated a program that included the following statement: "It is proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge not strictly professional.
Page 7 - I mean stock to remain in this country, 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.
Page 12 - January, 1847, requiring an equal division of the income between the active operations and the museum and library, when the buildings are completed, be and it is hereby repealed.
Page 8 - It is proposed — 1. To stimulate men of talent to make original researches, by offering suitable rewards for memoirs containing new truths; and, 2. To appropriate annually a portion of the income for particular researches, under the direction of suitable persons. To DIFFUSE KNOWLEDGE. It is proposed — 1. To publish a series of periodical reports on the progress of the different branches of knowledge; and, 2 To publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest.
Page 12 - Art-Union and other similar societies. 12. A small appropriation should annually be made for models of antiquities, such as those of the remains of ancient temples, &c. 13. For the present, or until the building is fully completed, besides the Secretary, no permanent assistant will be required, except one, to act as librarian. 14. The Secretary, by the law of Congress, is alone responsible to the Regents.
Page 10 - ... Agriculture. 4. Application of science to arts. II. MORAL AND POLITICAL CLASS. 5. .Ethnology, including particular history, comparative philology, antiquities, &c. 6. Statistics and political economy. 7. Mental and moral philosophy. 8. A survey of the political events of the world, penal reform, &c. HI. LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 9. Modern literature. 10. The fine arts, and their application to the useful arts. 11. Bibliography. 12. Obituary notices of distinguished individuals.
Page 26 - We are indebted to the National Telegraph Line for a series of observations from New Orleans to New York and as far westward as Cincinnati, which have been published in the Evening Star of this city.
Page 11 - To carry out the plan before described, a library will be required, consisting, 1st, of a complete collection of the transactions and proceedings of all the learned societies in the world ; 2d, of the more important current periodical publications, and other works necessary in preparing the periodical reports.
Page 8 - ... be considered, but also the continual expense of keeping it in repair, and of the support of the establishment necessarily connected with it. There should also be but few individuals permanently supported by the Institution. 12. The plan and dimensions of the building should be determined by the plan of organization, and not the converse. 13. It should be recollected that mankind in general are to be benefited by the bequest, and that, therefore, all unnecessary expenditure on local objects would...
Page 96 - In this room, and extending around the same, was a circuit of wire stretched along the wall, and at one termination of this, in the recess of a window, a bell was fixed, while the other extremity was connected with a galvanic apparatus. You showed us the manner in which the bell could be made to ring by a current of electricity, transmitted through this wire, and you remarked that this method might be adopted for giving signals, by the ringing of a bell at the distance of many miles from the point...