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CHAPTER XI
   WHAT THE SMITHSONIAN PUBLISHES
IN the great hall of the Institution rises a column twenty-
three feet high, built not of marble but of books. They
stand foursquare, making a fourfold column, volume
upon volume. A sign informs the visitor that among
these books there are no duplicates, but each volume
contains either one or many publications by the Smith-
sonian Institution which have each been distributed,
gratis, to 1,500 libraries and scientific societies in all
countries of the world. Every publication bears upon its
binding the torch, symbol of enlightenment, and on its
title-page the great seal of the Smithsonian carrying
the words: "For the increase and diffusion of knowledge
among men.
   The books and pamphlets printed by the Smithsonian
 Institution and its branches during the past fourscore
 years would in fact form a good-sized library, and there
 is no branch of science that would be missing on its
 shelves. The items would range in size from little pocket
 leaflets to ponderous quarto monographs of a thousand
 pages and over, and they would cover the alphabetical
 classification of the major divisions of science from aero-
 nautics to zoology. Furthermore, the sciences are treated
 in two distinct styles, the technical and the popular, so
 that no class of seekers after scientific information would
 come away disappointed from this library. To carry the
 figure a little further, the reading room of the library of
 Smithsonian publications would be frequented by two
 distinct types of visitors; one, the specialist in some branch
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