TWENTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS, 1843-45. 265 



pensalion, whether the same shall be by way of salary payable semi-annually 

 or wages for labor, the superintendent shall certify to the president of the 

 board that such compensation is due, whereupon the president shall certify 

 the same to the proper officer of the Treasury Department for payment. 



Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers may ap- 

 point some suitable person as professor of natural history, a professor of chem- 

 istry, and a professor of astronomy, with such other professors as the wants 

 of science may require. They shall also employ able men to lecture in the 

 institution upon the arts and sciences, and shall fix the compensation of such 

 professors and lecturers : Provided, That no profesi^orship shall be established 

 or lecturer employed to treat or lecture on law, physic, or divinity, it being 

 the object of the instituticm to furnish facilities for the acquisition of such 

 branches of knowledge as are not taught in the various universities. 



Skc. 8. And be it further enacted, That the board of managers shall make 

 all needful rules, regulations, and by-laws, for the government of the in- 

 stitution and the persons employed therein ; they shall direct and prescribe 

 the experiments to be made by the professor of agriculture and horticulture, 

 to determine the utility and advantage of new modes and instruments of 

 culture, to determine whether new fruits, plants, and vegetables, may be 

 cultivated to advantage in the United States ; and they shall direct the dis- 

 tribution of all such fruits, plants, seeds, and vegetables, as shall be found 

 useful and adapted to any of our soils and climates, so that the people in 

 every part of the Union may enjoy the benefit and advantage of the exper- 

 iments made by the institution ; they shall also make rules and regulations 

 for the admission of students in the various departments of the institution, 

 and their conduct and deportment while they remain therein : Provided, 

 That all instruction in said institution shall be gratuitous to those students 

 who conform to sudi rules and regulations. 



Sec. 9. And be it further enacted, That be appointed 



managers of the said Smithsonian Institution, to hold their offices as is 

 hereinbefore provided. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



House of Representatives, January 2, 1844. 



Mr. J. Q. Adams moved the following resolution which 

 "was read, and the rule requiring the same to lie upon the 

 table one day being dispensed with, it was considered and 

 agreed to, viz : 



Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be directed to report to this 

 House the present state and condition of the funds bequeathed by James 

 Smithson to the United States, for the establishment at the city of Wash- 

 ington of an institution for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among 

 men ; with a statement of what payments of interest have been received, 

 and what if any, have been refused or withheld on the State stocks in which 

 the said funds were invested ; the amount of interest so withheld or refused 

 to be paid ; and what measures have been taken by the Secretary to recover 

 the same ; also by whoso agency the said investments were made ; with 

 copies of any correspondence of the Treasury Department with such agents 

 relating thereto. 



House of Representatives, February 2, 1844. 



Mr. "Williams presented a petition of Horatio C. Merriam, 

 of Massachusetts, that a portion of the Smithsonian bequest 



