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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 586 
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MADE BY BAKER-VAWTER CO. 
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Joseph Henry was born at Albany on December 17, 1799. His first studies in electricity began in 1827, while he was a teacher in the Albany Academy, and in the course of his researches he transformed an inefficient piece of electrical apparatus into the powerful electro-magnet, and laid the foundation for the most important discoveries of the century. He made two distinct forms of magnets; one capable of excitation at a distance, called the "intensity magnet", and the other having possibilities of infinite development of strength, which he named the "quantity magnet".

Before Henry, the strongest form of electro-magnet known could lift only 9 pounds, but after a few months of experiment, he produced one which sustained 39 pounds. This was successively followed by other which could support 750; 2,300; and 3,500 pounds. The intensity magnet was the forerunner of the modern telegraph, and in 1831 Henry transmitted a current through a considerable length of wire and succeeded in ringing a bell. On December 17, 92 years later, this identical bell will be rung during the ceremonies, and the sound will be heard by listeners throughout the United States and probably across the Atlantic. The bell is now a treasured relic in the New York State Museum at Albany.

(NOTE: Photographs of the bell were exhibited to the Board.)

When the Smithsonian Institution was founded, Joseph Henry was selected as its first Secretary, and his plan of organization for the new Institution was carried out. His broad-minded policies enabled the Institution to become firmly established, and through its stated purpose - "the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," to attain a world-wide reputation as a center of scientific activity in America. During Henry's term as Secretary (1846-1878) he inaugurated the system of daily meteorological observations and reports which developed into the present United States Weather Bureau.
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