Excerpt from The Scientific Writings of James Smithson
The scientific writings of James Smithson, the distinguished founder of the Smithsonian Institution, have been collected and are published in the present volume, in accordance with the instructions of the Board of Regents. These memoirs were originally contributed to the "Transactions of the Royal Society of London," of which Smithson was a member, between the years of 1791 and 1817, and to Thomson's "Annals of Philosophy," between 1819 and 1825. They are twenty-seven in number, and embrace a wide range of research, from the origin of the earth, the nature of the colors of vegetables and insects, the analysis of minerals and chemicals, to an improved method of constructing lamps or of making coffee. Some of these papers were translated into French by the author and others, and published in the "Journal de Physique, de Chimie, et d' Histoire Naturelle, etc."
These writings of Smithson prove conclusively his scientific character and his claim to distinction as a contributor to knowledge.
Among the personal effects of the founder of the Institution were several hundred manuscripts, besides a large collection of scraps and notes on a great diversity of subjects, including history, the arts, language, rural economy, construction of buildings, &c., which unfortunately were destroyed by the fire at the Smithsonian building in 1865. It is probable that Smithson also contributed articles to other scientific and literary journals than those mentioned, but none have been found, though the leading English periodicals of the day have been carefully examined for the purpose.
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