196 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1903. 



ought to be devoted to other purposes. The active operations will suffer most by 

 this draft on-the income, since it will be made for the better accommodation of the 

 library and the museum. 



On February .5, 18-1:7, it was resolved by the Regents — 



That the building committee, in conjunction with the Secretary, be authorized to 

 publish, in such form as they may deem most appropriate, one thousand copies of a 

 brief treatise, to be entitled "Hints on Public Architecture," and to be illustrated 

 with designs of the plan of the building adopted for the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and, at the option of the committee, with any other designs that are the property f)f 

 the Institution, provided that the cost of the same shall not exceed one thousand 

 dollars, which sum is hereby appropriated for that purpose. 



This allotment was subsequently increased to $1,200. The work 

 was prepared by Doctor Owen, with the assistance of Mr. Renwick, 

 and was published in 1849, under the title "Hints on Public Archi- 

 tecture, containing-, among other illustrations, views and plans of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, together with an appendix relative to build- 

 ing materials. Prepared on behalf of the Building Committee of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, b}' Robert Dale Owen, Chairman of the Com- 

 mittee." It is quarto in size, but does not belong to an}" of the regu- 

 lar series of Smithsonian publications. 



The first building committee of three members, appointed on Feb- 

 ruary 5, ISiT, consisted of Mr. Robert Dale Owen, Mr. W. W. Sea- 

 ton, and Gen. Joseph jj. Totten. Changes were made in the compo- 

 sition of the committee from year to year, and after a brief period 

 none of its early members reiuained. Reports were submitted annu- 

 ally to the Board of Regents up to the close of 1857. The w^ork of 

 the committee during 1847 was extremely arduous, comprising the 

 selection of the stone for the building, the preparation of specifica- 

 tions, the making of contracts, etc., all of which was accomplished 

 within an incredibly short space of time. Forty-one meetings were 

 held during the year. 



Various marble, granite, and freestone quarries within a moderate 

 distance of Washington were examined, with the gratuitous assistance 

 of David Dale Owen, a brother of the regent and a prominent geolo- 

 gist, and nuich information regarding them and the ([uality of their 

 products was obtained. The in(iuiries embi-aced the chief marble and 

 granite quarries of Maryland; the freestone quarries of Aquia Creek, 

 Virginia, where the material for the older part of the Capitol, the 

 White House, Treasury, and other pul)lic buildings in Washington 

 had been secured; and the freestone quarries of the upper Potomac 

 River, mostly in the vicinity of Seneca Creek, on the banks of the 

 Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, about 28 miles above Washington. 



The mar))le (juarries of jMaiyland (mostly in the vicinity of Clarks- 

 ville, about lo miles from Baltiiuore) were found to yield two (luaii- 

 ties of stone — one tine grained and of excellent quality, the other 



