TWENTY-SIXTH CONGRESS, 1839-41. 239 



Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the land owned by the United 

 States, in the city of Washington, situated 



and known by the name of the Mall, be, and the same is 

 hereby, appropriated for the uses of the Smithsonian Institution. The 

 buildings for said institution shall be erected thereon, and in which shall 

 be preserved the philosophical instruments, apparatus and collections, 

 necessary to promote the objects of the institution. And all collections of 

 works of art and of natural history, owned by the United States, not other- 

 wise assigned, shall be deposited in said buildings ; and for the transporta- 

 tion and arrangement of the same, the sum of five thousand dollars is here- 

 by appropriated out of the Treasury of the United States, to be expended 

 under the direction of the president and directors of the National Institu- 

 tion : Provided, however, That the grounds, herein assigned to the Institu- 

 tion, shall be kept open to the public, free from all charge, but under such 

 regulations as the preservation of the property shall require : And provided, 

 also, That the plan of the buildings herein authorized, shall be prepared by 

 the National Institution, and shall be submitted to the President of the 

 United States, and upon receiving his approbation, shall be erected under 

 the superintendence of the National Institution ; the said buildings, collec- 

 tions, and grounds, shall be under the general supervision of the National 

 Institution. 



Senate, February 17, 1841. 



Mr. Preston from the Committee on the Library, to 

 whom was referred the bill (S. 245) to appoint trustees for 

 the investment of the Smithsonian fund, reported it without 

 amendment; and, also, the following bills, as substitutes 

 therefor : 



S. 258. Bill to incorporate, within the District of Colum- 

 bia, the National Institution for the promotion of science. 



S. 259. Bill to invest the proceeds of the Smithsonian 

 fund, and to establish the Smithsonian Institution ; which 

 were severally read, and passed to the second reading. 



The bills are as follows: 



[S. No. 258.] 



A BILL to incorporate, within the District of Columbia, the National 

 Institution for the Promotion of Science. 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 

 States of America in Congress assembled, That Joel E. Poinsett, James K. 

 Paulding, John Quincy Adams, John J. Abert, .Toseph G. Totten, A. O. 

 r)ayton, Francis Marcoe, Levi AVoodbury, William Cranch, Henry D. 

 Gilpin, William J. Stone, and others, composing the association in the Dis- 

 trict of Columbia denominated the National Institution for the Promotion 

 of Science, and their successors duly elected in the manner hereinafter men- 

 tioned, be, and they are hereby, constituted and declared to be a body 

 politic and corporate, by the name and title of the National Institution fur 

 the Promotion of Science, in the District of Columbia, with all rights and 

 privileges of corporate bodies, not repugnant to the constitution of the 

 United States, or the laws of the District of Columbia, and in conformity 

 with the following rules and regulations: 



Article first. This society shall be named " The National Institution for 

 the Promotion of Science." 



Article second. It shall hold its meetings at the city of Washington. 



