PROMOTION OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 51 



within the new area of the square were in course of construction, 

 and the laying out of gardens and the planting of trees and flowers 

 were well under way. John Sessford, writing for 1838, stated that 



"The grounds west of the Capitol, under the direction of the 

 Commissioner and superintendence of the public gardener, have 

 been improved tastefully, and produce a fine effect. Connected with 

 this should be enclosed the grounds west of First Street to Third 

 Street for a botanic garden." x 



Subsequent provisions by Government for the care of living 

 plants. — Five or six years after the abandonment of the botanic 

 garden of the Columbian Institute, the Government was called upon 

 to provide for its own use like though not identical accommodations. 

 The collections of the United States Exploring Expedition to the 

 South Seas, 1838-1840, deposited at the Patent Office as received in 

 Washington, included a large quantity of living plants and seeds. 

 For a short period in the care of the National Institution, the Joint 

 Committee of Congress on the Library, in July, 1813, appointed 

 the Commissioner of Patents, Mr. Ellsworth, to the custodianship 

 of all Government collections in that building, and, in August, 

 placed Capt. Charles Wilkes in special charge of the gatherings of 

 the Exploring Expedition. Mr. William D. Brackenridge, who had 

 been the horticulturist and assistant botanist of the expedition, was 

 retained in charge of the botanical specimens. In a report to 

 Curator Charles Pickering of the National Institution, dated Novem- 

 ber, 1842, Mr. Brackenridge stated : 



The Institute has also come into possession of a collection of rare and highly 

 interesting living plants, brought home also by the expedition, which has 

 since received several additions in return for seeds distributed from the 

 same source ; also a few donations of other plants from various quarters. 

 For their preservation a greenhouse, 50 feet long, and partitioned into two 

 apartments, has been erected on the lot behind the Patent Office. The number 

 of species in cultivation amounts to 500, and with duplicates of the same, 

 there are about 1,100 plants in pots, over and above those now coming up from 

 seeds. * * * The live plants brought home by the squadron amounted to 

 254 species. 



This first greenhouse was constructed in 1842, presumably from 

 the appropriation of $20,000 to the Naval Service for transporting 

 to Washington, and arranging and preserving the collections made 

 by the Exploring Expedition. Greenhouse construction was further 

 continued on the same square during the two succeeding years, under 

 the direction and control of the Library Committee. The civil and 

 diplomatic appropriation act of March 3, 1843, contained an item 

 of $1,200 for taking care of the botanical specimens brought home 

 by the Exploring Expedition, and under this provision a second 



1 National Intelligencer, Jan. 4, 1839. 



