SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION SMOLENSK 125 organization" of the proposed operations under the 9th section, which was adopted, and still constitutes the basis of management. He suggested that men of talent and erudition should be afforded the means of conducting researches, and stimulated to exertion through facilities of publication and occasional com- pensation; and for its diffusion, the publica- tion of such works as, while adding materially to the sum of human knowledge, would not find a remunerative sale in the ordinary chan- nels of trade. He insisted that it ought to be a rule of the institution to do nothing which can be equally well done by any organization or instrumentality already in action. The re- sults are as follows : 1. Researches. The claims of different classes of scientific research to the countenance and aid of the institution have always been pressing and difficult of adjudica- tion ; yet a preference has been given to those oi widest influence and benefit to the race. Ethnology was believed to be one of these, and a valuable and expensive memoir on the archeology of the Indian tribes was the first to receive assistance. In connection with this, aid was extended to the compilation of a Da- kota grammar and dictionary, and a grammar of the Yoruba language. The circulation of these has led to other researches in ethnol- ogy and kindred branches of science, some of which are receiving or will receive assis- tance. Astronomy has also engaged the ear- nest and continued efforts of the institution for its promotion theoretically and practically, and pecuniary assistance has been furnished to expeditions undertaken with a view to as- tronomical and other observations. It has not only furnished instruments for physical obser- vation to expeditions, but in most cases has defrayed the expense of the reduction and publication of the results. In meteorology it had for many years 500 regular observers scat- tered over every part of the continent, and accumulated data through this and other mea- sures steadily and systematically pursued for developing the laws which govern the phe- nomena of the weather. In accordance with the plan of cooperation adopted, this sys- tem has been transferred to the United States signal service. The natural history, geogra- phy, climatology, geology, mineralogy, bot- any, and archeology of this continent have through its aid received a greater impulse, and more material has been collected for increas- ing and diffusing the knowledge of them^than through all other instrumentalities during the national existence. 2. Publications. These are of three classes. 1st. " The Smithsoni- an Contributions to Knowledge," comprised up to 1875 in 20 large quarto volumes, and in many cases expensively illustrated. No me- moir is admitted into this series which rests on unverified hypothesis, or which does not offer some positive addition to the sum of ex- isting knowledge ; and the pretensions of each in this respect are decided by submission to the judgment of two or more arbiters of un- questionable competence and impartiality. The volumes thus far issued form a series for the publication of which no learned society in this country possessed the means, and which have only been equalled by foreign societies when aided by their governments. They have been distributed gratuitously among all the impor- tant libraries and learned associations of the world, and have afforded the means of obtain- ing by exchange those invaluable sets of the "Transactions" of foreign learned societies, not otherwise to be found in this country. 2d. The " Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections," an occasional series comprising meteorological and physical tables, treatises on subjects of practical or scientific interest, and manuals for the collection and preservation of objects of natural history, as well as methods for various physical observations. This series includes 12 octavo volumes. 3d. The "Annual Reports" to congress, which, besides a popular analysis of the memoirs to be contained in the sev- eral forthcoming volumes of the " Contribu- tions," are accompanied by a synopsis of lec- tures and original or translated articles, which introduce the student to information and topics of discussion much above the range of those usually presented even to the educated public. These are printed at the expense of congress, and are circulated through the members of both houses, as well as by the institution it- self. 3. Exchanges. The institution now acts as the principal, and is gradually becoming the exclusive means of communication between the literary and scientific associations of the old and the new world. 4. Scientific Corre- spondence. The correspondence of the Smith- sonian institution with all quarters of the globe is vast and constantly increasing. Al- most every day brings narratives of real or supposed discoveries which are referred to the institution, inquiries on scientific topics of all kinds, or unusual phenomena, &c. These let- ters are all answered. In 1865 a residuary legacy of Smithson was received, amounting to $26,210 63; and in 1874 a bequest of $1,000 from James Hamilton of Carlisle, Pa. With these, and savings of income and increased value of investments, the total permanent Smithson fund in the United States treasury, drawing interest at 6 per cent, in gold, now amounts to $651,000. There are besides de- preciated investments valued in January, 1875, at $35,000, which with a cash balance on hand of $15,909 99 made the total resources at that time $701,909 99. SMOKE TREE. See SUMACH. SMOLENSK. I. A W. government of Russia, bordering on Tver, Moscow, Kaluga, Orel, Tchernigov, Mohilev, Vitebsk, and Pskov ; area, 21,637 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 1,140,015. The surface is an elevated undulating plain, broken occasionally by low hills. The chief rivers are the Dnieper and Desna. It is interspersed with numerous small lakes and morasses ; and there
