REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE 
APPOINTED TO VISIT AND EXAMINE 
\ 
THE LIBRARY; THE PHILOSOPHICAL APPARATUS; THE 
MEDICAL, CHEMICAL, AND ANATOMICAL 
DEPARTMENTS 
OF 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, 
For the Year 1853—4. 
BOSTON: 
PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, 
22, School Street. 
1854. REPORT OE THE COMMITTEE 
APPOINTED TO VISIT AND EXAMINE 
THE LIBRARY; THE PHILOSOPHICAL APPARATUS; THE 
MEDICAL, CHEMICAL, AND ANATOMICAL 
DEPARTMENTS 
OF 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
For the Year 1853-4. 
BOSTON: 
PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON & SON, 
22, School Street. 
1854. Senate Chamber, Jan. 26, 1854. 
IN THE BOARD OF OVERSEERS OF HARVARD COLLEGE, 
Voted, That the Report of the Committee appointed to visit the Library, &c., 
be printed, and distributed to the Members of this Board. 
Attest, 
GEORGE E. ELLIS, 
Secretary. REPORT. 
To the Honorable and Reverend the Board of Overseers of the 
University at Cambridge, the Committee appointed by them to visit 
the Library, &c., beg leave to Report : — 
That, on the loth of July last, agreeably to arrange- 
ments made at the University, they met at Gore Hall, 
and attended to the duty assigned them. 
That, finding so many of their body attending, 
amounting to the whole number chosen with but two 
exceptions, they deemed it prudent to organize in a 
manner more orderly than heretofore; and therefore 
appointed George Livermore, Esq., Secretary; the 
subscriber, in the absence of the regular Chairman a 
member of your honorable Board, to sustain his office 
pro tempore; and the several Sub-Committees necessary 
to visit the Law Library, the Theological Library, and 
the Museum; the Philosophical Apparatus, Gallery 
of Portraits, and Cabinet of Coins and Medals, to be 
inspected by the whole Committee together; while 
those gentlemen who were not detailed as above were 
instructed to examine the Public Library. 4 
At this session, as on former occasions, the Com- 
mittee were in some degree of doubt, notwithstanding 
the course pursued in previous examinations and 
reports of results, as to the extent of the duty assigned 
in their appointment, and expected of them; whether 
it wrere a simple noting of the number and condition 
of the books and various articles of apparatus, as a 
check on the official keepers of these material ap- 
pliances and treasures, or wrere suggestive also in its 
character ; whether, in fact, they might feel themselves 
authorized to take into consideration, not only what 
might meet their view, but also the deficiencies that 
might be found; in order that, by laying such dis- 
coveries before your Honorable Board, they might 
ultimately, if speaking through the press, reach that 
portion of the public which would be ready and able 
to supply what is necessary to the completeness that 
is desired. 
In view of this embarrassment, to obviate which in 
future your Committee respectfully request for their 
successors in office some vote of your Honorable Body, 
or expression of opinion for direction or guidance, it 
wras nevertheless concluded to follow the course com- 
menced in recent years, and pursued in late Reports 
without animadversion. Therefore, taking counsel of 
an ardent desire to subserve the interests of the 
University, and of our community as involved in 
these, your Committee proceed to state: — 
That they received the customary Annual Report 5 
of the condition of what is termed the Public Library 
from Dr. Harris, the Librarian, which they respect- 
fully request may be considered a part of then' own, 
as follows: — 
To THE HeA’EREND AND HONORABLE THE COMMITTEE FOR THE ANNUAL 
Examination of the Library. 
Gentlemen, — The additions which have been made to 
the Library, since the last annual examination, amount 
to 1,189 volumes and 3,372 pamphlets, exclusive of dupli- 
cates and of periodical publications. Of these works, 829 
volumes and 3,354 pamphlets were special gifts. 
Through the agency of Professor Francis J. Child, and 
of Dr. Henry W. Wales and Mr. Henry A. Whitney, of 
Boston, the sum of eleven hundred and five dollars has 
been raised, by their own contributions and those of other 
liberal gentlemen, “ for the purchase of books necessary to a 
thorough study of the history of English poetry.” Some 
of these books have already been received, and others are 
expected soon to arrive. 
Mr. Samuel A. Green, of Groton, a graduate of the class 
of 1851, who heretofore has contributed many books to the 
Library, has continued his acceptable donations during the 
past year. 
Mr. Edward R. Andrews, of Boston, a member of the 
present senior class, has presented 174 volumes and 24 
pamphlets, exclusive of many duplicates. 
Mr. Charles Sanders, of Cambridge, has given a copy of 
Silvestre’s “ Palseographie Universelle,” a magnificent and 
costly work, in four folio volumes, published by the French 
Government, — and also Sir Frederick Madden’s English 
translation of the text, in two volumes. From the same 6 
liberal benefactor we have the promise of the great work of 
Dr. Lepsius on the Antiquities of Egypt, noAv in course 
of publication at Berlin; and I have been authorized to 
order and import it for the Library at the expense of Mr. 
Sanders. 
Mr. C. Gayton Pickman, from whom many valuable books 
have been received at other times, presented to the Library, 
on the occasion of the recent inauguration of President 
Walker, a copy of the “ Bible, in the earliest English 
versions, by John Wycliffe and his followers;” edited by 
Forshall & Madden, and printed at Oxford, in four quarto 
volumes, in the year 1850. 
The Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries of 
London, the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, the 
Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, the Academy of Arts 
and Sciences of Boston, the Legislatures of several States, and 
other public bodies, continue to send to this Library their 
several publications. 
Thirty-four volumes, in addition to previous losses, are 
now missing from the Library. 
Three hundred and sixty-three volumes have been bound, 
and thirty-two have been repaired, during the past year. 
Nearly all the "works that have been added to the Library 
have been duly catalogued and arranged in their proper 
places, and are thus rendered available for immediate use. 
The want of a permanent fund, to defray the expense of 
administration and to provide for the increase of the Library, 
has not yet been supplied, and is becoming more urgent and 
embarrassing every year. Not only are the Librarian and 
Assistant taxed to the utmost in the performance of their 
increasing duties, but it has become apparent to them, that, 
without additional help and additional funds, it will be 
impossible to carry on the work satisfactorily, and without 
falling into arrears in the regular discharge of their duties, 7 
and in the proper increase of the Library in its various 
departments. It is confidently believed, that there is no 
Library in the country, which, in proportion to its size, is 
carried on with such limited means, or which has a greater 
claim to be provided with ample funds. 
The foregoing Report is most respectfully submitted to 
you, gentlemen, by your obedient servant, 
THADDEUS WILLIAM HARRIS, 
Librarian. 
Your Committee will not entertain a doubt, that 
while, on hearing this Report of a laborious, intelli- 
gent, and faithful officer, the members of your Honor- 
able Board feel grateful for the benefactions which 
the munificence of individuals still continues to make, 
and which it feelingly records, they will also sympa- 
thize deeply in the honest but not exaggerated 
complaints it contains. That the labors and services 
of the Librarian and his respected and devoted Assist- 
ant are and have been very great is unquestionable, 
and deserving the attention of those who have the offi- 
cial supervision, — the Corporation of the University. 
But your Committee, assuming here the liberty they 
have been allowed to exercise, consider it their spe- 
cial duty to advert to the remarks respecting a fund 
sufficient to defray the expenses of a liberal adminis- 
tration of the Library, and to provide effectually for 
that increase of it which is desirable, and even neces- 
sary to its comparative completeness and extended 
use. 8 
As a Corporation, the University is generally ac- 
counted rich. Yet no one can inspect the annual 
accounts of its Treasurer, without perceiving the fact, 
that its funds are specifically devoted to certain 
objects; and that a floating .capital, so to speak, if in 
existence, is of necessity exceedingly small. Hence, 
whatever be the desire to meet and overcome compe- 
tition, or to maintain a present ascendency in the 
advantages it offers, the means are exceedingly inade- 
quate. 
After much and careful deliberation, your Com- 
mittee, therefore, have concluded to propose, that 
efforts be made among the friends of the University, 
— and we cannot but assume that this designation 
must include the greater part of our highly-favored 
community, — to raise the sum of one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, to form a Library Fund, the proceeds 
of which shall be expended by the Corporation of 
Harvard College for the increase of said Library, its 
due and faithful administration, and the binding and 
repairs of volumes, as may be necessary. 
An ability to avail of sales of private libraries is 
also exceedingly desirable; since individuals are found 
in this as in other countries, whose favorite pursuits 
lead them to amass literary authorities on special 
subjects with far greater ardor than can be expected 
in officers of an institution which looks impartially 
over the whole field of science, literature, and art. 
Thus have foreign libraries grown, and their treasures 9 
have become inestimable. The labors and expendi- 
tures of Archbishop Usher enrich now the collection 
of Trinity College, Dublin; those of Lightfoot were 
found in the old Library of our own Harvard College, 
previous to the disastrous conflagration of 1764; and 
the British Museum and now Imperial Library of 
France have swallowed up a large number of private 
libraries, and have become the resort of men of learn- 
ing from every quarter. Had our Library a fund to 
which it might look, collections made by individual 
scholars would soon be found to enrich it in a simi- 
lar manner. 
That an application for aid, such as has been sug- 
gested, is needed, and worthy to be recommended and 
entered upon, was agreed more than two years ago, 
when it was suggested to your Honorable Board, in 
the Annual Report on the Library, &c., preceding the 
last. The same conviction was impressed on the 
Library Committee of the last year. But it was not 
then urged, because an effort was about to be made 
for the foundation by the several classes of Scholar- 
ships, so termed; and which was, with many of the 
Alumni, and that deservedly, a favorite object. 
But your Committee deem it capable of demonstra- 
tion almost, that, in such a community as ours, the 
two objects will not interfere necessarily. In the Ca- 
pital of the State, which possesses a taxable property 
of more than two hundred millions of dollars, and 
which has never been backward in its contributions 10 
to praiseworthy objects, the effort recently made to 
establish a similar fund for the Athenaeum, of one 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, has been success- 
ful. The same amount for Yale College it has been 
resolved to ask of the friends of that important and 
thriving institution in the neighboring State of Con- 
necticut. Bowdoin College, Amherst College, and 
Dartmouth University, have raised by public contri- 
bution fifty thousand dollars each; beside the like 
exertions made for other literary establishments. All 
this success is calculated to give encouragement, while 
it reflects the highest honor on the country. 
The Government of the State, moreover, claims its 
share of interest in this University, and has exercised 
power in remodelling a portion of its chartered privi- 
leges. Can it then be amiss, that its wants in this 
respect be laid before our State Legislature, and their 
aid be distinctly asked ? Be it that the reply is anti- 
cipated, “We have other literary institutions needing 
legislative patronage, whose wants are more pressing, 
inasmuch as their endowments are vastly less; ” it can 
be easily rejoined, let them share in the same liberality 
for which we petition, — Harvard College will be 
neither envious nor jealous. 
With respect to the wants to which your Committee 
have alluded, they beg leave to say, that, while they 
are unprepared to define them with statistic accuracy 
at present, they are, in general, constrained to admit 
the justice of a description given by an alumnus 11 
recently in a public meeting, who has not hesitated to 
say, that, “ proud as we are of our four or five great 
libraries, there is not one of them, not even that of 
Harvard University, my own cherished Alma Mater, 
that affords the requisite means for the thorough study 
of any one topic of recondite learning, even if of prac- 
tical science. Any scholar who tries to investigate any 
ancient or historical subject* will find, to his regret, 
that no library in the country has a plummet that can 
sound its depths. What facilities the noble Astor 
Library may afford, we can judge better when its 
merits are known, and its treasures are consoli- 
dated.” 
In this connection, your Committee are desirous to 
avail themselves of the language used by the present 
President of the University, and recall it to the recol- 
lection of your Honorable Board, as employed at his 
inauguration. “ A college or university,” he observes, 
“ aspires to impart, not merely the measure of teaching 
which is necessary to practical life and good citizen- 
ship, but that which is necessary to scholars; in one 
word, the highest form of the learned culture of the 
age. And, in order to fulfil this function, that is to 
say, to do in fact what it aspires to do, it must have 
an ample public library and scientific apparatus, and 
also a corps of living teachers, each one of whom is 
expected to know the last word in his particular 
department of study.” 
* Or modern, or literary, it may be added. 12 
In pressing, then, the enlargement of the Library, 
and urging the necessity of the measure, your Com- 
mittee would deprecate the idea of either manifesting 
in themselves, or encouraging in others, a morbid 
bibliomania; but, sensible of the worth of good learn- 
ing, especially to a country like ours, and indeed of its 
absolute indispensableness to the maintenance and 
honor of our institutions, which memorably and con- 
fessedly depend on the intelligence and virtue of our 
citizens ; and of the convenience and feasibility of ren- 
dering the Public Library of Harvard College a place 
of resort for all desirable information, in which should 
be congregated the literary treasures of science, litera- 
ture, art, and their respective statistics and history, 
with all the necessary illustrations and instruments, 
— they cannot cease to commend the subject to the 
serious, effective attention of your Honorable Board. 
Intimately connected with this subject, if not rather 
involved in it, is, in the estimation of your Committee, 
the publication of a new Catalogue, including all the 
books, pamphlets, and maps, which have accumulated 
since the last publication. Successive Committees 
have felt constrained to urge this publication for some 
years past; but the reply has been, that funds are 
wanting for the purpose. If, as says the motto on 
the present Catalogue, “ it is no inconsiderable part of 
erudition to know where to find a thing,” on the other 
hand, it is a fact, that the publication of this know- 
ledge is highly conducive to the increase of learning. 13 
Scholars at a distance from the University may then 
know how and where the means of their research may 
be furnished. Were it only for the publication of this 
long-desired volume that a subscription were solicited, 
its production, granting that it might be effected in no 
other way, would, in the judgment of your Committee, 
fully justify it. And it hardly need be added, that 
such Catalogue should appear in not only an alpha- 
betical but in a systematic form also. 
Next, in the number of its volumes, is the Law 
Library; and your Committee beg to refer to the 
Report on that subject, which has been received from 
the gentlemen deputed to visit it, and to make it a 
part of their own, as follows: — 
To the Chairman of the Committee appointed to visit the Libraries 
of the University at Cambridge. 
The Sub-Committee detached to examine the Library of 
the Law School beg leave to report as follows: — 
The Library was found to be in good condition, and 
appears to have been taken care of in a manner satisfactory 
to the Professors. 
From the Report of the Librarian, it was ascertained that 
the number of books purchased during the last year, exclu- 
sive of periodicals, is two hundred and nine; and that, 
besides some pamphlets, nine volumes have been presented 
to the Library. 
Eight volumes have been received from Professor Green- 
leaf, in exchange for seven volumes of duplicates. 
The number of volumes missing since the last examination 14 
is eighteen; and eleven volumes, noted as missing last year, 
have been returned. 
Although some difficulty has been experienced in pro- 
curing promptly the Reports of Decisions from the more 
distant States, yet the sets of American Reports are nearly 
complete, and efforts are making to supply the deficiencies. 
The sets of English Reports are at present somewhat in 
arrears; but an order has been prepared, which is expected 
to fill them up through the medium of an English publisher. 
Having ascertained from Professor Parsons that the offi- 
cers of the Law School had no suggestions to offer to the 
Committee in relation to the Library, the above is respect- 
fully submitted. 
For the Sub-Committee, 
SAML. F. HAVEN, Chairman. 
Some additional remarks were anticipated from the 
respected Dane Professor of Law, which had not been 
communicated at the formation of this Report. 
The visitation of the Theological Library resulted 
in the information, that its whole number of books 
amounted to 3,711, of which 184 were duplicates; 
that 30 volumes were missing, 4 of which were lost 
the past year; and that during the year the Library 
has received the addition of 259 volumes. Some 
remarks are added in reference to defects in the Re- 
port of 1852; but it is stated that the above may be 
regarded as exhibiting the actual condition of the 
Library. 
In the Medical Library, which is now kept in Gore 
Hall, and connected, therefore, with the Public Library 15 
there, no alteration was found to have been made; and 
the Committee were left to presume, that whatever ad- 
ditions are effected, as the progress of Medical Science 
may require, and the munificence of individuals may 
prompt, are to be found in the Library of the Medical 
College in Boston, which is not within their purview. 
The Anatomical Preparations were not inspected; 
the very able and attentive Professor, to whose care 
they are entrusted, being at the time in Europe. This 
disappointment was regretted the less, as, at the pre- 
vious examination, the articles had been found in 
excellent order, and greatly enriched with additions 
made to the former stock by the industry and skill of 
Dr. Wyman. 
The visit to the Mineralogical Cabinet enabled the 
Sub-Committee to notice several improvements and 
many additional specimens. But they were subse- 
quently favored with a letter from Professor Cooke, 
from which a few extracts are made, that will suffi- 
ciently explain themselves, and doubtless be interesting 
to those who are not only friends of Natural Science, 
but are concerned in the increase of the wealth and 
prosperity of our extended country, extended over 
regions abounding peculiarly in mineral riches. The 
Professor says: — 
“ The College Cabinet is at present in a singular condi- 
tion ; since, while it contains, for a collection of its size, an 
unusually large number of valuable and unique specimens, it 
is exceedingly deficient in species. Of about 575 known 16 
mineralogical species, there are represented only 250; the 
greater number of the species which have been discovered 
during the last twenty years being entirely wanting. Indeed, 
so great is the deficiency in this respect, that it would be 
impossible, with the present collection, to illustrate a tole- 
ably complete course of lectures on Mineralogy. It must 
not, however, be inferred from this, that the number of spe- 
cimens in the Cabinet is small, or that a very large number 
would be required to* fill up the deficiencies. On the con- 
trary, there are over three thousand good specimens, and an 
equally large number of indifferent ones. Moreover, as the 
species represented in the Cabinet are those which are 
the most abundant in nature, and which have a large number 
of varieties, they can be illustrated only by a large number of 
specimens. Those which are wanting, on the other hand, 
are rare, and have few or no varieties; so that the number 
of specimens actually required to fill up the deficiency would 
not exceed five hundred. As already intimated, regarding 
the value of the specimens, the Cabinet is very rich. There 
are but few collections in the country which contain so many 
unique and valuable minerals. I might mention a number 
of mineral species which are better represented in the Cam- 
bridge Cabinet than in any other in the United States; so 
that, if the deficient species could be supplied, the Cabinet 
would not only be made useful as a means of instruction, 
but it would also become an ornament to the University. 
“ There is but one way,” the Professor adds, “ in which 
the deficiencies of the Cabinet can be supplied, which is, to 
purchase the wanting minerals. For,” as he remarks after- 
ward, “ in Europe, minerals are considered objects of trade 
as much as any merchandise. There are, in all the large 
cities, mineral dealers, who, by means of numerous agents, 
secure all the best specimens, and thus oblige the mineralo- 
gists to purchase from them. A thousand dollars would fill 17 
up at least all the important gaps; and, when this is done, 
the annual appropriation of one hundred dollars by the Cor- 
poration would keep the collection up with the times. As so 
large a sum could not be taken from the funds of the College, 
without sacrificing more immediately important objects, I can 
see no way in which the want can be met, except by appeal- 
ing to private munificence. 
“We are just beginning,” he subjoins, “to develop the 
mineral resources of our country; and mining must soon 
become one of the most important branches of the national 
industry. The want of schools for the instruction of mining 
engineers is already felt, and ought to be supplied by our 
University as soon as practicable. We have already nearly 
all the means of giving the instruction required. There 
are connected with the Scientific School professorships of 
Civil Engineering, Geology, Chemistry, and Mineralogy; and 
there is also a large Geological Collection. Were the Mine- 
ralogical Cabinet filled out, and a Professor of Mining- 
Engineering appointed, we should be able to open at once a 
Mining School. It is with this so desirable an object in 
view, that I have commenced collecting specimens of mineral 
veins, and the various metallurgical processes. It is my 
intention to obtain for every ore a series of specimens, illus- 
trating the character of the veins in which it occurs; then 
specimens of the ore prepared for smelting; and, finally, spe- 
cimens of the slags and crude products of each successive 
smelting process, ending with the pure metal. Here, how- 
ever, I am also shackled by the want of funds; and, for this 
reason, have not as yet been able to make much progress in 
collecting. Could a fund of ten thousand dollars be pro- 
cured for the College, the income of which should be devoted 
to the increase of the Cabinet, not only would its present 
wants be met, but it would also be placed on a permanent 
foundation for the future.” 18 
Your Committee visited the Gallery of Portraits 
and Engravings, but observed no increase this year of 
articles; a remark which is also true of the valuable 
collection of busts, in marble and plaster, that adorn 
the hall of the Public Library. 
They inspected also the Philosophical Apparatus, 
and were happy to learn that the wants which in pre- 
vious years had been felt were agreeably supplied. 
They examined likewise the Cabinet of Coins, to 
which they regretted that no additions had been made 
since the last annual visit, while the subject is one 
which gains so much attention abroad; Numismatology 
is not only a science of practical use in commerce, 
but coins and medals are often appealed to as the best 
vouchers of History, and have often assisted greatly 
in its details. Your Committee, therefore, cannot but 
renew this representation of the state in which this 
matter is found, in order to draw toward it the atten- 
tion of a thriving commercial community, with many 
of whom it would be an easy thing to increase the 
collection. Indeed, a gentleman present, who had 
made the study of coins and medals an object of long 
attention, and had collected largely, stated that he 
would be willing to assign his collection to the Uni- 
versity, of which he was an alumnus, provided a 
suitable receptacle were prepared to receive it. 
With the mention of one other subject, your Com- 
mittee will conclude their prolonged Report. It is 
that of the Ebeling Collection of Maps and Charts, of 19 
which a Catalogue was published in 1831, being the 
third volume of the series. It consists of “ ten thou- 
sand maps, charts, and views, which,” says the labo- 
rious editor, then Librarian, “is probably unrivalled 
by any other collection of a similar kind in the world.” 
But it is to be remembered that the industrious and 
learned collector of this valuable treasure died in 1817 ; 
and that, since that period, the discoveries which have 
been made, as the result of either public expeditions 
or private enterprise, are numerous and important. 
Surveys have been effected with scientific skill and 
great minuteness and accuracy, the results of which it 
is very desirable to possess. Already has it been pro- 
posed in a neighboring State to apply to the General 
Government for the formation of a special department 
for Geography and Hydrography in the Library of 
Congress. That our own University may ere long 
be enabled to enrich herself with all the materials 
necessary to furnish a complete and comprehensive 
view of the acquisitions and communications which 
science, art, and literature have made, and then keep 
pace with the progress of the age, no one of her 
faithful sons will cease to desire. 
All which is respectfully submitted, 
On behalf of the Committee, 
WM. JENKS, Chairman pro tern. 
Dec. 21, 1853.