2 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



THE BOARD OF REGENTS. 



Ill accordance with a resolution of the Board of Eegeuts adopted 

 January 8, 1890, by which its stated annual meeting occurs on the 

 fourth Wednesday in each year, the board met on January 25, 1893, 

 at 10 o'clock A. M. The journal of its proceedings will be found, as 

 hitherto, in the annual report of the board to Congress, though refer- 

 ence is here made to several matters upon which action was taken at 

 this meeting. 



The changes that have taken place in the membership of the Board 

 of Eegents have been — 



First, through the death of Senator E. L. Gibson, which occurred on 

 December 15, 1892. Senator George Gray, of Delaware, was appointed 

 on December 20, 1892, by the Vice-President to till the unexpired term 

 of Senator Gibson, and having been re-elected as Senator from Dela- 

 ware, was re-appointed Eegent on March 10, 1893. 



A brief sketch of Senator Gibson's life is given in the necrological 

 notices that close the present report, but I may quote here the follow- 

 ing resolutions prepared by a committee consisting of Dr. Wm. Preston 

 Johnston, Senator J. S. Morrill, and the Secretary, which were pre- 

 sented at the meeting of the Eegents on January 25, 1893 : 



Besolved, That in the death of Hon. Eandall Lee Gibson, the Smith- 

 sonian Institution has lost a zealous and useful Eegent, and its board 

 a valuable member whose services can ill be spared. 



Besolved, That we lament his loss as an acceptable colleague, a- 

 gracious gentleman, a patriotic citizen, and a wise statesman, whose 

 interest in the spread of knowledge among men fitted him well for 

 his duties on the board. 



Kesolred, That these resolutions be entered on the minutes of the 

 board, and a copy be transmitted to the family of our friend. 



Second, President James B. Angell, of the University of Michigan, 

 whose previous term of office expired on January 13, 1893, was reap- 

 pointed for six years by a joint resolution introduced by Senator J. S. 

 Morrill, of Vermont, which passed the Senate on December 20, 1892, 

 the House of Eepreseutatives on January 0, 1893, and was approved 

 by the President January 10, 1893. 



ADMINISTRATION. 



I have called attention to the desirability of securing from Congress 

 an appropriation to meet actual outlays incurred in administering Gov- 

 ernmental trusts. These direct outlays for matters not equitably 

 chargeable to the fund of James Smithson, are growing a more consid- 

 erable tax upon it each year. They are incurred in serving purely 

 Governmental interests, but they are not met by any of the present 

 appropriations, since they belong not singly to tlie National Museum, 

 or the Bureau of Ethnology, or to the International Exchange service, 

 or the like, but to expenditures common to all of them, and which 

 are not provided for by the terms of the appropriations for any one. 



