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Washington, March IS, 1847. 

 Sir : I am requested by the building committee of the Smithsonian 

 Institution to inform you, that they have to day decided upon the mate- 

 rial for their building; that their choice is Seneca freestone from someone 

 of your quarries, if sufficient suitable stone can be found in them— proba- 

 bly from that of Bull run ; and that they accept your offer made to them 

 in your letter of the 9th December last, addressed to Mr. Seaton, namely, 

 to pay you twenty-five cents per perch for all stone intended for cut work, 

 and twelve and a half cents for all calculated for hammered work, 

 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



ROBERT DALE OWEN, 

 Chairman Building Commitiee. 

 John P. C. Peter, Esq. 



'to 



I 



On motion of Mr. Owen, it was 



Resolved, That the resolution heretofore adopted, instructing Mr. Peter 

 Gorman to obtain four perches of freestone from Seneca creek, be and the 

 same is hereby rescinded. 



On motion of Mr. Owen, it was 



Resolved, That the resolution heretofore adopted, instructing Dr. Owen 

 to make chemical analyses of the Maryland marbles, and particularly of 

 those from Mr. Worthington's and Mr. Symington's quarries, be and the 

 same is hereby rescinded. 



On motion of Mr. Hough, it was 



Resolved, That Mr. Owen be requested to write to Mr. McLane, presi- 

 dent of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and to Mr. Howard, president of 

 the Baltimore and Susquehanna railroad, and to inform them that although, 

 for the sake of economy, the freestone of the upper Potomac has been se- 

 lected as a building-material, the committee desire to express their 

 sense of the prompt liberality with which the boards of these railroad com- 

 panies had adopted the suggestion of the building committee in regard to 

 reduction of the rates of transportation in favor of the institution, in case 

 marble was selected. 



And, on motion, the committee adjourned to meet at eight o'clock this 

 evening. 



THIRTEENTH MEETING— March 19, 1847, (8 o'clock, p. m.) 



Present, Messrs. Seaton, Hough, and Owen. 



The contractors. Messrs. Dixon and Cameron, appeared; and the con- 

 tract for the buildings of the institution, which had been prepared by the 

 architect and revised by the committee, having been read to them, they 

 expressed their assent to all its provisions, and declared themselves ready 

 to execute the same. 



Thereupon the Secretary of the institution, being present, represented 

 to the committee that one of the Regents, now in the city, to wit : Professor 

 A. D. Bache, requested to be allowed to examine the provisions of the^ 

 contract before it was finally executed ; but that Mr. Bache was at pres- 

 ent too ill to read or examine it. 



Upon this suggestion, the committee asked the contractors whether they 

 were willing now to sign, leaving the signatures of the committee to be 



