REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 9 



"(1) That tbesc moneys sliall ho, disbursed under tlie direction of the 

 Smithsonian Institntion. 



" (!') That the estimates for the a])])ropriations of the ^liiseum in the 

 future shall be sent direct to the Secretary of the Treasury by the 

 Smithsonian Institution throujiii its Secretary." 



In obedience to the wishes of the Board of Hegents thus expressed, 

 the matter was brought to the attention of the Secretary of the Inte- 

 rior, in a recent interview, by Chief- Justice Waite(the Chancellor of the 

 Smithsonian Institution) and myself. As a result of this meeting a 

 letter has been received from the Secretary of the Interior, in which he 

 expresses the opinion tlir.t changes may be made with great propriety 

 both in the numner of voting the appropriation and in the method of 

 its disbursement. A copy of this letter is herewith inclosed, together 

 with a coi)y of a second letter received in response to an inquiry as to 

 the manner in which this change may best be effected. 



In further explanation of the third request, I wir,h to say that this 

 does not involve a new appropriation, since tbe estimate for this amount 

 is included, as I understand it, in the sum of •$375,r)25 estimated by the 

 Secretary of the Treasury for the printing of the Interior Department 

 and its Bureaus (see page 129 of the "Estimates of Appropriations, 

 1888-'89"). I may say in further explanation of this item that an ap- 

 propriation has thus been made for the printing of the National Museum 

 for at least twelve years past, and I am informed that the amount al- 

 lotted during recent years has usually been $10,000. 



I believe these changes will be in the interest of the i)ublic service, 

 and respectfully ask that they be made. 

 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



S. P. Langley, 



Secretary. 



Hon. Samuel J. Randall, 



Chairman of Cdmmitiec on Appropriations^ 



House of Reprefientatii>es. 



Department op thk Interior, 



Washington, Fehruari/ 14, 1888. 



Sir: I have considered the topic of the conference v\'hich 1 had the 

 honor to have yesterday with the Chaiu'ellor of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution and yourself, being the relation of the Interior I)e])artment to 

 the exi)enditure of the api)roi>riation for the increase and care of the 

 National Museum, which is a i)art of the Smithsonian Institution, and 

 whether there be objection to the recommendation of an independency 

 in the disbursement of the funds provided for its support as well as in 

 its management. 



The first collection of scientific curiosities which appears to have been 

 a special object of care on the part of Congress was that nuule by the 

 Wilkes Exploring Expedition, provided for by the act of May 14, 1836 

 (5 Stats., 20). This collection was first placed in the care of the Na- 

 tional Institution for the Promotion of Science, and afterwards was 

 transferred to the hall in the second story of the Patent Office. In 

 1840, when the act for the establishmentof the Smithsonian Institution 

 was passed, it was provided that, "as suitable arrangements could be 

 made for their reception, all objects of art, and of foreign and <:urious 

 research, and all objects of natural history, plants, geological and min- 

 eralogical specimens, belonging or hereafter to belong to the United 



