[ 1 ] 



FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT 



0/ the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, showing the 

 Operations, Expenditures and Condition of the Institution, up to 

 J-anuary 1, 1851. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives : 



In obedience to the act of Congress of August 10, 1846, establishing 

 the Smithsonian Institution, the undersigned, in behalf of the Regents, 

 submit to Congress, as a Report of the operations, expenditures and con- 

 dition of the Institution, the following documents: 



1. Annual Report of the Secretary, giving an account of tlie operations of 



the Institution during the year 1850, including Reports from tht 

 Assistant Secretaries, relative to the Library and Museum. 



2. Report of the Executive Committee, giving a general statement of tlip 



proceeds and disposition of the Smithsonian Fund, and also a detailed 

 account of all the expenditures from the beginning of the Institution 

 to the end of i8o0. 



3. Report of the Building Committee, relative to the proo^ress made in 



1850, ill the erection of the Smithsonian edifice, including a Report 

 of the Architect on the same. 



4. ]'roc.'edino;s of the Board of Ref]:ents durino; their Fifth Annual Meetino-. 

 O. An Appendix. 



Respectfully submitted , 



ROGER B. TANEY, 



Chancellor, 

 JOSEPH HENRY, 



Secretary. 



REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 



To the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution : 



Gentlemen : — During the past year the several parts of the plan of 

 organization have been prosecuted as efficiently as the portion of the in- 

 c-ome which could be devoted to them would permit. The financial afftiirj? 

 are in a prosperous condition, and though the funds are burthened with 

 the erection of a costly building, and the expenditures trammeled by re- 

 strictions growing out of the requisitions of the charter of incorporation, 

 yet the results thus far obtained, are such as satisAictorily to jirove tliat 

 the Institution is doing good service in the way of promoting and diffusing 

 knowledge. 



Though the programme of organization has been given in two of the 

 annual reports and extensively published in the newsj)aj)ers, its character 

 does not appear to be as widely known and as properly appreciated as 

 could be desired. Indeed it will be necessary at intervals 1o republish the 

 terms of the bequest, and also the general principles of the ])lan which 



